Fix sought for soggy East Lyme field

Coaches, former baseball players decry past ‘Band-Aid’ efforts

East Lyme — Written messages from more than two dozen residents read into the record at Monday’s Board of Education meeting conjured images of the halcyon days of the East Lyme High School baseball field.

Todd Donovan, a member of the

Class of 1996 and that year’s ECC Player of the Year in baseball, told the school board it’s time to find a long-term solution to bring the field back to its former glory.

“Many years ago, our baseball field was lauded for its beauty, its admirable playing surface, and its state of the art facilities. It was the backdrop for a town in the midst of creating a rich baseball tradition rivaled by none. We were the bar,” Donovan wrote.

But problems with drainage were manifesting themselves even when he was playing there 25 years ago, he said.

“As the calendar turns, year after year, we watch our complex continue to fall behind our neighbors in regards to amenities, but more importantly, safety,” he said. “What we have on our hands at the moment did not happen overnight.”

A member of the Class of 1995 recalled a USA Today spotlight from the year he graduated that featured the field as one of the top in the country.

“As the calendar turns, year after year, we watch our complex continue to fall behind our neighbors in regards to amenities, but more importantly, safety . ... ” TODD DONOVAN,

CLASS OF 1996 AND THAT YEAR’S ECC PLAYER OF

THE YEAR IN BASEBALL

“As each year has gone on, I think it’s progressively gotten a little bit worse.” JEFFREY NEWTON EAST LYME SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

“Night games were an event for the student body to cheer on the team and for folks in town to gather and enjoy a fun ballgame. Our field was the envy of every visiting team we played,” Dave Resetar wrote.

Now, deteriorating conditions on the field will likely prevent high school athletes from practicing and playing baseball on their home field for most or all of the season, according to Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Newton. They'll play at Bridebrook Park on a field with no lights.

Facilities director Christian Lund told school board members during the meeting, which was accessible to the public via Zoom, that he is waiting for the results of soil testing to find out what's wrong with the soil in left field.

The overarching problem is a lens of material on the field that doesn't let anything percolate through it, Lund said. “All the water's just sitting on top of it sort of like in a bowl.”

The soil testing process found a properly constructed right field, he said. But the area in left field that had been graded and filled revealed a thick layer of what he described as a clay-like material, for lack of a better term.

Whatever type of fill is out there — which is what the testing should determine — “seems to have been problematic,” Lund said. Knowing the exact nature of the issue will allow Lund and the rest of the district to formulate a longterm plan to fix it.

Newton said the fill was added to the field as part of an $80,000 effort, to address existing draining issues, completed in 2013. “Not casting any blame on anybody, but since that time it has continued to have some drainage issues,” he said. “As each year has gone on, I think it's progressively gotten a little bit worse.”

He said options range from resodding the field to putting in a multipurpose, artificial turf field.

“Obviously that comes with a price tag,” Newton said. “Nonetheless, something needs to be done.”

School board member Barry Scheckley wondered if some of the money coming down from the federal government for COVID relief — there's several million of it between the town and the school district, though the guidelines for spending it have not yet been officially handed down — could be used for the project.

Scheckley suggested tying the project to student learning as a way to access the federal dollars. He said a collaborative approach could bring together students across the district, college students and professionals as part of a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, or STEAM, curriculum.

Baseball coach Jack Biggs in his written message to the board said it's time to be proactive. “If we truly believe in our student athletes, the correct decision to ‘replace' the field with a full synthetic multi purpose field is the only solution,” he said.

Jeff Handler, part of the high school baseball coaching staff for two decades, said he can't remember a time in more than 10 years that the team hasn't had at least a few games, if not whole seasons, affected by the conditions on the field.

School board member Candice Carlson reiterated the coaches' view that the “BandAid” approach isn't working; instead, there needs to be a permanent solution. “It's something we really need to focus on and try to fix,” she said.

But the school board expressed openness to also take more immediate, temporary measures if that gets current students out on the field.

School board Chairman Timothy Hagen added to the sentiment when he said he felt “awful” about the baseball players who can't play at their own high school.

“I think what we're hearing is the board is extremely supportive of trying to figure out what's the right thing to do short term, intermediate term and long term for the field,” Hagen said.

The board will discuss how to move forward once the results of the soil tests come in, according to Hagen.

Lund said Monday the information would not be available for at least another week.