In April of 2007, voters in Scotch Plains and Fanwood voted in support of a $2,000,000 bond referendum to replace the high school track to install Turfit on the football and varsity soccer fields.

The Board of Education put the RFP out for public bidding on October 18, 2007. All the bids that were received were opened on November 13, 2007. Eight contractors submitted bids. Bids ranged from $1,982,647 to a $2,495,770.

Dakota Excavating Contractor was the lowest bidder that met the specifications in the RFP. The BOE awarded the contract to Dakota at the board meeting on November 15, 2007. The Fieldturf Duraspine Monofilament system will be installed on both fields.

Construction is planned to begin in December 2007. In other installations Dakota has completed installation in as little as 31 days. Due to Winter weather issues we do not anticipate the fields to be finished at that pace, but it is anticipated that the construction will be completed in time for the Fall 2008 sports season. Once construction is complete, the new facilities will be used by the high school sports teams, high school gym classes, the marching band and recreation programs from both Scotch Plains and Fanwood.

The TURFIT committee continues to raise fund to supplement the bond issue. The fund raising efforts are beind led by Pete Weissbrod. For more information contact Pete at pewcorp@aol.com