we're ready to go all right call the meeting to order we do have a quorum hello everybody the first item on the agenda is hearing from the members of the audience and our first person is M babusa Ray I know thank you Pam oh before you start so we do invite members of the public to speak this has nothing to do with you um I ask that everybody comply with with policy 206 which basically means no negative comments about employees board members uh please keep your presentation to three minutes or less I do note that we have um nine potential speakers on on crumb rubber so if you have heard your issue covered it would be nice if if you came up and just said so and so has already covered it and just try to be briefer that's all I'm not asking you not to come up but at least be briefer thank you and then grab the microphone hello can you is it on okay thank you um thanks for having all of us this evening we appreciate being a part of the process um at your Schoolboard meeting in April you voted to move forward with four artificial turf athletic fields that include crumb rubber this despite the hundreds of concerned members of the community asking you to postpone the decision until Federal studies come out later this year regarding the safety of Karam rubber we your constituents have been hard at work continuing to do our research on the matter from many angles it has come to my attention that there have been lawsuits brought against field Turf the company you plan to use for our Fields these lawsuits raise a red flag and should concern you our elected officials who are entrusted with our safety and with our money in California a field Turf and a supplier were charged in 2008 with being in violation of California's proposition 65 law by not including warning labels on products containing chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects testing on field turf's products showed that they contained more than 10 times the state and federal guidelines for children's products as a part of the agreement to settle charges field Turf had to reduce the amount of lead contained in their products the lead was added to synthetic grass to keep its color bright they had to pay about $500,000 in civil penalties they agreed to pay for the testing of its products installed before November 2003 in the public facilities and offer discounts to replace Turf found to have high Le content they did not agree to replace products bought by consumers on March 11th 2016 a representative from field Turf admitted yes there is Led in our product when testifying to the Ways and Means Committee of the Maryland general assembly in 2014 the Arlington school district in Texas reached a settlement on a million dooll lawsuit against field Turf the lawsuit stated that turf fields the company supplied in 2007 proved to be defective and failed as early as 2010 the company admitted it in writing and failed and refused to repair the district previously paid 1.5 million for the installation of the Old Fields after the settlement the district had to pay $280,000 for a high-grade replacement in March of 2016 it was reported that two public school districts and one private school in California purchased field Turf playing surfaces in 2009 in each case the school systems were promised that they would last 8 to 10 years and were issued an 8-year warranty each School system said before the end of eight years the field started failing as early as 2014 they saw breaking splitting thinning of fibers fiber breakage and pile layover field Turf refused to replace the fields with newer surfaces they alleged that field Turf knew the systems were faulty because field Turf filed suit against their own fiber supplier which was settled in 2014 the school systems are seeking a combined 15.7 million in Damages F field Turf is fighting the claims in Ontario a high school district is currently suing field Turf for the cost of original installation and replacement of their fields they are seeking $9.1 million plus civil penalties they alleg that their field started to deteriorate within four years the superintendent intendent of school said the product was defective and we had to remove the turf for performance and safety they want the manufacturer to start charging an upgrade fee when districts demand a replacement for failing Turf installed before for 2011 field Turf offered to replace their fields with the same faulty material or upgrade the fields for $75,000 each the district opted to replace the turf with a product from another company for $1.8 million excuse me I have one more excellent thank you the past and continuing behavior of field Turf toward their customers and by extension the children who use their products should be noted is it appropriate to award a major contract to accompany with questionable practices I hope that we can count on the board to seriously consider our concerns and vote to stop moving forward today thank you thank you very much next is David Frankl Mr Frankle please M hi it's Dave Dave hear me Dave Frankle udina resident with three children in the udina school system uh emailed last night uh all the uh school board members and the superintendent uh information that I'm sure you're hopefully aware of from the consumer product safety commission and the EPA um I probably shouldn't have to repeat this but just to put it on record this is a quote from uh the uh consumer product safety commission website you have it in your email this was as of February 2016 today's launch of a coordinated effort among the leading federal health and safety agencies to research the safety of recycled tire Chrome is a significant first step to providing parents with the answers they deserve EPA CDC and cpsc are working together to end the uncertainty regarding whether it is safe for our children to play on fields and playgrounds that use Chrome Rubber and provide guidance that is clear practical and reliable from the EPA website and this is uh information you should take to heart because there's been a lot of comments about the safety or lack of safety of synthetic rubber infill limited studies this is a quote limited Studies have not shown an elevated health risk from playing on fields with tire chumb but the existing studies do not comprehensively evaluate the concerns about health risk from exp exposure to Tire Chrome these federal agencies are putting forth this study that was just mentioned by the end of this year under duress from the US Congress all over the United States groups like this and ID are coming forward and asking for a review which these agencies are now doing in other words given with the EPA and the consumer product safety commission have said the Slate is clean there is no such thing is a study that shows crumb rubber is safe nor is there a study that says it's dangerous that is why all these federal agencies are moving forward with a comprehensive study there's multiple scenarios that could come out of this one could be it's in conclusive but another scenario could be and the EPA has done this before with Freon and V has been affected with this at our hockey rink Freon had to be removed from our hockey facility as a refrigerant because it's banned by EPA by 20 20 but the EPA could come out and say this tire infill has to be removed from all Fields by xate they have the power the EPA is the final say on this last Point given is I'd like to see the school board hold off until that study is completed any comments that have been made or are going to be made about the safety of chumb rubber just are not true the EPA said that like I said the Slate is clean one last comment uh Suburban the well-known school district county in Suburban Washington DC Montgomery County last year banned the purchase of crumb rubber infill if you're not familiar with Montgomery County it houses almost all the federal research facilities nist Walter Reed CDC and NIH and also that county has the highest concentration of those because of those