Tredyffrin-Easttown board approves Conestoga athletic fields contracts; members back organic Brock infill

Tredyffrin-Easttown School District board members voted to approve the successful bids and RFP results for the Conestoga High School Athletic Fields project during a regular meeting, moving the district closer to constructing two multipurpose turf fields, a fieldhouse, maintenance building, softball field, parking and tennis courts.

The board’s action followed a presentation by district business manager Art McDonnell and consultants from HSA outlining the project scope, procurement process and vendor selection. Consultant Matt Heckendorf told the board that the selection team recommended the Astroturf AstraZone root-zone product after vendor presentations and site visits to local installations and that the compliant turf proposal was the lowest of the full-equipment bids. Heckendorf said the turf proposal was about 27% under budget and that building and site-work bids were substantially under their original estimates (site work described as roughly 29% under and building bids about 17% under the budget line items presented by the team).

The selection team also presented infill options. The base bid used virgin EPDM rubber; an alternate to add Brock (an organic wood-based infill) and an underlayment pad would increase cost by $168,819.24, while a separate deduct alternate would replace the virgin rubber with recycled rubber and sand. The board asked staff to weigh durability, safety and chemicals concerns before finalizing awards. “The proposal that complied with the Astroturf root zone product was the lesser cost of the two that included all of the equipment,” Heckendorf said.

Several board members expressed support for the Brock organic infill. “I support the Brock infill,” said Miss Audrain during board discussion. Mr. Hong also voiced support, citing lower field temperatures and reduced concern about rubber constituents.

Before the vote, a member of the public, Ken McNamee, urged the board to require at least three competitive bids and asked that the district disqualify Keystone Construction because of reported problems at a different field. Solicitor Ken Roos and district staff responded that the turf procurement used a cooperative purchasing vehicle (CoStars) and that the district subsequently solicited bids, receiving three turf proposals; staff also summarized follow-up calls about the DelVal installation and said that site conditions and non-warranty damage (reported to be caused by plowing the older base) were factors in that nearby field’s problems.

The board then voted on the resolution to approve the successful bids and RFPs for the Conestoga project; multiple members said “aye” and the chair announced the ayes had it. The motion passed; the transcript does not record a roll-call tally. Staff noted there will be additional contract items later in the process (photovoltaic panels, security cameras, networking) and that project administration will require coordination across roughly 14 contracts including prior tree removal and demolition work.

Next steps include finalizing which infill to accept, processing contract awards per the agenda materials and completing follow-up procurement for solar and security items. The board scheduled future facilities and finance follow-up and indicated further reporting will come to committee and future board meetings.