A special school board meeting Monday afternoon failed to resolve a holdup in the installation of artificial turf on the Breaux Bridge High football field.
A contract with Geo Surfaces of Baton Rouge, a firm that installed the St. Martinville Sr. High turf and dozens of other athletic fields, called for completion of the project by July 1. But a dispute over the shock pad that supports the artificial turf has the project bogged down.
The board had met with Geo executives and representatives of Vermilion Architects, who drew up the specifications for the field, during a two-hour executive (secret) session at the board’s June 6 meeting but apparently failed to resolve the issue.
Mark Boyer, the board’s legal consultant, said at Monday’s special meeting that board members felt after the closed session the problem would have been cleared up.
The crux of the matter revolves around the shock pad specifications, particularly regarding safety issues.
Geo officials have developed the their own proprietary shock pad that has been used in other installations over the past several years, different from the pad used on the SMSH field.
The Geo pad apparently meets industry standards but Vermilion Architects representatives feel the Geo pad might not meet the standards specified in their plans.
Resolution of the issue now apparently rests on the results of tests being conducted by a New Hampshire testing firm on the Geo pad and a pad that complies with the board specs.
Test results are expected by Monday and board members authorized Boyer to take appropriate action based on those findings.
But even if the Geo pad passes the test, work would likely not proceed on the field until after the July 4th holiday.
If the Geo pad fails to meet test standards, the issue could end up in a legal dispute.
That leaves BBHS athletic director/head football coach Terry Martin very nervous.
Although his team’s first varsity home game is not until Sept. 19, the school is scheduled to host jayvee games against Teurlings Catholic and Notre Dame on Sept. 5 and 12.
“We’re facing a big loss of revenue if we can’t use our own field for those games,” Martin said Monday.
He and BBHS principal Louis Blanchard were clearly frustrated that the field, which has been ready for the installation of the shock pad and artificial turf for more than a month, may not be ready for the start of the 2018 season.
Geo was the successful bidder on the artificial turf installation for both the Breaux Bridge field and new Cecilia field (which is not scheduled to be completed until next year)with a combined price of $4,032,000.