labs of phds in the United States so I would take the lead from Montgomery County and not move forward with using crumb rubber thank you thank you Mr Franco next is Miss hacket thank you can you hear is that on hello that on got it kind of okay just gotta keep it close Okay when I sat down to think about what I would want to convey to you tonight many different arguments quotes and data points flew through my mind there is the acute health and safety concern brought up to me by a fellow EPS parent and physician that the rate of skin abration due to contact with the turf was two to three fold higher for players playing on artificial turf which then leaves children at higher risk for skin infections there is the additional acute safety concern of heat related illness being hired for AET athletes playing on Turf due to surface temperatures reaching upwards of 200° on a hot day there's the alarming safety concern that the vendor that ad is working with to provide this Turf has just testified in front of a mar Maryland legislative body that their products contain lead there's the long-term safety concern of exposing our children to the veritable Witches Brew of toxic substances in crumb rubber as described by gabori Benoit PhD Yale professor of environmental chemistry and engineering in and lean investigator of the recent Yale University analysis of crume rubber infill there is the environmental concern that this toxic brew could off gas into our air and leech into our ground here in Adina there is the financial concern that we are making a multi-million dollar commitment to a substance that the federal government is studying right now because the existing studies do not comprehensively evaluate the concerns about health R risks from exposure to Tire crumb and finally there is my very personal concern that despite the fact that the federal government has stated that the studies to date are inconclusive and despite the fact that many people in your community have a Litany of unanswered questions about this material and this enormous monetary investment EPs and the school board have stated that they feel comfortable moving forward with artificial turf with crumb rubber if you vote to invest $1.7 million of a din taxpayer money on this material tonight and put in these fields they will be the fifth sixth seventh and eighth field of their kind of a in a Dina do we really need eight artificial turf fields with crumb rubber in AA do we really need them immediately I see no plausible argument as to why we cannot pause for eight months and wait for the federal study results you have almost 500 of your constituents that have asked you to do so and you have upwards of 8,000 smaller con constituents that are trusting you to leave no stone unturned in protecting their health and well-being well-being that includes the prudent investment of their educational funds they should always be our number one concern and in the end safeguarding their future health and educational path are the only arguments that matter please pause and allow yourself and this community the time to rethink this taking The Prudent approach will harm no one I will leave you with a quote from Dr Philip landrian Dean of global Health at Mount Si Medical Center children go to play playgrounds almost daily and gifted athlet athletes are in the soccer field almost every day that sort of cumulative exposure results in a buildup in their body of these toxic chemicals and can result in a buildup of cellular damage that's caused by these chemicals and that can then result in disease years or decades later little children should not be put in a situation where they're forced to be in Intimate contact with carcinogenic chemicals thank you thank you Miss hacket thank you next is Miss Grove hello I'm Jenna Grove I'm here representing clean water action we represent over 50,000 motans with over 700 of them being Edina residents um as we can see here tonight there is some serious concern with the potential health effects because of the toxic chemicals contained in in these recycled waste tires the Yale study that was previously mentioned found over 90 chemicals in 14 different samples tested with half of them never being tested for human health effects um someone also spoke to the cpsc and the EPA study that's going to be coming out later this year um the chair of the cpsc recently spoke before Congress and said that he does not stand by his statement from 2008 that this is a safe product for children to play on um aside from that I think it's just important to point out that if this is not something that is a necessity immediately to at least wait to find what kind of data comes out of these studies that are being done not only by the EPA but also there's a $3 million study being done by the state of California and before we expose our children to this type of material further it's just important to make sure that the public gets what they deserve which is some transparent information on whether this is actually safe or not thank you Miss Grove next is Miss baras I want to can you hear me okay I want to thank each of you for the opportunity to speak tonight and I also want to thank you for your service I know there's a lot of um feedback that you're receiving and I know personally from working on committees how hard it is to do what you feel such a hard job and then all of a sudden you know you can't please everybody but I think what's significant tonight is just the volume of concern that we'd like to express to borrow a sports term the school board seems to be employing a hurry up offense not wanting to pause and collect input from the community A din Citizen's demand leaders who are trusted thoughtful stewards of our health safety and finances the information provided by the school board to the public about costs is alarmingly incomplete these costs absent from your projections paint a more accurate picture of the true financial burden required of Synthetic Turf and what of contingency plans as of the last school board meeting the board refuses to wait a few months for the release of the federal research action plan due late 2016 why would we make such a huge capital investment when research is still pending field Turf as mentioned has admitted in court that their product contains lead who in a dino will monitor the safety of the fields the board PL to install using this same company and significantly who will pay for this testing there's not enough time to list all the other costs absent from your projections but I'll start additional replacement infill required irrigation because of heat generated by the rubber chemical disinfectants sprays to reduce static cling and odors drainage repair and maintenance erasing and replacing temporary lines removing organic matter accumulation such as food dropped by athletes Gatorade which causes mold and even an up to including bodily fluids such as vomit which is not unheard of on a sports field a replacement Turf cost these fields say they'll last 8 to 10 years where will those millions of dollars come from when that time is up disposal costs because of the the material the crumb rubber material it is deemed unfit for landfill but okay for our children this requires special removal costs and fees and what of the warranty all across the United States towns and schools that have replaced their grass fields with artificial turf are finding out the hard way that the plastic stuff doesn't always last as long as advertised this is known as premature failure how will you come back to the community saying oops when we're asked to fight field Turf to replace things as mentioned before that they'll sometimes ask you to pay up charges on um refuse to adhere to the warranty and whatnot and speaking of the warranty what are the conditions how do we know we will be even uh uh excuse me field Turf will even meet the warranty does the warranty cover all aspects of the artif artificial field soil based preparation