WESTFIELD—Following intense questioning of the Roots Athletic Complex’s safety last night by the city’s planning board, the owner of Roots gave an impassioned argument for the complex.
Frank DeMarinis, owner of Roots, stood in front of the Westfield Planning Board last night after his athletic complex on Root Road has been the subject of controversy and several votes from the planning board, including one that shut down the facility due to claims of nuisance by neighbors. Since then, the board has heard complaints about the safety of the complex, and this concern has continued throughout the board’s most recent vote. They debated previously to allow the city’s building inspector to inspect the building for a partial use permit, and decided to vote on it last night.
Planning board deliberates last night
However, they were’t going to vote until they were able to question DeMarinis, who has been absent from several previous meetings with the board.
The questioning began by asking DeMarinis about bathrooms on-site. In previous meetings it was relayed to the board that portable toilets were being used, particularly when the now-shut down outdoor fields were in use at the complex.
DeMarinis said that the bathrooms, while not currently finished, will be done by the time the partial use would be granted from the inspector. In addition, he said that there are “sufficient bathrooms” on site currently.
Not satisfied, planning board member Jane Magarian continued to question DeMarinis on the topic, requesting more specific information. After several questions regarding the bathrooms, DeMarinis responded.
The outdoor lighting is seen to be reflecting off another neighboring house at night. (Photo from Heidi Leonard)
“I don’t know what relevance there is of the bathrooms,” he said. “They’re built right now, they’re plumbed.”
The board moved on from the bathrooms, but continued to question DeMarinis. First came a question of sectioning off the construction that is currently happening from the fields, both of which are inside the building.
“There will be a wall built up between the construction zone and the fields,” DeMarinis said.
He added that there would be no doors or passageways for anyone to get through from the fields to the construction zone. Additionally, there would be a separate entrance way to both the field and construction.
Questioning continued from the board though, moving on from construction to proper ventilation of the fields. Previous concerns—including a letter read earlier in the meeting from the Barnes Aquifer Protective Advisory Committee—have brought up the use of crumb rubber under the artificial turf fields.
The crumb rubber has been claimed by some to have adverse health effects, since the rubber–which is from discarded tires–can contain carcinogenic and toxic chemicals such as arsenic, lead and cadmium. This has drawn several studies into the product, including a $2.9 million study by the state of California in 2015.
Some studies have reported possible health risks, but the aforementioned study and a study done by the state of New York found either no or low risk to human health related to the use of crumb rubber. However, both studies cited data gaps, meaning that further studies must be done.
Magarian questioned DeMarinis on the ventilation of the indoor fields though, saying that the crumb rubber could pose a health risk to players and others.
“There’s no special type of ventilation for it,” DeMarinis refuted. “Ventilation inside the facility is based on what the building code—there’s no fumes it puts out.”
Magarian disagreed, however.
“Not from the research I’ve done, there’s fumes that are put out from the crumb rubber,” she said.
The questioning continued, and before long DeMarinis appeared to become frustrated with the board. He slapped his hand onto the podium that he was speaking from and said that the safety of his fields are higher than those around.
DeMarinis said that when he brought his child to Northampton to visit an indoor field, the ground was covered with a rug. One of the children fell he claimed, and struck their head onto the rug-covered floor.
According to DeMarinis, the child had a concussion and was still currently in the hospital.
“This is one of the safest facilities around,” he exclaimed, before leaving abruptly.
After DeMarinis left, the board voted in favor of allowing the building inspector to inspect the building, giving way to the possibility of a partial use permit. Of those present, only Magarian voted against the permit.
