Little fuss over Sudbury field

Construction of an artificial-turf field using nearly $1 million in Community Preservation Act funds will begin soon at the regional high school in Sudbury, while other area towns continue to debate the use of CPA funds for such projects.

Sudbury officials say there has been little opposition -- let alone threats of a lawsuit -- to contributing $960,000 in CPA money to the $1.7 million project at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.

In neighboring Wayland, a group of residents has filed a lawsuit challenging the November Town Meeting approval of CPA funds for conversion of a natural-grass field to turf at Wayland High School. Newton officials put on hold an artificial-turf project at Newton South High School after a similar lawsuit was filed last year.

The Community Preservation Act is a state law that allows communities to place a surcharge on property taxes to raise money for historic preservation, affordable housing, and open-space protection. The state matches the amount raised by the surcharge.

The law also allows for CPA money to be spent on "the acquisition, creation and preservation of land for recreational use." Opponents in other towns have said that installing artificial turf on an existing sports field doesn't fall under any of those headings.

Sudbury Selectman Larry O'Brien says part of the reason his town has approved the fund's use is that, under a resource-sharing agreement, residents will have access to the regional school's fields for the first time.

The agreement allows the Sudbury Park and Recreation Department to use all of the school's outdoor athletic facilities for activities like Pop Warner football and summer camps when they are not being used for school programs.

"We're showing that we are gaining access to field space that we didn't have before," O'Brien said. He said town officials have also proven to Sudbury residents that they spend money "wisely and carefully."

When Town Meeting was asked in April to approve CPA funds for the project, opponents said they believed that too much money was being spent on recreation and that more should go toward open-space acquisition.

Sudbury resident Don Chauls, one of those who spoke out at Town Meeting, said spending so much money to renovate a field "doesn't seem appropriate."

"The bulk of it, I think, should be going for conservation and this doesn't really qualify," he said.

In addition to the $960,000 in CPA funds, another $485,000 will be come from leftover funds from the high school's reconstruction project, and another $270,000 has been raised privately, said Jack Ryan, who chairs the building committee of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee.

O'Brien said the field will be set up for football, soccer, girls' lacrosse, and boys' lacrosse, and ringed by a new track.

"This is a far more cost-effective way for the town to pick up needed field space without having to go out and purchase very expensive land," O'Brien said.

He said the town would not be able to outbid developers for the kind of land that would be appealing for recreational space.

The field is expected to be completed by the fall.