base materials Turf materials what level of Technical Training must be supplied to the maintenance crew in order to properly maintain the area and warranty conditions what are the recommended processes to address each of the following such as damage caused by fire these playgrounds are highly combustible there's an article in New Jersey where an 11-year-old Set Fire to the entire playground uh vandalism once teenagers hear about it is rampant among many of these fields what about discoloration um in areas caused by wear pattern differences other physical weather relating damage rains have known to flood and warp these fields and they've come undone the list goes on and and I think you get the idea lots of topics are going to be mentioned tonight I just urge you and frankly beg of you to take the community input to Heart hold off until we get the national survey done and let us form a task force of community members who are now becoming more and more involved and more and more well-versed in the material to help you come up with a solution because I acknowledge there is no no easy answer to this we love our activities we love our Sports and and we want our children all to have those opportunities let us help you find a solution that makes everybody happy and healthy thank you thank you next is Miss Seaman hello I'm Liz Sean I'm a Nina resident with children aged 8 6 and one I've got one child who plays Sports on crumb rubber turf I've got a husband who coaches on it I've got a middle child who won't stop doing cartwheels on it while we're watching her brother and I've got a one-year-old who finds it all over the house and who I pray to God isn't eating it this is my reality I'm here to ask why you are so insistent on moving forward with crub rubber in full who exactly is for crumb rubber where is the push for crumb rubber that I don't know about what I do know about are the many impassioned parents out here in Idina who are most definitely against it and who are advocating on behalf of their precious children that you don't seem to be listening to from what I've gathered you say your reasons for supporting the Chrome rubber are that it's coste effective that the vast majority of tur fields are filled with chrome Rubber and that the studies regarding its safety are inconclusive the last time I checked doing anything because it's cheaper and because everyone else is doing it are not good enough reasons to expose my children to this junk you say that the studies on long-term health effects are inconclusive however I will tell you what is not inconclusive and that's the 96 chemicals identified in Crum rubber including noncarcinogens which according to the EPA as you know include among other hazardous chemicals Mercury lead Benzene and arsenic pound-for-pound our children have greater exposure to environmental toxins than adults their organs are still developing their bodies are less able to detoxify it is vital that we Shield our children from as many environmental toxins as possible and yet you still want to move forward with an opinion with a product whose safety questions are only based on opinions and anecdotes well if by anecdotes you're referring to the parents of children with cancer who have died of cancer that I would be careful not to question the strength or weight of their power of their anger or of their fear that they expose their children to crumb rubber which even the most common sense response is that this doesn't seem right to make kids plan shredded tires that are even too toxic for landfills when I shared on social media that my community was moving forward with crum rubber Fields I had a number of friends across the country contact me personally and say wow I can't believe you guys are laying this stuff down in one case they noted that their Town Redwood City California had just spent $4 million ripping it up and replacing it with a non-toxic infill they said to me I'm so sorry well I'm sorry too and I'm embarrassed this is not progress and this is not the IDE a I grew up in it's not the ID I know and love are you sure are you absolutely sure that my children will be safe I would argue the answer is no but mostly I would argue that you can't say yes please please please make a better decision here for my children for all the children that play on these fields with a frequency that is only increasing please follow the lead of so many other communities including the mounu district who said and I quote there's been a number of conversations regarding Crum rubber there are studies that will say Crome rubber is perfectly safe and others that have concerns along with them we as a community decided to take ourselves out of that conversation and go with a different product I ask that you do the same or at the very least hold off on this decision thank you for your time thank you next is Mr Seaman I'm not going to speak so in such a polished manner to uh the ladies and the gentlemen who spoke earlier I'm I'm just getting I'm just hearing this really for the first time so I'm a I'm a coach my I'm a coach in the lacrosse program right now we can't move fast enough I sit on the the board of lacrosse program also we can't move fast enough to have a formal motion you know the formal processes we have to go through so I don't have a done I couldn't come up here and speak and that's forthcoming and that's in we're talking in terms of time right now I just can't move fast enough so that's disappointing I had another week I'd be might might be speaking on behalf of the program but I can't do that right now but I'm just thinking logically in terms of of liability first of all I mean everyone's telling a really compelling story right now about why these why crumb rber is so very toxic and all the issues associated with it I'm very fearful over the course of time you get sick kids you have someone show up with cancer that's going to come back to but you when we go through the minutes of this exact meeting and you get a chance to hear all this these amazing facts that speak to the problems associated with it um I as myself the like the very logical question as a father would I let my kids go crawl on a pile of tires in A din we would never have a pile A pile of tires in a Dina because we're we're educated people we think pragmatically there's so many different reasons what why that would be the case we would never let that happen so what Chrome rubber is in this case you're grinding it up and letting kids roll around on it it's completely illogical to me and I ask you to think from that perspective wait a little longer I'm GNA sound like Donald Trump right now but I'm I'm concerned about the deal that you've cut with this with this company with field Turf what's the reason why is it so important that you go so quickly there are existing fields in town you guys can answer after the fact if that's the case but why do we have to move so quickly I I just I just question if there's some type of penalty involved is the penalty worth paying to think more about what the liability may be down the line and what the health ramifications would be of the situation um I'm just interested to hear in at some point what the deal was that what's forcing us to move so very quickly rather than do the the intelligent thing and wait until we know more it seems like that information is forthcoming we're talking about several months we're not talking about years we have fields that work and we're waiting for more information that I think is going to help you to make a better decision thank you thank you very much is Mr warry here Dan warry thank you board for hearing this pretty contentious matter and I also appreciate the openness of R dson and Randy Meyer to hear my comments and at least help try to inform me in what was taking place um last week the schedules didn't work out I was in contact with your admin so thank you for at least trying to meet with me um however on the opposite side of the coin I feel