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Recreation department outlines drainage and fertilization plan for town fields; commission raises water-quality concerns
Summary
The commission reviewed a site walk and proposed grading, catch basin and discharge piping for the recreation fields, discussed fertilization practices and timing, and asked staff to coordinate with the recreation department and select board on funding and impact-fee use.
Brentwood’s Conservation Commission reviewed a proposal from the Recreation Department and a landscape contractor to correct drainage problems and improve turf on the town playing fields.
Commission members who completed a site walk described a plan to regrade one side of the fields so surface water drains toward the tree line, install a catch basin near the parking lot low point, and run a discharge pipe under the parking lot to daylight in the woods. The contractor said the work would address a persistent low area that “collects in the trough” between fields and cause a large puddle; a catch-basin/discharge arrangement would move that flow into the adjacent woods rather than into nearby wetlands.
Commission members pressed the contractor and recreation staff on fertilization and nutrient management. The contractor said the fields are fertilized about four times a year and that any licensed fertilizer applicator must meet state requirements. A commission member said nitrogen loading to Great Bay and its tributaries is a regional concern and asked for assurance that surface flow would not carry concentrated fertilizer into wetlands; commissioners were told the discharge would be to a wooded area and that erosion-control measures such as an erosion blanket would be used after seeding.
Timing: The recreation staff said sports would start in a few weeks, and any significant field work would likely occur in a brief interval this summer or during the fall season when activities are lower. The recreation department expects to seek Select Board approval to use impact fees to pay for the work.
Commissioners said they were comfortable with the proposed approach provided the discharge does not route concentrated runoff into a tributary of Great Bay, recommended adding settling or infiltration features at the discharge location (for example a rain garden or forebay), and asked recreation staff to coordinate final plans with the commission and the Highway Department for any maintenance or riprap needs.
No formal vote was taken; the commission encouraged coordination between recreation staff, the contractor and town departments and asked for follow-up details if the project moves forward.
