Foxborough Voters Approve Turf Field Project at Tuesday's Special Town Meeting

Editor's note: This story will be updated.

Foxborough is finally getting a turf field.

After years of planning, fundraising and volunteering, Turf's Up's proposal passed its final test Tuesday at Special Town Meeting when 260 of 389 voters said "yes" to Article 6, effectively bringing a community turf field to Foxborough High School.

Turf's Up is a local committee comprised of volunteers and chaired by Foxborough resident and Board of Seletmen chair James DeVellis. The committee's vision for a turf field in Foxborough began four years ago and culminated Tuesday night when Article 6 passed Special Town Meeting, 260-129.

By approving Article 6, the town agreed to appropriate $125,000 from the town's Overlay Surplus to be used for the construction of the town's first ever turf field, which will be located at Foxborough High School.

Additionally, voters approved - through this article - the spending of funds from the following sources:

• Turf's Up NFL Grant $200,000
• Turf's Up Community Fund Raising $60,000
• Tree Tech Tree Removal Donation $20,000
• Turf's Up Engineering Donation $139,000
• High School Renovation Bond Proceed balance $1,000,000
• School Department Building use Revolver $75,000

The field will be built at the high school in the area where the baseball and softball fields are currently. These two fields would be reconstructed in an area behind the high school.

In addition, lighting and a community-donated scoreboard will be constructed at the turf field. The total cost of this project is $1,619,000.

Here’s a closer look at the funding sources for Phase I of the turf field project and a breakdown in Phase I costs as provided by the Turf’s Up Committee.

Proposed Funding Sources for Phase I

• TurfsUp NFL Grant: $200,000
• TurfsUp Community Fundraising: $60,000
• Tree Tech Tree Removal Donation: $20,000
• TurfsUp Engineering Donation: $139,000
• High School Renovation Bond Proceed balance: $1,000,000
• School Department Building Use Revolver account: $75,000
• *Appropriation from Overlay Surplus account $125,000 (Appropriation of $125,000 was approved at Dec. 11 Special Town Meeting)

Phase I Costs

Synthetic Turf Field

• Remove baseball field, benches, backstop, etc.: $4,000
• Remove fence: $1,398
• Remove and stockpile topsoil: $6,500
• Erosion/sediment control: $6,500
• Earthwork and dispose: $67,600
• Synthetic turf surface: $498,750
• 18” gravel base: $59,052
• Inner fence (4’): $42,406
• Football goal posts: $10,000
• Drainage and stormwater management: $100,000
• Electrical distribution: $20,000
• Sports lighting: $140,000
• Scoreboard: (Community donation)
• Subtotal: $956,206

Baseball and Softball Fields (Located behind Foxborough High School)

• Clear and grub: $44,800
• Erosion Control: $5,000
• Strip topsoil: $16,714
• Earthwork cut and fill: $108,416
• Baseball backstop: $25,000
• Player bench: $2,400
• 6’ chain link dugout fence: $4,740
• Baseball infield mix: $30,000
• 4’ chain link fence: $7,800
• Softball backstop: $18,000
• Softball bench: $2,400
• Softball infield mix: $29,000
• Baseball bleachers on pad: $36,000
• Respread loam and augment: $54,204
• Seed mix: $45,980
• 12” base gravel parking area: $8,000
• Phase I Total Labor and Materials Projection: $1,394,660
• Civil Engineering & Permitting (10 percent): $139,000
• Contingency 6 percent: $85,340
• Phase I Total: $1,619,000

Prior to Tuesday's Special Town Meeting, the School Committee unanimously supported Turf's Up proposal while the Advisory Committee recommended disapproval. Foxborough's Board of Selectmen took no action on the project, splitting its vote, 2-2. 

On Tuesday, residents heard from those for and against the project. Voters in favor told the audience a turf field provides a much needed additional field, levels the playing field against other towns in the area and creates a "campus" dynamic that is currently missing at Foxborough High School.

One resident, a senior citizen, said the town "can never do enough for kids" and in a fiscally conservative town like Foxborough the timing will "never be right" for a turf field.

Those opposing Article 6 cited other capital projects in town such as Town Hall, Burrell and Taylor Elementary schools and sewer.

One Foxborough resident said, simply, "there's better ways to spend" the $1.2 million appropriated towards the turf field project.

AdCom chair Larry Thomas made it clear that the committee was not against a turf field in Foxborough but was opposed to the proposed funding and timing of the project.

After a lengthy discussion, Town Moderator Frank Spillane called for a motion to vote on Article 6. Spillane's first vote count was 298-99 in favor of the turf field project. Following that count, one resident immediately called for a hand count tally, which was seconded and administered by Town Meeting staff.

The hand count tally produced the 260-129 vote in favor of Article 6 and a motion to reconsider was rejected by voters, effectively bringing the town its first turf field.

For more information on the town's turf field project, click here.