as open as you are to try to meet with us I don't feel that the it's reciprocal in the sense I don't if you're really listening to what your community and your constituents are really trying to to say um you're open on one end but I think you're closed on the other end here um we have probably the most educated professionals is um CDC EPA consumer protection agencies studying this issue and they I I don't think they just decided to do it because they had nothing better to do I think it's a a real issue it's affecting others throughout the country and um you know of course it was initiated by the government the government a couple Senators reached doubt um President Obama decided hey let's look into this further um it's an opportunity to listen to what the most current and real-time information on this issue is um just like the previous gentleman said it it's odd to me why we can't wait it's almost as if we've already signed a contract and already into a transaction that we can't get out of because it doesn't seem like we're really in a situation with the meeting of the minds and trying to work together and making a good long-term decision so it's just conspicuous on why this is taken place it's just it seems like there's a lot of pressure to make this move and it it feels awkward so to bring our uh illustrious Republican candidate back into the circumstances maybe the deal's already been cut I don't know there are other Alternatives I know you've looked at them um I'm not sure how thoroughly um maybe they're not the best Alternatives but maybe they're better than this alternative I know groundup Nike souls are being used in in some areas I'm not sure what the health effects are on those I'd probably rather have um Nike Souls versus tires and those potential chemicals just my own personal thought as well as my kids um I sat in the audience I'm trying to put together some thoughts here and it was cute to hear the kids in the background and some of the kids here I know from um preschool and and elementary school and that those are our constituents too so I think we um owe it to them to for their health considerations um to take it into consideration why I would I would it just seems to me we can wait and um look for other Alternatives so of course I'll leave you with the saying hindsight is 2020 we actually have the opportunity to benefit from hindsight by taking the time to really think this through and not for somebody to criticize this for not taking the time to wait so thank you very much thank you last person is Miss Seymour I'm you're good thank [Music] you could have had you walk us through the agenda to begin with it's short maybe you want to just fly through it real quick yep so it's a special meeting tonight so we're just taking action on U issues and uh resolutions related to our construction uh first the uh four four field Turf project talk to that and then we have a few additions to the high school uh additions Renovations some contracts that were not finalized at our last board meeting we're now finalizing and then we have a joint Powers agreement between the city in Countryside uh in the school district at Countryside Elementary those were all reviewed by by the facilities committee and uh we can go forward with that and that would pretty much wrap up the day we have maybe some discussion at the end of the board meeting so the uh first action item is to approve the contract with field Turf that we've just heard discussion on could I get a motion to approve the contract with field with field Turf USA for the four field Turf project so move can I get a second second all right Margo can you just walk us so at the last meeting you gave a a relatively detailed background of this if you can just walk us through what this contract is be great i' be happy to good evening um do we have to attached in your board materials is the uh fourfield project uh there uh the vendor is combining um a couple projects by location and the national joint Powers Alliance pricing what that is is um sometimes we do Cooperative purchasing with other districts or state contract pricing this is a national pricing so what that means is uh the bid process has already taken place through this National firm and we get uh good pricing for that and um in it is also the specifications nationally and then in addition to that with our civil engineer Aja additional specifications in terms of the turf um warrant testing requirements training cleaning um because you do need to clean it uh performance feeli safety um all of those types of things have been considered and is um as part of The Proposal process the details are reflected in your board materials in terms of uh cost also included in there we did ask for some additional language uh we separated the project out into two uh components uh the 2016 uh fields and the 2017 fields and the additional language relates to the 2017 field uh that the district would have the option to terminate if information came forward we would have the option to terminate between now and April 30th 2017 and that additional language was added and field Turf has agreed to that uh brought to my brought to my attention that there was some additional information that was added can I which was walked in can I get a motion to substitute in the resolution to approve the contract in Li of the one that is was already on board book second and I take it your discussion is no different on the because it's the same exact motion Jump Ahead to that discussion so um so Mar can you just explain what's different is it just the background or is the motion different as well oh the motion is the same uh and and Facilities committee um our civil engineers construction managers architect firm we've all been working on this and certainly uh we've been um as we've talked about before been visiting about this since uh prior to the calendar year year um the motion again has not changed I just provided additional background as we continue to work on that one specific piece of language where there's the option to terminate by uh for the 2017 project by April 30th 2017 no other changes are there any questions from anybody well in the original packet that that the public would have been able to see none of the the stuff on the let's see the last page two pages the exclusions notes yeah exclusions and notes were not in the original packet so that is all new verbiage that wasn't online the original packages had pricing there's copies in the back of the room okay thanks are there any other questions Margot can you speak to the timing of this project we've had you know some questions as to why this is moving ahead now although this is a big difference that we have the option to terminate on the uncompleted projects prior to 2017 if information warrants it but how does this fit with our overall scope of work and the timing of the pl the installation of these fields it certainly is uh and and Chad is here and probably can speak more in detail and and Von and Eric but uh it all incorporates into the timing of all of our construction projects and um when when we need Fields available to be used uh we did approve um at our last meeting the uh bid for the site work to prepare the site for the turf replacement this is uh the request for approval of the actual Turf itself but we have already approved uh preparing the site um and if you need a more detailed an answer in terms of impact to schedule I I would refer to um one of my peers here well I think I think the the question that the constituents are asking has more to do with explaining why we're at this point where we're you know the the the Administration has asked the board to move forward on this you know kind of giving the background of you know that we were talking about this in the fall of 2014 when we were working through the the referendum recommendations if you could give some of that background about the timing and why we're where we're at does that make sense