Ridgewood council and residents clash over field scheduling, turf proposals and conduct at public fields meeting

Council members and residents spent a lengthy portion of the May 7 meeting on sports‑field scheduling, grass upkeep and recent public conduct at a fields meeting held the previous day.

A council member summarized capacity across village facilities: “we have 5 fields, 5 field facilities,” noting specific booking counts for Habernacle, Hawes, Maple and Veterans fields and stressing that “that does not mean that all of those numbers… can be booked at the same time” because field layouts overlap. The council member said that explanation had been given to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and to attendees at the fields meeting.

Council members and staff described an active discussion about grass‑field maintenance, scheduling rules in the village’s master‑library booking system and possible contractual penalties in the master library for users who hold fields and do not use them. One council member said the Board of Education’s architect had confirmed that a full‑sided field could fit at BF and that a small group was now evaluating grass versus turf options for that site.

Several residents used public comment to criticize behavior at the fields meeting. Boyd Loving and Anne Loving said women were berated by a male attendee and that no one intervened; Cynthia O’Keefe and Amy McCambridge described repeated incidents of what they called bullying and misogyny at the meeting and urged the council to impose rules of conduct. McCambridge called the turf option “dangerous for the kids” and urged the council to bring in alternative field‑management experts; she said turf would “let you play in the rain” but warned of heat and regulatory risks.

Council members proposed concrete follow‑ups: Village Manager Keith asked IT or GIS staff to prepare an overlay showing how each bookable configuration overlaps at a given field so residents can see why multiple bookings cannot occur simultaneously; the manager said that is “an easy thing” for staff to do. Council members also said they will continue grass‑field investments where appropriate—council remarks noted recent investment to rehabilitate Hawes and that Habernacle is maintained as a grass field.

The council did not adopt new policy at the meeting but endorsed outreach and information steps. Multiple council members urged respectful public engagement and said complaints about conduct at public meetings should be noted in future committee procedures.