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Council staff recommends pausing North Potomac turf-to-grass conversion until costs are verified
Summary
Council staff told the committee the $720,000 figure for replacing North Potomac Community Center’s artificial turf is a placeholder and initial analysis indicates natural grass could cost as much as three times that amount; staff recommended postponing approval until a more accurate estimate is available.
Council staff on Tuesday recommended postponing approval of a proposed conversion from artificial turf to natural grass at North Potomac Community Center until departments can produce a more accurate cost estimate.
In the staff presentation, the placeholder figure shown in the executive’s CIP packet — $720,000 — reflects the cost to replace the existing field with synthetic turf. Council staff said installing natural grass would be a different scope and that early analysis indicates it "may cost as much as up to three times" the packet estimate. Staff therefore recommended deferring action on the project to obtain further analysis and a precise cost estimate.
Staff also noted community testimony in the record supporting retaining artificial turf at the site. The recommendation to postpone is procedural: it asks departments to return with refined cost information before the committee acts on the proposal. The committee did not approve the turf-to-grass change during the session.