not sure I completely understand your question I think the point I think the point is there have been several folks who have raised a concern tonight that we're rushing to this and in fact there's quite a long history of explicitly considering what's best for the fields and and that's not correct there was a subcommittee of the facilities committee that began addressing this in 2015 and if you could give some explanation of the timing of our looking at crumb Rubber and alternative processes I think that would be helpful just a chronology okay uh we began in the fall of 2015 with facilities committee taking a look at the various types of turf uh available um brought a various types of information over multiple facilities committee there was a subtask force through uh the facilities committee directed to do other research research other school districts different options and come back with a recommendation and then we had uh several discussions at the board work session level so over the course of uh again the fall of 2015 through now this has been a process uh through the committee level Task Force Level and uh full board level so it it hasn't just uh occurred in the last two to four weeks it has been an ongoing discussion that has and previous to that more detailed discussion um we have been discussing um field space in general it's been part of uh the facility advisory task force that uh prepared assisted with the bond referendum and what would be included there was even prior to that two years prior to that there was the original facilities advisory task force that recognized the need for additional field space and even prior to that a couple years prior to that were individual community members coming forward with funding plans saying we need additional and in that particular example additional turf fields because the natural um natural grass fields are not keeping up and we need additional space so just the in general the um the conversation around the need for Fields has been going on for year as long as I can remember here in my my tenure here so I think I have a continued it's continued of of Regina's question is why couldn't we wait so what is it in terms of our construction guidelines you know in terms of our moving forward with all our projects that make this a you know a that Domino that needs to happen before what what and what I guess that's my question Chad and Von part one thing and as Chad and Von are uh getting up to the table here it one is that um all of this is part of the overall master plan for all of the constructions and so one piece needs to be done before another uh particularly at the high school um and also sensitivity to having the fields available Von and Chad I'll start from I'll start from a an overall Master planning standpoint um just v v you want to introduce yourself I'm sorry Von Dirks with World Architects and Engineers uh in 2009 and 2010 there were uh task forces that studied the need for fields in the district as part of the expansion plans uh as you're aware you have very limited real estate around any of your school buildings in particular around the high school currently there are a number of uh grass fields that athletes play on that are in Port condition uh these are also the uh the location where the addition to the high school is taking place these will come offline uh immediately starting this summer so we'll be expanding out in the north uh West portion of the site uh which will take that field offline we'll also be expanding out to the east which will take those fields offline so that'll add continued pressure to your programs um and so from a just from a timing standpoint and having enough available space that's one of the issues the other one is in product manufacturer and uh the prep work in order to be able to bring those L fields online uh as the construction proceeds that's an overall approach Chad maybe you have more specifics in terms of construction no no I think that's a good a good synopsis of that the the two fields in the high school is losing you know a lot of that capacity and the preparation work at the community center site really is what's going to take even more traffic than what's there and so getting those fields up and ready to take that added capacity even more so than it will normally get for that year in between is kind of the reasoning for the phasing of getting some work done first and then the High School site will follow in 17 so so what does that mean for or what I don't know if you can even say say answer this but what is the impact on our Sports programs both in the district and in the community programs if we were to to not move forward in terms of what would be delayed or would things need to be canceled it's a net loss of fields uh as well as no Synthetic Turf to play on from a durability standpoint to expand practice times so the first projects that move forward are the east side of the campus where we are now with Coleman Fields being replaced and then McCarthy field being an added tur field correct correct thank you and then what could potentially be delayed if there are study results that show that it is warranted would be the west side of the campus at no Financial loss I'm moving forward for that portion correct so part of it is replacement of what we've been using for 12 years correct the existing Coleman field is in need of replacement uh from the time it was installed and and but it did fulfill the expected useful life for the amount of use yes so it didn't underperform from what was expected with that particular installation performed well and Beyond well and Beyond well beyond and also the field at the high school is Turf and that was installed at the same time and we're going to try to get a few more years out of that okay that was installed in 2004 so it's at 12 years can um I don't know if either of you gentlemen can um answer this um some of the constituents have mentioned um that there was admission to lead being still in some of the crumb rubber do you know if that is what is the current product or is that based on product you know that were put in previously to the best of my knowledge uh the product does not contain lead at this time uh I believe the date reference at that point was 2009 I'd have to look into it so no to the best of my knowledge no the vendor will vendor will meet federal guidelines and then um I guess my other question is around the the uh vendor that we're choosing there have been and I've read you know this information that's been sent to us um that there have been lawsuits against this particular firm do we have um any guarantees or different things that we're looking for with this vendor and do we have concerns that um we should be looking at other vendors outside of this one my understanding is field Turf is the vendor from 12 years ago also and the the district has had good performance as just was discussed um with any vendor there can you you can have an issue but we also um have language in terms of the specifications and and uh 8-year warranty uh on the in on the product and would certainly hold the vendor accountable which leads to my next question um the the financial concern is always um one that worries me and so I'm wondering if if there were results from the EPA or one of the other government entities that would say that this is not safe and we have to remove it will field turf or any of the will there be any kind of uh recourse for us in terms of it's at their expense that the car mover is removed and replaced with something that is safe to protect us financially from the burden of having to replace this if it is deemed unsafe so we did pose that question to them that was not something uh they were willing to put in agreement they did put the termination Lang you know agreed to the termination language and and we were able to negotiate on that certainly uh my understanding is with the industry in general is is that um they are not the industry