Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Logan school district plans to request $1 million in capital outlay funds from the New Mexico Legislature to install artificial turf on the football field and a catchment drainage system there.
Superintendent Dennis Roch and athletic director Billy Burns outlined the proposal during the school board’s regular meeting Jan. 10, which was streamed on the internet. The legislature’s 30-day session began this week.
Burns showed a preliminary report from a prospective bidder, South Carolina-based Sprinturf, and he said two other contractors may bid on the project.
State Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) also advised the district that funds also might be available from the New Mexico Environment Department for the catchment system because it would save water.
Burns provided to the board a report that shows the football field uses as much as 31,000 gallons of water a month, mostly for groundskeeping.
Burns said after the initial investment, an artificial turf field would save the district money on water and fertilizer, plus the time needed to care for a grass field.
Burns also said he has consulted with several other school districts that installed artificial turf to avoid any pitfalls at Logan. He said an artificial turf with a pad will lessen the frequency of concussions by players.
He said the main concern is grading and draining the site correctly before the artificial turf is installed. He said if that’s done well, such a surface should last 15 to 20 years.
Roch declined the Quay County Sun’s emailed request to provide a copy of an artist’s rendering of a proposed Sprinturf field, noting “we are very early in the process.”
“It remains to be seen whether the legislature will fund our request,” Roch wrote. “Without that funding, the idea may have to wait for voters to approve a general obligation bond in the coming years before the proposal can come to fruition.”
He added that “it’s really too early to publish documents or solicit media coverage. Perhaps we can visit more after the legislature adjourns in mid-February. By then, we’ll know if we have received all or part of the requested funding.”