In a bond vote on Tuesday, residents in the Mount Anthony Union School District rejected a $3.5 million proposal for a new athletic complex at the district’s high school in Bennington.
Residents of Shaftsbury, Pownal, Woodford and Bennington voted 1,217-841 against the project, which would have included an upgraded multiuse building, a track and a synthetic turf field.
A committee established by the school board had researched options for the existing athletic complex, which is aging, floods in the spring, and can’t stand up to intensive use during the fall sports season.
Student-athletes and school officials expressed broad support for the project because it would have allowed increased playing time, and spectators would have been able to attend a wider variety of games more easily.
The synthetic turf field caused some to worry about the potential presence of toxic chemicals such as PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which commonly appear in synthetic turf. Widespread PFAS contamination from the teflon coating business ChemFab continues to affect Bennington residents.
However, board chair Tim Holbrook said it was more likely the financial burden of the project, rather than PFAS concerns, that caused residents to vote against it. A team of people had been working on the project for two years, he said.
“I’m disappointed for the people that put so much work into the project — the coaches and the athletic director and the architect and the engineers and all those people,” he said. “And of course, I’m disappointed for the kids, because I think they were looking forward to it.”
State Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, spoke out against the project — as did a former official with the Environmental Protection Agency, and leaders of the Vermont Natural Resources Council and Vermont Conservation Voters — because of concerns about PFAS contamination.
While manufacturers had provided assurances that no types of PFAS existed within the turf field or track, those who opposed the project said common tests for the chemicals’ presence aren’t yet comprehensive.
Though the state has already passed some legislation that prohibits certain PFAS-containing products from being sold in Vermont, Campion has urged legislators to continue working on regulations to curb the toxic chemicals.
“Despite the vote, I think most of us are still in agreement that something needs to be done, and now the question is with what and for how much,” Campion said.
Holbrook said he’s not sure what the board will do to remedy the problems with the field. The board will seek recommendations from the committee that worked on the project to learn about its options moving forward, he said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Bennington voters reject Spinelli Complex proposal, including synthetic turf field.