in general is not agreeing to commit to requirements that not AR aren't out there yet they will commit to requirements that they know that are in laws that are in place right now it's my understanding if something were to come out in the future um all of that depends on the language and how it comes out and we we've experienced that over in in other areas over the course of time and sometimes there's a phase in process sometimes there's funding to assist with Replacements um sometimes it's holding uh vendors accountable sometimes it's holding the business or the entity public entity accountable for the replacement um or a combination of all of the above and we don't know what that'll look look like um I've seen a variety of uh when there's different types of quality changes we have health and safety funding funding sometimes um we are able to get reimbursement for replacement of something if it falls under that whether that definition would be expanded BEC because of results from the EPA I don't know that those are all unknowns that uh you know we we can't commit to at this wouldn't know at this time but certainly would explore those options and I share your concern about finances I appreciate that we've occasionally heard stories about communities that ripped up their fields we heard one tonight about Redwood City California but they actually went through the life of their field like we've gone through here with the one we've had 12 years and now we're do something new and then they went to the one that required doubling the tax amount you require to or having the number of fields you have have you heard of any City anywhere in America that actually before the life of their field was done chose to go in and rip it up as we've been seeing people post online or is that a misunderstanding I'm not sure I'd be able to answer that I I don't know if anybody off any other District off the top of my head but I'm not saying there isn't so but I don't know of any okay that have other questions can you um I've heard and read the something about sprays and disinfectants can you speak to that at all on the the turf to keep it clean and and are there safety concerns around that again I'm not the expert in the turf side but I I you know there's a difference between indoor turf and exterior Turf and the indoor turf uh which is not the case we have here is has a different level of pieces because it doesn't have the rain from outside it doesn't have the UV rays from the Sun and those are two pieces that are difference so to my knowledge there's not chemicals that are put on for that on exterior Turf and likewise I don't know if you have the background on the other options for infill I know I've read a lot of Articles regarding potentials for Cork and corn husk my understanding from some of those is there's a potential risk for inhalence that can cause respiratory illnesses and that there may be a need for other types of bacteria and mold control on those products is there any information available that could give us some conclusive background about the risk of the alternative infills again there's there's likely um people starting to study that they're relatively newer in terms of how they're performing I know that there's some issues in terms of how they deal with rain and other items but I'm not sure that we have the information tonight to be able to answer that question for you and um I've just asked uh Eric Hamilton here who can speak to how we've maintained our current Synthetic Turf Fields with the Chrome rubber so he can speak to that now we currently have two turf fields that we maintained for you know numerous years um as far as the fluids that you're talking about rain does a tremendous number the sun does a tremendous number with UV um we do have equipment that we currently maintain the field with um whether it's fluff up whether it's clean it off um and we would continue those practices with the the future field another thing I'd point out is that we heard tonight that the Slate is clean that there are no studies anymore and that's that seems false to me there are a lot of studies looking at this sort of material from a lot of different angles inhalation was a major fear in the 9s and early ODS and the studies looked at that numerously and found no correlation no linkage between inhalation and any of the fears that were brought up now what some people in our audience have said I think it's more accurate that there are lingering gaps in what has been studied and that is what is moving forward California is looking to close one of those gaps in knowledge the EPA and some other groups are looking at the overall comprehensive features trying to close it so that they can say there are zero things left to even one wonder about but the Slate's not clean it is heavily loaded on the side of safety from a lot of different angles with a couple of angles left to research is that an accurate characterization from whatever else is understood and read that that is my understanding from having reviewed the studies and looked at the literature very carefully over the last six months and continuing to update my knowledge of it through through this evening for my own part what I appreciate is the studies that I've been able to do reviewing the information shared by the community for which I'm grateful I do want to acknowledge our appreciation for the respectful dialogue that this is important it's an important part of the process and I expect that this will be ongoing because until we have more information from the studies and we get to 2017 we won't have made a final decision we still and I'm very grateful for that opportunity for continued review before the installation of the West campus Fields uh there are a lot of unknowns that I haven't been able to answer regarding any of the other products I know from our studies over the past 12 years that grass is not an option in ad Dina for our current activities on site that it creates a safety risk and we have a limitation with it uh what I would like to have in terms of information and I recognize it's not available is conclusive information regarding the safety of any other alternative so uh not an expert in the field have read a great deal we continue to read appreciate our own experience with having Turf on the ad site for some experience in that regard but do welcome the opportunity to continue to move forward and monitor this study because it is timely and important that the EPA uh continue to research this product couple of quick questions the 1.7 million is not the number that we're um necessarily setting in stone tonight correct it's a portion of that is what is being spent on the East Campus and that would get started this summer correct because we do have the option to terminate however what we are doing um which is beneficial is that we're confirming the pricing for even the 2017 products so if there's a pricing change and we continue to move forward this is the price for the 2017 project so we're locking in the price yes and then we're kind of we're we're hedging our risk a little bit in the sense that in the event the EPA comes out with something in December or January or up to I think April we can cancel the west campus fields at no cost right and the questions that have been raised tonight are very similar to ones we've heard from the last four weeks I take it that the facilities committee is still in favor of this proposal and I'm not sure where to direct that question to that that is correct absolutely and the um I understand that there's no conclusive study the vendor is representing to us that this product is safe is that correct yes it meets all requirements they are representing or they would put the it they it meets all the requirements Federal requirements so that's what they are representing yes there other questions any comments before we vote I I would just briefly first um my views on this are are I think known to the audience I