Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/10/2025 - Gale Response to PB - - 430 OSGOOD STREET L,E' Gale Associates, Inc. March ,10, 20 , Ms. Jean Enright, Director North Andover Planning nni Department Town of North Andover 120, Main Street North n r MA 0,1854 Re Response to Review Comments Application for Limited Site Plea Review N" rth Andover High School I- S Athletic Field Improvements Gale JN 719560 Deliar Ms. Enright nd Planning Board embers: n behalf of'The Town of North Andover (Town), Gale Associates, Inc. (Gale) is providing the following response r ial comments, provided by, the North Andover Planning Board APB) at the hearing on February 25 2025, as well as written comments provided via er l] by Horsley Witten Group n February 20, 2025., regarding the above referenced project. Plea and document changes resulting from he comments have been incorporated in 1 ,accompanying submittal. (Responses to comments are provided in bioldtext below,.) RESPONSE E VERBAL BOARD, MEMBER INQUIRIES,, The following are Gale's responses to verbal comments and directives provided by members f l\IA 1 February 5 hearing, recorded per Gales understanding and interpretation. 1. Provide d'di i n l detail on why the, proposed improvements are necessary for tyre high school. Response: A previousathletic i fields master plan showed that the demand for fields in the "own exceeds the current fiield inventory, and that the maJ ri f'T w o-owned fields s are overused. a existing fields, at NAH��S,, do provide a significant amountf schedulable, field timebut are still un l d a e1 accom u � a e 'h reeds f the r�r�uarr"urifty, The softball program practices and plays at the nearby Town-owned McEvoy Farb, and certain programs have,not been afforded adequate practice time. As Walsh Stadium arid the IF re ie Track are the only turf'fields in town,they are often fully booked as overuse and/or weather reader the community's grass fields unsuitable for competition play. The conversion of the existing gu ll field a multi-purpose, synthetic turf' field will greatly increase programmable mabl+ hours, as well as birilng lily school s,oftbiall back to,the NAHIS campus, leavling McEvoy Park open for other Town Fusers. The addition of athletic lighting w , the Farese Track, baseball multi-purpose field, and Walsh Stadium it allow for°®additional hedulable field time, particularly in the beginning of spring and at theend of fall when suns,et i North Andover Planning Board Response to Review Comments Application for Limited Site Plan Review-NAZIS,Athletic Field Im,provements March 10,2025 Page,2 earlier,, and, weather conditions are less conducive to maintaining grass fields. In addition, the existing baseball field 'is currently frequented by large flocks of geese, which produce, undesirable use conditions for large portions of the athletic season, which is not expected ,after the conversion. RegaMing the tennis courts, the asphalt base section of the, existing tennis courts has reached the end of its useful, life and requires reconstruction to provide a competition, level I P surface. See Enclosure 17 for a letter produced by NAHS, Athletics regara'ing the need for ,athletic field improvements. 2. Provi'de additional inf rmation and an alternatives analysis for chosen turf system. Response: The proposed turf system will be comprised of 2.25" polyethylene fibers, with a polypropylene backing, infilled to, leave about 0.5" of fiber reveal. 'This turf cross section will belristalled on to of an 8" stone layer and drainage componients., The stone layer, 'in conjunction with an outlet control structure, and a concrete perimeter curb, will act as a cletention chamber, providing stormwater the opportunity to infiltrate prior to being discharged into the existing stormwater system. This system Is, typical for a multi.-use, field in this region of the country, and is broadly similair to the systems installed at Walsh Stadium and the,Fare Track. The primary difference between systems is the, material used to, infill the turf. (Here, a mixture of sand and,SBR or"crumb rubb per" is used to provide ballast for the system, as well as for the safety and performance requirements for competition play. This has been the most commonly used infill mixture for, 20+ years. Recently, different Infill products have become more widely avallable. Gale, has experlience with numerous different alternative infill options on tho, market, with the most common alternatives Gale has, utilized being an engineered wood fiber, (BrockFILL or equal), that is paired with sand, or a polymer coated, sand (Envirofill or, equal) that makes up the entire infill section. The, material cost of both alternatives is higher than SBR, Fund both alternatives also, require the use of a shock absorbing undierlayment, as the materials themselves, do, not have thie same shock absorbing qualities as cr mb,rubber. Gale estimates that, for a field of the size,of)the muld. purpose b,aseball field, the increase in cost to utilize an engineered wood fiber (BrockFILL or equal) would be $250,000, and the increase, in cost to utilize a polymer coated sand (EInvilrofill or equal), would be $500,000, These prices represent approximately 13%and 25% ese increases, repec stively, to the total, cost for the p multi- uose,rp athletic field. Th 1 alternatives would be cost prohib 1,itive for the Town. 3. Please confirm that the abutter notification specified that athletic lighting was being proposed as part of this project. Response: Both the notice to Autters, and legal advertisement in the Eagle Tribune made explicit mention of"athletic lighting" being proposed within,this prroject scope. 4, Please provide additional 'information regarding" safety measures being proposed for the in cross,walk/access point for the tennis courts. North Andover Planning Board Response to Revi Comments iGALE Application for Limited'Site Plan Review-NA Athletic Filield Improvements March 10, 2025 Page 3 Response: The new access point for the tennis, courts will be a striped crosswalk leading 'from an existing sidewall<to a proposed bituminous walkway that leads to they ennis courts, Pedestrian crossing signs will also be installed a ither side along the drive, in accordance with Mas,sDOT and MUTCD standards to further alert drivers, Per the Diepart.men t of Public Works, the installation of speed bumps is, not desirable at this location due to, lil(ely damage to snow plowing equipment. 