The Board of Education “deserves a great deal of credit” Guy Wisinski, head of the DJFL’s lights committee, said.
The resolution also mentioned that the light towers were permitted “provided that such lighting shall create no hazard or nuisance upon adjacent properties.” “I don’t think they’re that much of a nuisance,” Mrs. Westcott said, although Mr. Fiftal noted there was one house still directly affected by the light, and that the reflection of the light off the school, specifically the windows on the 2nd floor of C building, bothered some residents.
The Board of Education held a meeting with the neighbors in the auxiliary cafeteria on Dec. 14 to learn more about the problems they had with the lights and to discuss possible solutions. During the meeting, the neighbors who attended said there were no problems from noise or permit violations.
“There was absolutely no noise reverberating,” neighbor Lennis Koontz said, pointing out that the plug-in lights were much quieter than the diesel ones. However, all the neighbors who spoke said that there were still problems with both direct and the reflected light on surrounding areas such as Hummingbird, Linda, and High School Lanes.
Mr. Fiftal did propose a possible solution to this issue. In an outline that he called “very rough,” he presented a proposal according to which 10’-12’ pine or hemlock trees would be planted on the north side of the football field extending down the JV baseball field’s left field line, and between High School Lane and the left field line of the varsity baseball field. The northern row trees would cost, and again Mr. Fiftal said these numbers were not final, somewhere between $24,000-$30,000 and the southern ones $12,000. Additionally, there would be a fence along the eastern edge of the woods, either chain link or a more expensive sound barrier wall. This would be much more expensive, costing about $105,000 for chain link fence or an amount that according to a memo from Director of Facilities, Construction, and Operations Paul Engemann “could be in excess of $1,000,000” for a sound barrier type wall. While Mr. Fiftal said these estimates were rough, obviously a lot of money would be needed for this proposal and Mrs. Westcott said it may take a few years to get enough money and approval.
The $42,000 the school spent on the lights includes the wiring under the field to plug in the lights, the labor cost, and the light tower rental cost. However, the $20,000 for the wiring and about $17,000 for labor were both one-time costs, meaning that for the next two years the cost will only be about $5,000 per year. The costs for both a natural and artificial barrier, as mentioned before, will most likely be higher and may take several years to be financially feasible or, in the case of the trees, to fully reach their potential.
Neighbors and administrators alike both seemed willing to resolve their differences. “There’s still work to be done,” Mr. Koontz said. Still, there are proposals to deal with the lights, which will be around for at least the next two years. “I believe that it’s very possible” the school will get an extension on the permit after 2011, Mr. Fiftal said. So despite any issues that may or may not be fixed, it appears November nights at the high school will be lit up for the time being.
Field Lights Spark Debate
Controversy over lighting of DHS Turf Field
By Dan Campbell - 10/01
NEIRAD enilno edition
The lights were burning bright on the turf this semester, but what many students don’t know is the amount of hard work it took to bring electricity to the field.
Temporary field lights returned for a second season in the fall after the Board of Education secured a three-year permit for their use in October. This permits fall sports teams to use the lights through 2011. This year the school spent $42,000 to use the lights. The combined cost for the next two years will be about $10,000. The permit was the culmination of three years of work by the Board of Education, the Darien Junior Football League, and members of the neighborhood, but there are still aspects of the lights that are causing discussion and debate.
The Board of Education “deserves a great deal of credit” Guy Wisinski, head of the DJFL’s lights committee, said. Both the Board and the DJFL have been working for three years, when according to Darien Superintendent of Schools Donald Fiftal several people in the community offered to donate permanent stadium lights. The Board of Education then spent nearly two years studying the impact of the lights, including that on the surrounding residents.
The neighbors were “very concerned about the potential impact” of the lights and were opposed to the permanent lights, Mr. Fiftal said. This, plus the fact Darien’s zoning regulations only permit 20-foot high lights, caused the Planning and Zoning Commission to reject a proposal for lights without discussion. If the high school wanted lights, it would have to find another source.
The main impetuses for lights were to take away the high school teams’ competitive disadvantages and to make practices safer. As “more and more schools had lighting” it became difficult for DHS’ teams to compete because they could not practice as long. The combination of shortened daylight as fall wanes and the end of daylight saving time in early November make this even more obvious. Proponents of the lights “wanted to replicate some light after the time change” Board of Education Chairman Kim Westcott said.
At the same time, the Darien Junior Football League wanted to use field lights for essentially the same reason as the high school. “From a safety spotlight, we were not able to practice,” Mr. Wisinski said. The league created a committee which “worked in conjunction” with the high school to acquire lights.
In the fall of 2008, the Board of Education asked for permission to use 20-foot portable lights. The Planning and Zoning Commission allowed for a one-year pilot use of six light towers, after which a meeting was held with the neighbors. Several problems were identified, including the noise resulting from the diesel generators that powered the lights and the fact that lights placed in one of the end zones shone right into one neighbor’s house.
The first problem was solved when the Board came across plug-in lights, which had no need for a generator and were “as quiet as a lamp in a room” according to Mr. Fiftal. The second problem was solved by putting all the lights on the visitor’s side of the field facing the school, limiting the light that shone on the surrounding area.
This year the lights returned for more than a “pilot year”, when on Oct. 16 Planning and Zoning approved light use through the fall of 2011 for high school for “boys’ and girls’ soccer; boys’ football; and girls’ field hockey,” according to the adopted resolution. The DJFL was also allowed to use the lights for only the fall of 2009, starting at 6 pm until 7, after the high schoolers had finished. However, Mr. Wisinski said that the teams had to finish practicing by 6:45pm in order to be able to shut the lights off.
DHS field, lit for late fall afternoon practices