know they disappoint you uh but I do understand the passion that you've brought to this um I have children who use these fields I have not taken any of your concerns lightly and have been living with this decision uh for six months ultimately though the decision has to be made in my mind based on science rather than anecdote and the science has been clear based on all of the studies there is no study showing a link between crumb Rubber and cancer which was the original concern that launched the opposition into this field since then we've launched on other concerns all of which I think we've considered carefully and met um I do appreciate your efforts I wish I could have heard something tonight that would have made the decision easier for me but but I didn't I agree it as a hard decision but first I want to thank you because we have negotiated a better agreement with uh this company than we would have but for your activity and that's appreciated um second because no one was here speaking to it I do feel a need to mention that uh the folks who have written and talked to us and stopped in support of these fields have not really had their voice heard but there is in fact tremendous support among the coaches and players and families that use these fields um they provide activ outlets for sports including the less organized Sports the non-varsity sports uh like Ultimate Frisbee that that otherwise get short changed on fields um and there is an equal amount of passion among those coaches and players that this is the right way to go and those are constituent voices that deserve to be heard also particularly given my personal consideration of of the evidence and my conclusion that there is no evidence to support a linkage between crumb Rubber and ill health effects so I just want to be clear on the record for the reasons for my vote and to make sure that although you disagree with it it was certainly not a vote that was being taken lightly I a com I so respectfully you realize that the moment that you agree to this even though you have the option to get out they start like work you know exactly where it's going to end up you're going to move forward anyway so you negotiated this right to get out of the deal but once site work starts you're going to all right thank you very much thank you very much much so I'll also note that the decision that we're making tonight is one that does weigh heavily on me I mean it's one that as I try to weigh what the potential risks are and and they can only be listed as potential risks at this point because there have been studies done the studies don't create a link um and I think as air pointed out there are some studies that have eliminated certain links already and I and I haven't heard evidence to the contrary as to that we do as a district need the fields and whatever people may say about whether the kids are too active I think that having kids being active is positive and it is driven by our community and the request for these fields um I do take some consolation with the fact that we're going to have an opportunity in the event the EPA actually comes to a resolution prior to April that we can move forward and not go forward on the the wests side campus but I think ultimately what I hear from the facil ities committee what I hear from uh Bon and Krauss these are we need to move forward any other comments before we vote yeah I think it's important uh the comment about lead um there have been some tur fields that have lead chromate this is very different than lead carbonate which is the material formerly found in lead based paints so I think it's important to understand understand what really is the lead you're talking about and what's the availability of that from within the fibers uh but it's lead carbonate and it's very different uh lead chromate is what's in the uh has been in some turf fields that's very different than lead carbonate which is the material that's available in lead paints I think it's important to note that also as a point of order we need to vote to approve the the amendment to insert the new language into this motion before we vote on the motion itself thank you uh I I was just going to add that I concur with my colleagues on the the heaviness of this of this issue um I've spent lots of time as we should as elected officials reading everything that our constituents have sent us also what the admin Administration has provided us and our vendors and um you know I I don't take this slly and I've been particularly worried you know financially because I do believe that if the EPA makes their decision that I'm not convinced that the federal government will necessarily uh fund this mandate if they would put a mandate down that we have to do this because as board we deal with lots of unfunded mandates so um I do have strong financial concerns around this and also of course the concerns of our community because it's parents who care about their children and worry about their future and it is hard as a board to just say well there's no proof and you know we're okay with that um that's I don't think any of us look at our job that way or look at your concerns that way um this has been uh yeah Weighing on us and um I can only speak for myself but Weighing on me heavily this vote tonight and the decision that we're making for the children of our community um with that said um I will relinquish and I just one also thank you to the community we really do appreciate the dialogue I appreciate it it also weighs heavily I recognize that we will continue to study this topic but that my vote is based on the fact that I don't have evidence for a safer alternative I also recognize that there's a need to continue to move forward to provide fields for students but that we will continue to study that and I welcome the opportunity to do that together so the current motion is to substitute the Walked In Motion to approve the contract is there any discussion on that hearing none all in favor of the motion to amend to bring in the walked in the motion say I I I I any opposed okay so that passed we've already had discussion on that particular motion are there any other questions or discussion on the motion that is now before the board which is the Walked In Motion to approve a contract with field Turf USA for the four field Turf project any other questions hearing none all in favor say I I I any opposed n motion carried next item on the agenda is the Dina High School additions and Renovations and I believe we have a walked in amendment to that also can I get a motion to substitute the Walked In Motion for the one that is was already out so move second any discussion on substituting the Walked In Motion hearing none all in favor say I I any opposed all right we are now on to a presentation on the Walked In Motion which is to approve contract as per the attached documents from KRA Anderson Construction the uh as I presented uh with the overall High School bids or we presented um at that time there were several that we were holding on to continue to work with the vendor and um work out some of the details because that was a really if you recall a quick turnaround time and a lot of bids Incorporated under the high school umbrella and these uh three uh are the the remaining ones for the high school uh one we are rejecting the bids and the other two are recommending approval and I'll ask Chad to provide a little bit more detail there and say either of us can answer any questions that you have yeah this was this was this was just the last three categories and uh we just had to do a little more leg work on setting up some meetings and and uh chasing down uh Works scope 10 10A there was a uh another bidder that was had a lower price but it was not not the specified material it was a voluntary alternate price so we just had to do a little a little better research uh and there was a reason it wasn't in the specifications it didn't meet what we were after and so we're just