Dear Editor:

We value the cooperation that exists between the Babylon Village and the Babylon School District. We know that partnership will continue because working together can only benefit all the residents of Babylon. We share our facilities with the Village for their recreational programs and always give the Village priority. In return, the Village has shared grounds equipment with us allowing us to reduce costs. Recently, an open letter from Mayor Scordino appeared in the Babylon BEACON. Let us assure our residents that the issues raised in the letter about the funding for a synthetic turf field are concerns of the school district as well.

The Turf Field initiative was first brought to the Board’s attention almost a year ago by the Community Turf Committee of the Babylon Athletic Booster Club. They offered to conduct a fund raising project to pay for the installation of a synthetic field. The fund raising efforts of the Turf Committee consisted in part of a mailing to the community and booster club members. It wasn’t until Legislator Bishop proposed a funding plan to provide the school district with $600,000 to partially pay for the Turf Field that the school district became involved with the project. On May 23, 2005 the action of the Board of Education was to pass a resolution to negotiate with the county as to the terms and conditions of the County funding proposal. The Newsday article was not the first source of information about this proposal. We have discussed the efforts of the Booster Club and the funding proposal by Leg. Bishop at our public board meetings and the Babylon Beacon ran a front page article on December 17, 2004.

First, let us state that this project is not a "done deal". The only official act that has been taken so far is that the Suffolk County Legislature has authorized the approval of the funding of a bond in the amount of $600,000. That resolution was only voted on at the June 20, 2005 meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature. We supported the county funding proposal by resolution but only with the agreement that there will be certain conditions to ensure that our own inter-scholastic program and community interests are safeguarded. We believe that these safeguards will address the questions that were raised in the open letter. For example, the hours allocated to Suffolk County will only be made available when the school district and the community does not require use of the field and then only for appropriate athletic field events. This will not be a County Park; the school district will schedule and approve all field usage as well as parking. The County would be required to pay for all expenses relating to the use of the field by the County. This would include electricity costs, labor and materials for clean-ups if necessary, maintenance and field preparation. Also, the agreement would last for ten years and then the school district would again regain exclusivity for the usage of the field.

Most importantly, the school district will administer the field usage application process, including necessary insurance information, fee collections, etc. and we will be in control of who uses our facility.

We believe that it would be irresponsible for the School Board to ignore the offer of $600,000 to build this Turf Field. We recognize that this is only partial funding and that we need to explore options to fund the balance of a project that will cost over $1,000,000 to complete. Our best solution for funding the balance would be through private donations. The Community Turf Committee, as mentioned previously, is conducting a fund raising project for this purpose. In the likelihood that sufficient funding is not received through these private sources the district would be required to borrow the balance. That would require voter approval. The final say as to whether this project can be completed will be by the community. We believe they should have that prerogative. Our role as members of the Board of Education is to present this choice to the community. This project is only in the beginning stages. There will be many opportunities for public input and discussion.

Why do we need a Turf Field? We have a rich history and widespread community support for our athletic program and this tradition has spurned rapid growth in our youth programs. We field 26 interscholastic level teams in the fall and spring in addition to an increasing number of village youth groups and organizations requesting and using our fields. Our fields are egregiously overused and stressed. There simply is not enough field space to accommodate everyone on a regular basis. Our own interscholastic teams often have to practice and compete out of district because field space is not available. A synthetic, maintenance free field would provide greater accessibility to our teams and our community sports programs.

Over the years Babylon residents have paid significant taxes to the county with no direct recreational benefits. People have said that it is important for different levels of government to work together in the interest of saving money while providing community services. The possibility of a premier facility that meets our needs while addressing these two issues will rest with the community.

Sincerely,

Tom Melito, President Board of Education

Darrell Conway, Vice-President

AnneMarie Martino, Trustee

Mary Larsen, Trustee

Roger A. Katz, Trustee

Judy Anderson, Trustee

Henry Brunjes, Trustee

William Bernhard, Superintendent of Schools