This guest post is by Henry Benedict on behalf of Newton North Neighbors
Two weeks back, abutters of Newton North High School received an undated letter from the City Parks and Recreation Department announcing a plan to install permanent lights at the school’s stadium field.
To many neighbors, this proposal came as a surprise, after all it was general knowledge when the school was built 12 years ago that permanent lights were not on the table. But what is perhaps more concerning is the manner in which it is being pushed. In fact, the project has actually been in the works for months and the school’s principal has already started fundraising for it.
Later start times, although a net positive for students, have led to less after-school time for those who participate in extracurricular athletics. This is generally most challenging in the early winter and late fall.
To solve this problem, the City has leased portable lighting. Newton North used to have one night game “under the portable lights” each season; now such lights, which are inefficient, loud, dirty and cause light pollution, have been on daily from September to November for the last two years.
So what’s wrong with a more permanent solution? Well, here are just a few concerns noted by neighbors:
- Newton North has no permanent outdoor storage or restroom facilities. This means physically disabled fans cannot attend long games, and the City rents shipping containers to store athletic equipment.
- The fields are in poor shape – One example is the water fountains, which have been turned off for years, with no plan to start them again.
- Newton North’s stadium is surrounded by about 100 units of housing, many of which are rented by POC and blue-collar workers, whereas other controversial light projects, such as Newton South’s and Lasell College’s, had at most eight surrounding homes.
- The City is currently going to fire 74 teachers, what message does it send to focus time, money and energy on lights at the expense of our teachers?
- A number of students rely on athletic fee waivers to play sports in our system. Other families do not feel comfortable applying for or are unable to qualify for them. Why not try to tackle this problem before adding lights?
The list, of course, goes on. But what isn’t clear is who is best to work with to have our concerns addressed. So far, it seems like the lights going up are a foregone conclusion. This is a shame because when the lights were proposed at Newton South’s second field a few months back, the pitch deck – which looked more like an advertisement – noted that the lights were made to International Dark-Sky Association outdoor light requirements, yet no one at the City’s chosen company (why no clear competitive bid?), Musco Sports Lights, was familiar with what exactly that meant.
If you do not live around the high school, you probably don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other on the project. That’s expected. But if you think passing over a few hundred neighbors for a potential benefit for students is a good thing, think again: The whole purpose of later start times was to let students sleep in as is scientifically supported. Why won’t these lights be turned on for morning practices at 6am? Should METCO students wanting to play sports be forced away from home from the 7am bus to 8pm practice? Is that truly in their best interest?
Even with everything stated above, we are willing to have an open honest collaborative conversation with the City. Many of us still remain undecided on the project. But if the neighborhood meeting is simply a formality, then the City should be ashamed and you should be concerned. Spending taxpayer money should never be taken lightly, yet the actions of the City, it’s employees and elected officials, speak otherwise.
We are calling on Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, Superintendent David Fleishman, Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Yeo, and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Nicole Banks to suspend this project until neighbors are consulted, and a fair, transparent, and responsible process for all current and future proposals is established.
We have a working website, please check it out. We apologize for any spelling errors as we were only just informed of the project: https://newtonnorthneighbors.wordpress.com/
Please tune into this Tuesday’s meeting: Apr 5, 2022 at 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5qxBKMA8SbemyXWMq5pq0Q
I’m not clear on how permanent lights will negatively impact the neighborhood? None of reasons you gave are specifically related to the neighborhood.
Hi Mike, the main reasons shared thus far in regards to neighborhood concerns are #1) light pollution and and #2) noise pollution. Then of course there are all the other issues. Specifics should be shared by neighbors tomorrow.
I assume it’s the glare of the lights, mike. Maybe also the noise?
I’m a bit confused by the list of concerns too. The post is from the “Newton North Neighbors” so I would have expected the concerns raised would be related to how the lights affect neighbors.
The only one of the 5 listed concerns that specifically impact neighbors is #3, and even that doesn’t say how it negatively affects the neighbors, just that there are more neighbors at North than at South.
“light pollution” and “noise pollution” as neighbor concerns do make a bit more sense but they weren’t mentioned in the post.
This seems to be focused on the later start times AND the lights on the fields, mixing in some concerns about recent cuts along the way. They should focus their argument.
I’m sympathetic to concerns about how the school treats the local neighborhood. Because in general it treats the local neighborhood poorly. Since the school has been back in session, Tiger Drive has been used for pick-up and drop-off, and Walnut has become the primary drop off point for far more kids than before the pandemic. NNHS has sent out notices but the behavior doesn’t really change. And the kids routinely park illegally on the nearby streets, especially Dexter and around the Pond, and no tickets get issued.
I can certainly understand the worry about what will happen once the lights are installed. It is hard to trust that the neighbors will be treated fairly.
On the other hand, we clearly need lit fields in the winter. The portable lights are awful and are way worse than the permanent versions. And with the start time change, the fields basically aren’t usable without the light after 5 pm during most of the school year.
I would certainly think that the city could and should install the most neighborhood friendly lights possible, with the smallest amount of light pollution. Noise pollution is harder, although as someone who walks by the fields regularly, I think absent the very loud PA announcements during football games the rest of the noise is fairly mild. Perhaps the city can put restrictions of the PA announcements in writing, put in cut-off times for the lights in writing, and further detail the choice for the lights to make sure they are using the lights with the lowest amount of light pollution?
