This committee was dissolved at the conclusion of the 2024 Annual Town Meeting

Artificial Turf Study Committee Final Committee Report April 12, 2024

Artificial Turf Study Committee Meetings

• 04/09/2024: Agenda Minutes | Draft Report | Video
• 04/02/2024: Agenda Minutes | Video
• 03/27/2024: Agenda Minutes | Draft Report | Video
• 03/19/2024: Agenda Minutes | Video
• 03/12/2024: Agenda Minutes | Video
• 02/27/2024: Agenda Minutes | Video
• 02/20/2024: Agenda Minutes | Presentation | Video
• 02/13/2024: Agenda Minutes | Presentation | Video 
• 01/30/2024: Agenda Minutes | Video 
• 01/23/2024: Agenda Minutes | Video 
• 01/16/2024: Agenda Minutes | Video
• 01/09/2024: Agenda Minutes | Video
• 12/19/2023: Agenda Minutes | Video
• 12/12/2023: Agenda Minutes | Video
• 12/05/2023: Agenda Minutes 

Artificial Turf Study Committee Members:

• Mike Gildesgame, Conservation Committee appointee
• Joseph Barr, Capital Planning Committee appointee
• James Ditullio, Select Board appointee
• Jill Krajewski, Envision Arlington Standing Committee appointee
• Marvin Lewiton, Town Moderator appointee
• Leslie Mayer, Park & Rec Commission appointee
• Joe Connelly, Recreation Director (non-voting)
• David Morgan, Conservation Agent (non-voting)
• Natasha Waden, Health Director, Health & Human Services designee

At 2023 Town Meeting, it was voted to establish an “Artificial Turf Study Committee” to be structured, organized, and charged as set forth in Section A below. 

A. Artificial Turf Study Committee

1. Committee membership and Organization

As set forth below, the Committee shall consist of nine (9) members, of whom seven (7) shall be voting members and two (2) shall be ex officio non-voting members:

a. Voting Members:

• One person appointed by the Conservation Commission
• One person appointed by the Park and Recreation Commission
• One person appointed by the Capital Planning Committee
• One person appointed by the Standing Committee of Envision Arlington
• The Director of Health and Human Services or her designee
• One Town Meeting Member appointed by the Town Moderator
• One town resident appointed by the Select Board.

The Town Moderator and Select Board shall strive to appoint persons with public health or environmental protection experience.

No voting member: a) shall have testified within the past five years in a court or administrative hearing in favor of or against the use of artificial turf; b) shall have worked for or in a firm or organization that within the past five years has had any involvement with the selection, installation, or management of the construction of an artificial turf field or whose income in the past five years was derived in whole or in part from work with artificial turf fields; or c) shall be a current or former member of the American Sports Builders Association or the Synthetic Turf Council, or whose business or firm or principal is or has been a member.

b. Ex-officio Non-voting Members:

• The Town’s Environmental Planner / Conservation Agent
• The Town’s Recreation Director

c. Quorum

A majority of voting members shall constitute a quorum, and decisions shall be based on the vote of a simple majority of those committee members present and voting.

d. Organization and First Meeting

The initial meeting of the Study Committee shall be convened by the Director of Health and Human Services or her designee, and the first order of business shall be the self-organization of the Study Committee through the election of one or more chairs from among the voting members, whose responsibility shall be to convene and preside over all future meetings. The Committee shall also elect a clerk, whose duties shall include the proper posting of meeting agendas and minutes. The Study Committee shall designate any other officer as it sees fit.

 2. Committee Charge and Reporting

a. The Committee shall review and report on artificial turf: its health, safety, and environmental impacts, and potential mitigation measures, and a comparison of artificial turf to natural turf fields.

b. The Study Committee shall complete its work and report its findings and any recommendations to Town Meeting and the Select Board no later than 30 days prior to the 2024 Annual Town Meeting or to any earlier Special Town Meeting if the report is ready earlier. 

3.  Dissolution Committee

The Committee will be dissolved concurrent with the dissolution of the 2024 Annual Town Meeting, unless there is a vote of Town Meeting to effectuate an earlier dissolution of the Committee or to extend the Committee’s charge.