Delaware Academy Board of Education accepts turf field donation

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·2 min read

Feb. 6—The Delaware Academy and Central School District at Delhi Board of Education accepted a donation of an artificial turf field during a special meeting Feb. 6.

Chris Clark of Clark Companies of Delhi said after the meeting that he and both his parents graduated from the school and he and his brother have five children attending the district. "We're in the sports business and we wanted to give back to the community," he said.

According to the resolution, Clark Companies has offered the district "to make an in-kind donation of work, materials and services associated with installation and subsequent maintenance of a synthetic turf system with virgin EPDM rubber infill on Dave Kelly Field, contingent on voter approval of a capital project, as enumerated in Clark's letter to the Superintendent of Schools dated January 18, 2024."

The board approved the resolution 5-2, with board members Lucy Kelly and Sean Leddy opposed.

Kelly said there were two segments of the population that were opposed to the capital project, which failed by 16 votes Oct. 11. One segment was opposed to the cost of the project, so she was thankful for the Clark's generosity. However, another segment of the population opposed the resolution because they were against artificial turf and the long-range ramifications to the planet Earth.

Leddy did not give a reason why he opposed the resolution.

Board Member Lauren Raba said she voted in favor of the resolution after hearing from students, which supported the artificial turf field.

Seth Haight, another board member, said he voted in favor of the resolution to give students an equal playing field since playoffs are played on artificial surfaces. He also thanked Clark for the generous gift.

The donation of the turf field is dependent on the approval of a capital project that would replace the track that goes around the field since construction of the field would damage the track. In addition to placing artificial turf on Dave Kelly Field, the proposition defeated in October would have built a softball/soccer field at the lower field and resurfaced the existing track, relocated the long jump from one end of the track to the other to free up the field events and installed LED lighting around the track and football field.

The board directed Superintendent Kelly Zimmerman to draft language to call for a vote a new capital project for the abovementioned improvements. The board will vote on the call for vote at its Feb. 26 meeting. If approved, the vote on the new capital project could be held around April 16.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.