http://panews.com/local/x1968174473/PN-GISD-buys-new-turf
May 29, 2012
PN-G doling out green for new turf
Brandon Janes
The Port Arthur News The Port Arthur News Wed May 30, 2012, 09:50 AM CDT
PORT NECHES — On Tuesday, the Port Neches-Groves ISD school board spent almost $400,000 on a new turf field for Indian Stadium, after FieldTurf, the company currently being sued by the district for installing a defective turf, offered to replace the field for free.
The district will pay a new company, Hellas Construction, $379,289 for the new synthetic turf field.
PN-GISD school board president Rodney Balsamo declined to comment on the major purchase, which is to be taken out of leftover funds from the 2007 bond, and referred all questions to the district’s attorney Lance Bradley.
“I think (the PN-GISD school board) lacks confidence in FieldTurf based on prior dealings with them,” said Bradley, during a telephone interview Tuesday. “They want a safe bet.”
FieldTurf’s offered to replace the four-year-old field but would not grant a new warranty to the replacement turf, according to Bradley.
“Do we want the field if they don’t have enough faith in it to give us a warranty?” said Bradley.
Four months ago PN-GISD entered into a lawsuit with FieldTurf, the company which installed the turf in 2008, after several evaluations reported premature deterioration of the nylon fibers in the synthetic grass surface of the field.
According to previous statements from the PN-GISD superintendent Rodney Cavness, FieldTurf was refusing to recognize their end of the contract.
“It started breaking down when Dr. (Lani) Randall (superintendent until August 2010) was here and we’d really only played 10 games on it,” PN-GISD trustee Lana Parker said at the Tuesday school board meeting.
In March of 2011, FieldTurf filed a lawsuit against TenCate, the company who supplied the nylon fibers, just two months after the turf installation company sent a letter to PN-GISD saying that the wear and tear on their field was normal, according to court documents and comments from the PN-GISD attorney.
Both PN-GISD and TenCate’s lawsuits with FieldTurf are still pending.
According to the court papers from the TenCate lawsuit, FieldTurf built more than 100 fields using defective fibers that degraded prematurely.
As of March 2011, FieldTurf had spent $4 million on repairs to defective turf fields as well as was facing “future claims of tens of millions of dollars as a result of failures of TenCate supplied fiber,” the document said.
FieldTurf’s total projected losses due to the defective turfs are estimated to be $30 million, according to the document.
“Do they have the ability financially and practically to replace 100 fields?” said Bradley. “And where does PN-G fall as far as priority on their list?”
Hellas Construction, PN-GISD’s new turf company, will begin installation of the new heavier-grade nylon field beginning on June 29.
According to a Hellas Construction spokesperson, construction is expected to take three weeks and comes with a with an eight-year warranty.
“It’s definitely an upgrade from what they currently have,” said Bradley. “The main two things are the quality of the product and the confidence in the company.”
bjanes@panews.com
May 29, 2012
PN-G doling out green for new turf
Brandon Janes
The Port Arthur News The Port Arthur News Wed May 30, 2012, 09:50 AM CDT
PORT NECHES — On Tuesday, the Port Neches-Groves ISD school board spent almost $400,000 on a new turf field for Indian Stadium, after FieldTurf, the company currently being sued by the district for installing a defective turf, offered to replace the field for free.
The district will pay a new company, Hellas Construction, $379,289 for the new synthetic turf field.
PN-GISD school board president Rodney Balsamo declined to comment on the major purchase, which is to be taken out of leftover funds from the 2007 bond, and referred all questions to the district’s attorney Lance Bradley.
“I think (the PN-GISD school board) lacks confidence in FieldTurf based on prior dealings with them,” said Bradley, during a telephone interview Tuesday. “They want a safe bet.”
FieldTurf’s offered to replace the four-year-old field but would not grant a new warranty to the replacement turf, according to Bradley.
“Do we want the field if they don’t have enough faith in it to give us a warranty?” said Bradley.
Four months ago PN-GISD entered into a lawsuit with FieldTurf, the company which installed the turf in 2008, after several evaluations reported premature deterioration of the nylon fibers in the synthetic grass surface of the field.
According to previous statements from the PN-GISD superintendent Rodney Cavness, FieldTurf was refusing to recognize their end of the contract.
“It started breaking down when Dr. (Lani) Randall (superintendent until August 2010) was here and we’d really only played 10 games on it,” PN-GISD trustee Lana Parker said at the Tuesday school board meeting.
In March of 2011, FieldTurf filed a lawsuit against TenCate, the company who supplied the nylon fibers, just two months after the turf installation company sent a letter to PN-GISD saying that the wear and tear on their field was normal, according to court documents and comments from the PN-GISD attorney.
Both PN-GISD and TenCate’s lawsuits with FieldTurf are still pending.
According to the court papers from the TenCate lawsuit, FieldTurf built more than 100 fields using defective fibers that degraded prematurely.
As of March 2011, FieldTurf had spent $4 million on repairs to defective turf fields as well as was facing “future claims of tens of millions of dollars as a result of failures of TenCate supplied fiber,” the document said.
FieldTurf’s total projected losses due to the defective turfs are estimated to be $30 million, according to the document.
“Do they have the ability financially and practically to replace 100 fields?” said Bradley. “And where does PN-G fall as far as priority on their list?”
Hellas Construction, PN-GISD’s new turf company, will begin installation of the new heavier-grade nylon field beginning on June 29.
According to a Hellas Construction spokesperson, construction is expected to take three weeks and comes with a with an eight-year warranty.
“It’s definitely an upgrade from what they currently have,” said Bradley. “The main two things are the quality of the product and the confidence in the company.”
bjanes@panews.com
