Three county high schools will soon have synthetic turf on their fields thanks to three County Supervisors who, last night, voted to allocate $225,000 for the replacement of natural grass.
Supervisors David Slutzky and Ann Mallek, who were previously appointed to work with county staff to answer safety questions raised by the Board, voted against funding the project.
Last week, Slutzky raised concerns over the overheating of the fields and the potential harmful lead content.
But Jon Pritchett, CEO of General Sports Venue, the manufacturing company that will supply the turf, assured supervisors at last week’s meeting, that the turf was safe. “As it related to the products we produce, I can give you confidence that we don’t believe there are any safety concerns or any level of heavy metals that can be made available, so therefore we consider it to be safe.”
Previously uncommitted, last night Supervisor Dennis Rooker voted in favor of funding after receiving assurance that there will be not lead content in the product that will replace grass.
The project is slated to begin in February.
Albemarle has made well-publicized efforts to foster green development, including a green roof on the County Office Building. In light of that, does this decision make sense?
The cost of installing synthetic turf is $600,000 per field, reduced from an earlier estimate of $800,000.