5. Please review and provide information for potential increases to the, height of the proposed fencing around the tennis courts,to limit loosle tennis balls., Response.: The, proposed fencing height of ten 'feet (10;') is typical for tennis courts, in this application. Add[tional fencing height or the addition of netting on top of the fencing may o I nly marginally decrease the number oftennis, balls exiting the, courts,, as the, height and launch angle of all wayward its may not be addressed. Increased, fence, height may also t Ti beg require increased footing size and ass ociatea excava ton, work. 'hls matter is in discussed with the Conservation Commission, as,well as part of the Notice of Intent process, and an ongoing condition is expected to be Implemented that would require the school to perform regular clean-up oftennis balls in the areas surrounding the tennis courts, 6. Please review and provide information for potential replac arum t of the eastern property in fence adjacent to,the Farese Track. Response: Replacement of the above-mentioned fence will be included in the project as a bid alternate item, pier discussion with the Town. Refer to the revised plans in Enclosure 1. 7. Please, review and provide information on anticipated operation timing of' the proposed athletic lighting. Respionse: It 'i's Gale's understanding that there are no municipal ordinances that dictate when aChile c lights can and cannot be, used. IHowlever,, NAHS would e the athletic lighting to be, used up until 9:00 P.M. Mondays through Thursdays,and be shut off earlier on Fridays through Sundays., Sprling athletics typically begin on or around March 15", and full athletics typically end on or, r u Il emher, 15t"'. A final lighting schedule, will require determination by an hrough the,School Committee. As such, a formal schedule cannot be, provided until that process has taken place, 8. Confirm whether FAA lighting is,required for the, proposed lights atthe track Response:,, The proposed light closest to Lawrence Municipal Airport. (LW'M) i's, over Y4, mile away from the nearest of on a runway, and the NAHS complex is not in line with either runway at that airport. FAA lighting is, typically only otherwise required on structures over 2,00 feet above ground level 9. Have the photometric's accounted,for reflectiveness of the ground cover.? North Andover Planning B�oard Response,to Review Comments 4aA E Application for Limited Site P[an Review-NAHS Athletic Field Improvements March 10, 2025 Page 4 Response: The photometric model has not included a reflective value for the ground cover, as this is typically only dorm at indoor arienas (hockey, basketball, etc.). Dark Sky ,compliance also does not, include any provision for reflectiveness at outdoor athletic venues, 10. Could a different lighting design be used that uses more/shorter poles to lower the height of the poles? Response!,The athletic lighting systems,are designed with Dark Sky,compliance in mind, and as such, efforts have,already been made to limit spill off of the field to the maximam extent practicable. The fixtures utilize LEDs and significant physical shielding to limit the spread. Lower pote heights would mean that the light fixtures would need to be aimed more, horizontally to properly light the middle, of the field, which may In turn increase spill to the surrounding areas. Shorter poles would need to, be moved closer to the fielcl to, achieve s,imilar field c�overlage and cutoff. This is not puss le due to the existing perimeter running track. The lighting design has, been revised to meet Dark Sky requirements,, refer to Question 13 below for additional information. 11. Please provide photometric plans that show the complete spread of lighting, including measurements at regular intervals. Response: The illumination plans have been updated to show measurements at regular intervals and include the spread up to the point where the calculated footcandle value 'is 0, :The, lighting design has been updated to meet Dark Sky requirements, refer to Question 13 below for,additional information on Dark Sky., Refer,to Enclosure 1, Plan Sheets IS and IS2. 12. Can an analysis be plerfmed or for an abutteir's balcony to measure fi ight spll/glare at that,particular locatilon? Resiponise: This analysis could be performed, if deemed necessary, using a precise 2,D 'The hi' 1� location and height above the field. gher the anal i s, polint, the less I light will be, I observed,. Gale will require formal, directive or condition from the NAPB, prior to pursuing this effort. 11 Provide additional information on Dark Sky compliance of lights Response.: The lighting design has been revised to meet Dark Sky requirements, which limit the amount of allowable, off-site will® Dark Sky,compliance, is a two-stage process, with the first stage being a certification of the design, and the second phase being measurements and certification ofthe installed system. It is Gale's understanding that with the revised design, Dark Sky Compliance can be, attained for the Farese Track, baseball multipurpose Field,and Walsh Stadium. Please provide, some nearby facilities that have similar lighting systems to the ones proposed under this pro),ec�t,. North Andover PlanningBoar Response to Review Comments 4G Application r Limited Site Plan Review-NAHS,Athletic Field Improvements March 10,2025 Page 5 Response,: The following facilities are within fifteen 5 miles NAHS and have similar lighting systems as the ones proposed under this r e �� Greater Lawrence Technical Hugh School,Andover 6 mi'll�es) Peggy Hannon-Rizza Rec Complex,, ill rica, 5 miles) Pentuclket Regional I i h School,West Newbury, 1 1 miles) Reading Memorial High School, Reading, B/I 13 guiles) Merrimack,College, North Andlover, 3 mi'les), o It should be noted that lighting Eighting levels for college facilitiesare typically higher than, high school, especially if the system has been designeld for video broadcast'. such,the Merrimack College site may not be the best representative example. The nearest facility known,to have performed Dark Sky nal sis per most current standards, is Wellesley High Si+hoolll. Please provide responses Fire Department inquiries about ennergency access. Response-. An emergencyaccess, road and gate are, provided alongside the proposed multili- purpose baseball field. The existing gravell drive used to access Wal ihStadium Is being shifted li,ghtl , based on discussion with the North Andover Conservation C rnmil si n, but willremain as part of thi'sproject. Refer,to Enclosure1, Plan Sheets C1.01 aridC102 for this relocated gr vel access drive. r