Town Officials Concerned Over Condition of Fields

Concern about the overuse of Southold Town’s outdoor recreational fields was the main focus at Tuesday’s Town Board work session.

Southold Schools Athletic Director Joe Braico came before the board to ask if the school could use the town’s tennis courts at for the upcoming fall girls' tennis season. Braico explained with the varsity, junior varsity, and junior high teams all scheduled to have practices and games, the four courts at the school are simply not enough.  Braico said with the six courts at Cochran, the teams get done before dark. The school used the courts for practices last year and Braico said the students would move over if residents came to use the courts when they were practicing.

Town Board members asked Braico why it was necessary and Town Board member Chris Talbot questioned whether Southold was spreading the cost of its sports programs across the town.

“Mattituck is not using town courts. How do you get to the point where this is needed?” Talbot asked.

Town board member Albert Krupski expressed his concern over the use of all town fields and was reluctant to give his support.

“I’d say yes for only this year. I can’t say ’yes’ to you and ‘no’ to Mattituck, Greenport, or Mercy,” Krupski said.

Supervisor Scott Russell said the real issue was not the school’s use of the tennis courts, but that all the fields were being overused.

“We’re getting pressure in other areas. The facilities are there for everyone in town,” Russell said. “We’re hoping the schools can be part of the solution.”

Later in the session, Jim McMahon, director of public works joined the discussion. He said his department “put their foot down” to protect the football field this year. McMahon said Strawberry Fields in Mattituck is also being overused.

“We can’t put grass down if people are going to use it constantly,” he said.

Krupski was worried about the overall state of the fields and said it was becoming a “quality of life issue” for town residents.

“I’m worried about the wear on the fields, fencing and garbage removal. We need to do a cost analysis for events to make sure we recoup our expenses,” Krupski said.

Jeff Standish, the town’s deputy director of public works, would like to seed over the front field at Strawberry Fields, but there are already events scheduled there in the fall and it cannot be done this year.

“Hopefully, we can overseed next September and not use the field until the spring,” Standish said.

Russell said the town needs to develop a policy to guide the recreation department in approving events, and determining who and how much to charge for events.  He also said the schools should be able to accommodate overflow events.

The town is planning a summit meeting with the town’s recreation department, school administrators and park districts to coordinate use of all the town’s fields.