Contractors Hold Round Table with School Officials to Discuss Up Coming Field Project

Post date: Oct 18, 2013 6:15:6 PM

Representatives from three firms involved in irrigating and renovating the athletic fields of the Wells-Ogunquit CSD came together on September 27th to meet with WOCSD officials to discuss the timeline and logistics of the upcoming field renovation project.

Some of those present in the conference room at the office of the Superintendent of Schools in Wells were representatives of Environmental Solutions, Sebago Technics, and SUR Construction, Inc. Also present were Superintendent Ellen Schneider and Director of Finance Rick Kusturin plus the District’s Activities Directors Jack Molloy and Dan MacLeod, Groundskeeper David Norton and Wells Elementary School Head Custodian David Boyd.

Introductory comments were made by Kusturin and Kylie Mason, Senior Landscape Architect with Sebago Technics. A project timeline was distributed and an in-depth question and answer period followed.

Renovations to Forbes Field are scheduled to begin on October 7th. Numerous and varied questions came up in the meeting regarding work scheduling, traffic flow, temporary fencing, permitting, fills, sod, drainage, lighting, back up alarms, and concerns about the spring WJHS sports schedule. As of now, there can be no home games at Forbes Field in the spring of 2014 because the newly planted grass will not be established enough to endure any foot traffic, sports or otherwise at that time.

There was also discussion about an uncharted fiber optic cable connecting Wells High School with WJHS with its exact route through the fields unknown. This could have posed a major obstacle for work on the field. According to Mason if the fiber optic cable were to be nipped by irrigation lines it would result in significant repair. However, Mason reported Environmental Solutions had worked with a couple utility companies to flag the location of the missing fiber optic cable and “GPS” it. Those findings will be provided to the District for any future projects that the District may have.

Mason is very optimistic about the overall project to renovate the WOCSD athletic fields. “It’s not often that you see projects of this size funded, designed, awarded and then under construction within a three month period.” said Mason. “This is something the community of Wells and Ogunquit should be proud of. Not only is the community supporting it but the different trades and design teams are coming together to make it happen within the same year. This is a big cooperative effort.”

Mason says that the goal is to have the entire field project done by the end of November of 2013. According to Project Engineer Craig Burgess of Sebago Technics it is Sebago Technics that has designed the field renovation project and will provide construction inspections. The firm that is the project manager for the entire field renovation project is Lavallee Brensinger Architects of Manchester, New Hampshire.

Groundskeeper David Norton perhaps best summed up the project and what it means to the District and community. “It is going to be so nice to have this much money to put into the fields… for the students, the town and the faculty. Everyone can see this is Wells-Ogunquit. This is the way we keep things…”

Caption: Workers from Sports Fields perform annual maintenance to the Wells High School Varsity Baseball Field on September 30, 2013.