Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks And Facilities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Annandale board hears update on Dristy Field turf problems and phased remediation plan
Summary
District and city partners outlined a multi-step plan to remove invasive tall fescue in the infield, reseed with Kentucky bluegrass and continue maintenance through the summer; the field is playable but has required extra remediation work.
Tiffany Grube, who said she manages the Annandale Rec Park partnership, told the school board that the joint project at Dristy Field has developed an invasive tall-fescue problem in the infield and described a phased remediation plan that began in summer 2024.
Grube said the Annandale Rec Park and Annandale Public Schools originally seeded Dristy Field in 2017. She said consultants and contractors identified an overlap of seed mixes during installation that allowed a tall fescue blend used on adjacent utility fields to invade the infield. That invasive fescue did not become evident until several years later, Grube said.
To address the problem, Grube said the district and its contractors killed the mixed grasses in July 2024, reseeded with a Kentucky-bluegrass blend described in the meeting as an “Olympic sod blend,” and then implemented a fertilization and weed-control maintenance plan. She said the field is established enough to be playable and the remediation is continuing; a maintenance contractor is scheduled to monitor fertilization, pre-emergent treatment and weed control through the summer.
Grube said Bolton & Menk (engineers on the original project), the city administrator and contractor representatives have been engaged in discussions about responsibility and remediation. She also reported that Reinerts Grass, a local turf contractor that works with regional sports programs, had inspected the field and assisted with recommendations.
Board members asked whether games had been scheduled and were told teams have been practicing on the field but the coaches had limited games early in the season to give the turf time to root. Grube said rainy weather briefly delayed a scheduled game but that play is planned to resume as conditions permit.
From a governance perspective, Grube said the field is part of a joint powers agreement between the city of Annandale and the Annandale Public School District; cost-sharing and follow-up meetings among the joint-powers group will continue two to three times per year.
Ending: The board did not vote on a funding allocation at the meeting; Grube said contractors and the joint-powers group will continue remediation work and report back at future meetings.
