SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake Central School District Board of Education unanimously approved the final contracts for a new artificial turf athletics field at the high school on Wednesday.

District voters narrowly approved the turf project in a vote last May, amid a debate in which opponents of the project voiced concern over the turf product carrying hazardous chemicals called PFAS, or “forever chemicals.”

The product selected by the board, FieldTurf USA’s “Vertex Prime” is billed as having “PFAS-free fibers” and SLCSD Superintendent Diane Fox said it will match the state’s new standards banning PFAS in artificial turf, starting in 2026.

Opponents of the project have pointed to cases from around the country where turf billed as “PFAS-free” gets installed and later is discovered to contain the carcinogenic chemicals. Most artificial turf products contain PFAS. However, an analysis of artificial turfs conducted by the town of Burrillville, Rhode Island last August found no detectable PFAS in FieldTurf USA’s “Vertex Prime.” This study can be found at tinyurl.com/3rp6ph8n on page 4.

SLCSD board Chair Mark Farmer said the district is doing the best they can with the information they have available. He couldn’t talk about what was discussed in the closed executive session at the meeting on Wednesday, but said board members shared the public’s concerns about keeping the environment and students safe.

“This process has been thoroughly, to the best of our ability, reviewed,” Farmer said.

The public hearings in the spring before the vote were held so the public could weigh in, he said. Their concerns were considered in the many meetings held about the project.

The contract for the turf product and its installation comes to just more than $2.1 million. Fox said with this price, the district should be able to do the project well within its budget.

The turf, lights and scoreboard project will not increase local taxes. This project will use $2.8 million of the district’s $3.8 million Capital Reserve Fund — a construction fund for borrowing money — along with $397,563 in additional capital funds.

If the project ends up being under-budget, the district won’t need to borrow as much as that.

There are two components to artificial turf — the carpet, which simulates grass, and the infill, which simulates dirt.

The board chose to use “virgin” rubber crumb as the infill instead of recycled tire rubber. This costs an additional $72,000, but is expected to be more environmentally friendly. Rubber that’s been through the process to make tires has chemicals that can leach out. All of the field drains off into ponds, rivers and waterways.

The board also chose to use Wollastonite as infill, too. This is a rock product that becomes a carbon sink, removing carbon released by the field from the air. It cost an additional $25,000, but is also expected to have environmental benefits. It’s a new product and only a handful of fields in the state use it right now, Farmer said. Saranac Lake will be one of the first. He also said the Wollastonite is less expensive for SLCSD since it is mined in Lewis County, making it less expensive to transport here.

Now that the district has signed all the contracts for the project and got approval from the state Education Department, they’re just waiting on the weather. The work on the field is expected to start in May or earlier, if the weather allows.

The field is anticipated to be complete by the fall of 2025, in time to host school sports.

While work is going on this spring, the district will need to move sports typically done on the field and track to other locations. Farmer said they might be able to borrow space at neighboring districts. The Lake Placid athletes trained and competed at Saranac Lake’s track while work was being done on their track.

Farmer thanked Fox for her involvement, preparedness and hours of time put into getting the best, most affordable field they could.

“For a guy like me who coached for a long time and worked around in the mud, I’m excited for this next generation of students in our community to have the best field we can give them,” Farmer said.

The new field is expected to support more sports — football, flag football, soccer and lacrosse.

Students in soccer, lacrosse will go from playing on the districts’ worst fields to their best. And Farmer said the rising tide will raise all ships. Modified teams will get to play on the field at Petrova Elementary School — up to now, the district’s best field.

Years ago, the district put a similar artificial turf field proposal up for a vote. The community said “no” at the time. Farmer said the spark for attempting this project this time was a “grassroots” effort of hearing from students who were traveling to other schools with turf fields and asking “Why can’t we have that?”

The artificial turf field proposition was controversial before the May vote but was narrowly approved with a 53.59% majority. With 1,478 total votes, 792 voted for the turf and 686 voted against it.

Some residents opposed the turf over concerns of increased injuries and leaching of PFAS. Meanwhile, others supported the turf, saying these concerns were not convincing, and that it will allow for longer seasons because of outdoor practices and games, field use by more teams and reduced maintenance.

To get state aid on the work done to the field, Fox said they need to do work inside the high school building. On Wednesday, the board also approved a resolution for an award of $40,500 to Murnane Building Contractors for doors, and an award of $329,500 to Next Era Contracting for electrical work bringing electric from the main building to the new lights and bleachers at the field.

The Murnane contract has an additional allowance of $8,000 and the Next Era contract has an additional allowance of $15,000.

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Other project details

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In May, local voters approved the spending for this project to convert the current grass field inside the high school track — between the high school building and state Route 3 — to an artificial turf field with lights and a scoreboard.

A proposition, to authorize the purchase of bleachers for this field at a maximum cost of $1.25 million, passed by 58.8%, or 862 to 604.

The bleachers and press box project will carry a cost for local taxpayers to not exceed $1.25 million. The district will take out a $1.25 million loan to be paid off over 15 years.

This is estimated to have an $8 per year impact for someone who owns a $200,000 home in the district. Property owners with STAR exemptions would have a $7 impact, and those with senior exemptions would have a $4 impact.

Last month, the board approved a letter of intent with E&D Specialty Stands, Inc. for work on the bleachers and press box at $605,039, as well as a purchase agreement with Musco Sports Lighting, LLC for the lighting at $582,855.

In November, the board agreed to transfer the name of Wilson-Raymond field — currently where the Red Storm play football behind Petrova Elementary School — to the new turf field at the high school.

The Petrova field will still host modified soccer and football, practices and other sports if the turf field is booked. Right now, there aren’t any plans to rename it.

The district also has a new mascot — “Big Red,” a red tailed hawk with weather elements nodding to the teams’ Red Storm name.