Lacrosse at Riverview Park?

Selectmen delayed a decision Jan. 4 on whether the high school lacrosse team could use the newly constructed Riverview Park field for nine games this spring.

After some discussion, the board agreed to bring representatives from PW Brown Inc. Contracting of Westborough to a future meeting to see if there would be any issues with using the fields for the games prior to June 30, the contracted completion date for the fields.

The fields are the only town fields that can be used for lacrosse while the current high school fields are unavailable because of  ongoing construction, Recreational Fields Committee representative Donald Chouinard  said.

If the field is not used, the team would play all its games on the road, with a resulting transportation cost, Chouinard said.

Town Administrator Timothy McInerney said he had originally planned to turn the request down, but changed his mind after checking out the fields around Thanksgiving.

"I wrestled with this,'' he said. But he decided to approve using the fields after viewing them himself and being assured by the school department that they would ensure the property would be in good shape after being used.

Selectman Mary Ann Cotton said using the field made sense under the circumstances. "The bottom line is we have to manage what we've got the best way we can,'' she said. "These are extenuating circumstances.''

Selectman Peter Adams raised concerns about the town's liability if the fields were used before the contractor's obligations expired. If the town does not use the fields until June 30, the contractor would be solely responsible for any problems there, he said.

Engineer assistant Brian Szczurko agreed that the field should lie dormant until June 30. "That's why we have a contract,'' he said. The contract calls for three full growing seasons, and the third season is not yet complete, he said.

Selectman Christopher LeMay  questioned why the field had a considerable amount of clover. "Clover is a weed,'' he said. "We didn't buy a field of clover.''

Fertilizer use is limited, Szczurko said, because the field is located so close to the Quinsigamond River.