looking to accept the price for the lowest responsible bidder in that category and then in 12C in the uh bleachers we just needed to do a little leg work um to make sure that we were getting the right product before we recommended an award and have went through that process and now a recommending award for both and in the final cleaning category we're looking at just rejecting bids and uh going back out for quotes and or rebids in that section and that that that will not delay our that's the tail end of the project we got a little bit this summer but that's pretty much the tail end so we've got time to deal with that make sure we got the right right company on board so any questions or discussion all those did you have something all those in favor of approving the contracts as per the attached document from Krauss Anderson Krauss Anderson for the D high school edition and renovation say I I I any opposed hearing none the motion passed thank you Chad hearing none uh next action item is the joint Powers agreement with the city of viina can I get a motion to approve the joint Powers agreement so can I get a second second Margo are you on discussion presentation on that one yes and Eric is also here uh to assist in it uh this is part of the Tracy uh Avenue project in terms of the city coming through and doing the other half of Tracy this year while they're doing that work and and not only to the street but to the sidewalk areas there uh joint this joint Powers uh provides an opportunity where we can um extend a side walk where now we only have stairs uh down to Countryside from Tracy uh for easier access handicapped accessibility uh and access for students and fam families community members uh to the site versus stairs um Eric do you have anything to add to that uh if you remember last year we uh you approved a sidewalk on the other side of the building this is just another opportunity because the city's working on this side allows us to eliminate a stairs which in the winter time the custodian has to clean off the stairs every single day we can broom it off it's a much safer access if you're walking on the sidewalk whether you're U handicapped in a wheelchair or you're walking with your kids in strollers it's much easier access to the site it's just uh it's been a real nice thing to do on that site uh the custodian appreciates it I think uh Karen uh is all for it we've talked several times and it's been a a real benefit to the site and hopefully to the constituents just I was had trouble with the drawings is this on the front or I should say is this on the Tracy side of the building yes yes and so that's the little staircase that comes off of there okay so we'll get rid of that and put in this sidewalk rather the stairs will stay we're not touching them just like the other side we didn't touch anything it still will be accessible in the winter time we close it and we don't shovel the the the stairs but summertime you can use e their access great thank you MH a couple questions uh since we saw this in facilities is there scheduled to be a crosswalk uh right where this is is going to hit the street yes there will be a crosswalk on at Tracy at that point the city okay there's a there's a significant Hill there do you know if this has been reviewed and approved at the city level or gone through Transportation Commission because I I just I drove this the other day and it looks terribly dangerous yep um work with Chad mner with the city um on their plan it lays out that there will be a cross walk at that point okay that's very dangerous in my opinion uh will the sidewalk be extending down uh to the southern end of our property it doesn't seem to appear that way on the map the southern end no it Curves in and ties into the street um at the bottom of that Hill that you're referring to on the sou so so there's no extension of the sidewalk at all on our on our property we won't have a sidewalk the full length of our property on the other side of this uh Tracy there's a sidewalk currently and we're going to tie into that one I wouldn't I I object to this just because of that sidewalk being there I don't think the Transportation Commission has reviewed that I just have some serious safety concerns with kids coming across right there there's no stop sign and it's a hill and it's coming from that funny crosswalk I know that we're going to have to have a crossing guard at that point that the principal will have to um work with but the intent is um accessibility on that site that's really the goal I was hoping they'd put a sidewalk down the west side so they could cross at Highlands at least where there's a there is an uh intersection or potentially a stop sign or something but I'm just it seems like a safety issue to me because it's a steep drop off right there so is this something that needs approval today not necessarily I mean in the past when these questions have come up we've we've tabled it to get further inform information before we approve it but I don't want to suggest that unless this isn't urgent in any fashion if you have reservations or concerns certainly not I can go back and review one more time with the city to just to verify where the sidewalks will and won't be um I know they've gone through their process of of their committees as far as review of sidewalks but this is by no means urgent on my side and at all I just I I just looked at the I didn't believe it was that much of a drop but when you pull up to Countryside in Tracy between there and the intersection it's a big big hill and I'm just concerned putting a even putting a crosswalk person out there it seems like a dangerous spot so I just want to make sure they've thought this through and that also that their Transportation Commission has reviewed this because it just seems like a big change I would very much prefer a sidewalk on the west side so these kids are able to cross someplace away from that big hill I I was going to add that just table it and review it so do you want to you want to bring a motion to table it Randy so do you have a question Sarah before no I was just going to say I know ry's stressing um concern around the sidewalk not linking up but then it is true on that side the sidewalk kind of dead ends and would not come down to where they're proposing although I'm wondering if the city when you go back to them with our questions if they would be amenable to extending the I'll verify the Westside sidewalk yeah it's not much of an extension that they would have to make to bring it to Countryside so we have a motion to table do we have a second second any discussion all in favor of tabling say I I I any opposed motion carried that uh third action item is tabled and we are now on to reports and discussions I would just uh excuse me um so the board meets in work session next Monday our Focus will be on again just kind of making our progress with the construction plans as we continue look at the rebid process at the elementary and making necessary adjustments and scope schedule and spending uh also giving the board an update on our strategic work going forward especially some of the major initiative that we'll be acting on over the next uh um three four months as it relates to uh school start time and end time which impacts bus schedules as well as the daily schedule at the elementary middle and high schools and how those might function a little bit different just asking the board to approve the guidelines for that but the recommendations for Action would not occur till fall 2016 and we'll be focusing on that work uh next Monday but uh moving forward with our hiring process both at Southview and Highland Elementary the principal ships and everything else is uh in motion it's Springs we have a lot of wind up and wind down going on great anybody else have anything they need need to add otherwise can I put a motion to adjourn a second all in favor say I I I he you opposed motion carried we are adjourned thank you everybody