Bids Exceed Budget For New Playing Field Project At Nobadeer Farm Road

A slow-moving plan to create an additional playing field at the town’s athletic complex off Nobadeer Farm Road may be edging closer to becoming a reality—though perhaps without some of the features voters expected when they approved it in 2023.

In a presentation to the Select Board Wednesday, Department of Public Works director Drew Patnode said that the town had received bids for the project and was ready to move forward.

The proposal, endorsed by the 2023 town election and the following Special Town Meeting that fall, would create a full-size, natural grass playing field next to the existing artificial fields, helping to alleviate the overuse problem that has led some of the Nantucket Public Schools’ fields to deteriorate in quality.

But, as has sometimes been the case with town projects in recent years, all of the bids came in higher than expected. A number of the elements included in the initial plan may now need to be cut, though the town said it will “seek other avenues” to fund them.

The Town Meeting article authorized $3.8 million in borrowing. After about $400,000 was spent on design, $3.4 million remained for the primary project. The lowest bid came in at $4.3 million.

Part of the reason for the discrepancy was the gap between when the project was approved and when the bid was sent out. Town Meeting initially rejected the field at the 2023 Annual Town Meeting, only approving it the following fall. Because of the unusual timing, funds were not available until midway through 2024, and it then took another year and a half for planning and preparation before the bids were issued.

“I don’t have a good reason why it took as long as it did to put the plans together and work through all the details,” Patnode said.

Town Manager Libby Gibson said the delay was also partially a result of the town’s operational capacity being stretched over a large number of projects.

“We have a multitude of projects that only very few people are managing,” she said.

This delay drew some criticism from Select Board member Bob DeCosta, who has spent the first four months of his term repeatedly calling for the town to slash spending and stop funding large projects.

“We keep taking on more and more stuff and we don’t have the people. I don’t understand,” DeCosta said. “At some point, we just have to say, enough. We’re not going to do it. We have enough projects now, we’re not taking on anymore until we get these done.”

Now, the town is proposing to cut scoreboards, a dry sewer line, off-field irrigation, and additional lighting for the field that already exists from the bid offered to contractors.

Patnode said that the town still intends to add these elements later if possible, and that he believes they can save money by hiring specialized contractors for each item, rather than relying on the contractor for the main project to bring in their own subcontractors at a premium.

“I think there’s avenues for us to do it cheaper, and the infrastructure will already be there to support it,” he said.

The $3.4 million approved by Town Meeting will still cover the field itself, a new parking lot and realigned driveway, a new irrigation system and shed, site work for a new playground, and walkways.

As the town’s efforts to build a natural grass field at Nobadeer have dragged on, the school has pursued a parallel plan to construct an artificial turf field at Vito Capizzo stadium. That plan has generated significant controversy, but the turf field appears to be on track for installation next year after gaining approval at Town Meeting and the local election. While installation is in progress, the school system’s need for playing fields will be even greater, as they will lose access to the natural grass field that is at the stadium now.