Committee awards Victory Field renovation; parents and local contractor raise cost and PFAS-testing concerns

The Barrington School Committee voted to award the Victory Field Athletic Complex renovation to Green Acres and to allocate $4,653,707 from the district's capital reserve to fund the work.

Committee members and district staff said the recommended bid included a no-infill, "pivot" turf product that the project team described as manufactured without PFAS and without PFAS-containing lubricants. Construction staff said the turf product carries a 12-year warranty and that the chosen shock pad and installation approach are intended to extend the surface's service life and athlete safety.

The project scope the committee approved includes upgraded track surfacing (the committee discussed selecting a higher-performance product over a lower-cost alternate), new lighting adjustments to permit an expanded track layout, an underground border system, and field hookups to allow surface cleaning via hoses as needed. Administration and project staff said routine maintenance would focus on removing organic debris and could be handled by existing custodial staff using blowers rather than infill grooming equipment.

Procurement and public concerns: During the public-comment period, Will Fox, who identified himself as representing Yardworks, objected to the award on procurement grounds. He said Yardworks submitted the low bid to the Barrington School Department for the Victory Field work but that the district chose an out-of-state contractor instead, citing scheduling as a factor. Fox said scheduling was not included as an evaluation criterion in the original solicitation and noted differences in bid-bond ratings between his AAA-rated bond and the successful bidder's B+ bond.

Separately, a resident, Andy Reich, asked whether the district's specifications require on-site testing of installed materials for PFAS and for numeric PFAS thresholds in the contract language. Administration replied that the project and specifications call for the Pivot Turf product that the procurement documents require, but that the bid documents did not include an on-site PFAS testing program or a numeric PFAS limit to trigger rejection of materials; officials said they would follow up on those questions. Members also said a student survey at the high school had shown majority support for the field project; the district confirmed it would respond to a public-records request for the survey results without student-identifying information.

Legal and RFP review: District counsel and the project team reviewed the RFP responses and told the committee that one of the three proposals did not meet the solicitation's requirement to provide two prior projects of similar size and scope. Counsel referred to the statutory framework governing public procurement (Rhode Island General Laws 45-55-5(b) was cited in meeting discussion) and advised the committee that the award of the lowest responsive bidder is consistent with the RFP and state law.

Vote and funding: The committee passed a motion to award the contract to Green Acres and to draw $4,653,707 from the capital reserve to fund the project.

Next steps: Project managers said they would proceed to finalize contract documents, reconcile third-party cost estimates and the architect's numbers, and produce a prioritized "a la carte" scope list so the committee can decide which renovation elements to fund if further value-engineering is needed.

Ending: Committee members said they heard public concerns on procurement transparency and environmental testing and asked administration and legal counsel to follow up and report back with additional documentation or clarifications.