Many of the questions surrounding the condition of Live Oak
High
’s new football field were answered at Monday night’s School
Board meeting, as a report prepared by Jay Beals, president and CEO
of beals sport, the construction manager for the stadium renovation
project.
Many of the questions surrounding the condition of Live Oak High’s new football field were answered at Monday night’s School Board meeting, as a report prepared by Jay Beals, president and CEO of beals sport, the construction manager for the stadium renovation project.
The Homecoming game Friday night was the first game played on the field by the varsity and junior varsity teams since the condition of the field rapidly deteriorated.
Games the week before were moved because the field was deemed “too slippery” for safety after excessive watering in an attempt to recover from too little watering.
The freshman football team has been playing in Gilroy. None of the teams can practice on the field.
The Emerald Regime Marching Band has been unable to practice on the field, using instead the parking lot with a cherry picker rented by the band boosters to give Director Julie Waegle a stadium-seat view of the show.
There have been allegations that the field was released for play too soon by subcontractor Jensen Corp. which laid the sod for the field.
“As construction manager representing the district as owner, where did we drop the ball,” Trustee Shellé Thomas asked Beals during Monday’s meeting.
“The field was turned over without our knowledge,” Beals said.
He explained the procedure for releasing fields for play that his company, an architectural and engineering firm that designs projects rather than building them, uses with subcontractors. He said the subcontractor would have to have all documentation in place and then ask Beals to send someone to look at the field and take samples.
Another important component of releasing the field, Beals said, is the maintenance agreement.
“We would discuss with the owner the proper maintenance of the field and make sure it was understood and accepted by those who will be maintaining it,” he said. “That’s the piece that was missing.”
Beals said likely the field was not ready to be released, but he could not be sure because no one from his company was called to look at the field.
“Typically, though, we allow 365 days for the seed to root,” he said.
Trustees had a lot of questions about usage, which the district has said was excessive and may have contributed to the problem.
“Would three games a week have been okay,” Trustee Mike Hickey asked.
“I didn’t get a chance to look at the field, so I can’t say, but I imagine there would have been some thatch at that point, and we would have checked to see if the roots were established,” said Beals. “A contractor would have had the professional experience to determine this, if they knew the projected usage.”
A problem that is common with high school fields, Beals said, is that the district may not have complete control over who uses the field.
“Oftentimes it’s bandit users, people who have no permits to use it,” he said. “We have put security guards on fields for the first six months.”
Pressure from within the district is also a common problem.
“We have had the same situation at other school districts, and we do understand the pressure to release the field,” he said. “To someone who doesn’t have experience with this, they see a nice, green field, and why shouldn’t it be ready for use?”
Beals said the condition of the field first came to his attention through a Times article by then-Sports Editor Nathan Mixter, who is now sports editor at the Hollister Freelance.
“Someone, another client, brought the article into the office,” he said. “Before that time, I did not know the field had been released.”
Although the remaining two varsity and junior varsity home games – Oct. 31 and Nov. 14 – will be played on Richert Field, the future of the field remains questionable.
“I had a staff person there on Saturday, and the roots are definitely damaged,” Beals said. “Repair work should be done to bring it up to a playable level, not for safety, because it is safe, but for usage. I have consultants in Kansas City and Denver working with us on this now.”
The problem is timing, he said.
“Grasses don’t grow well in the winter,” Beals said. “And it was watered about two times more than it should have been, and it drowned the roots.”
The marching band will continue to practice in the parking lot; no practices or other usage of the field will be allowed until the situation is resolved and the field released.