As for the mix of arguments, I don’t really think the city’s budget or the start times should be part of the argument here. I’m sympathetic to the neighborhood, but I also don’t think 100 neighbors get to drive the policy for an entire school district.
1. Doesn’t the issue of lack of accessible rest rooms or storage apply equally to day time games and practices?
2. The state if th cury’ athletics fields is well noted in this blog. How does that connect to installing lights?
3. This is not a racial issue nor should it be made into one. The city built the school on that location, lights or no lights.
4 and 5. Good questions but again how does it affect the neighborhood regarding light or noise pollution.
Simple google search. Music is a member of the international dark sky association
https://www.darksky.org/about/brand-partners/
Musco is a member*
Bruce & Jerry and all, yes, we only just heard back from the IDSKA, they clarified the relationship. They do not endorse light projects, but in cases where they are used, they have recommended best practices. We have amended that on our website.
I will not delve into every point as our opinions vary and it is still early days. But we want more time and a more transparent process. Please tune in tomorrow.
I lived 100 yards from NNHS for 25 years and can attest to the poor treatment of its neighbors. I actually loved living near the school for a lot of reasons and enjoyed watching games and such. However, there were definitely significant downsides. We had frequent drug deals in front of our house, as well as other illegal activities. Trust me – parking was the least of it. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, we regularly cleaned up the trash from the weekend social activities in front of our home.
When I approached a city councilor about the problems we dealt with on a daily basis, the response was “Everyone knows the kids don’t follow the law. There’s nothing we can do about it.” I know teenagers have to go through their stuff – I had three of my own that put me through it. But I never expected other people to put up with my kids’ “stuff”. I wanted them to be held accountable when they messed up.
Unfortunately, it’s a part of the N’ville culture that NNHS neighbors are supposed to be long-suffering and just put up with it. And please, don’t give me the bit about “you chose to live there”. I’m talking about kids doing seriously inappropriate/illegal “stuff” and adults not addressing it.
So that’s a long way of saying that if the school/city actually accommodated the neighbors and dealt with some of the inconveniences and worse that they regularly live with, then maybe they wouldn’t be so upset about the lights.
What possible point are you trying to make with the statement that… “Newton North’s stadium is surrounded by about 100 units of housing, many of which are rented by POC and blue-collar workers….” ?? I get the point that North has more neighbors but why make a point of the ethnicity/race/skin color of those neighbors ? And what difference does it make to your argument what those same neighbors do for work? Weird.
“100 units of housing, many of which are rented by POC and blue-collar workers”
maybe Newton North Neighbors are an incredibly diverse group, but since they won’t list anywhere who they actually are, this phrase comes off as incredibly uncomfortable. reeks of using minority communities for personal gain.
You lost me once you brought race into the equation with lighting at a high school athletic field. You absolutely threw that out there in an ill attempt to justify your point.
Best of luck to you.
“I don’t know about kids today….why my son, I wish his room was as clean as his pot!”
Rodney Dangerfield
As a leader of a large youth athletic program, I appreciate the dire need our city has for improved athletic facilities. Investment in this area has fallen short for decades.
What concerns me is the lack of planning and collaboration with the youth athletic programs (that have more players than all the NPS athletic programs COMBINED).
A few items to consider:
1.
The two Newton Soccer programs (NGS & NYS) funded $100K of the lights at NSHS (in exchange for future rental credits that “cost” Newton $0). Before the start of the Fall 2021 season, a decision was endorsed by Mayor Fuller that the HS teams would have exclusive access to the field at night. The funding was returned (minus the cost of rental fees incurred).
It has been irresponsible for the current administration to simultaneously say they need new funding while returning donations.
2.
Commissioner Banks is misleading when she says “we are working with the youth groups” when we have never been consulted on either of the two proposed projects to install lighting at the HS fields. “Holding meetings” and “Working with residents” are not equivalent. There is no guarantee that new lighting will benefit any youth programs.
3.
There is no overall plan for athletic fields. Commissioner Banks falsely makes reference (most recently at the SC committee mtg) to a “strategic plan”. There is no analysis of the current state of our fields or overall capacity & demand, no vision of a future state, no road map. There is only a list of proposed sites to analyze. A list of projects is NOT a “strategic plan”.
4.
In her first term, Mayor Fuller did not spend a dollar of CPA funding on athletics. She did not hesitate to allocate millions of CPA dollars to other projects. If we can borrow money (funded by CPA) to buy land (Webster) why not borrow money against future CPA funds for building athletic facilities that we desperately need?
We all heard at the SC meeting last night how important youth athletics are to our community and residents. It is insincere to say something is important and then not spend any funds on it.
PROPOSED SOLUTION:
— Work with residents near NNHS to identify and address the concerns regarding light and noise pollution. Stop “talking to” residents and start working with them!
— Do not use ARPA funds for athletic facilities when we have a NPS budget deficit
— Appropriate CPA funds for NNHS stadium lights. This is what CPA funds are for. USE THEM!
— Delay the project to install lights at NSHS Brandeis Rd. field until a plan covering the entire city is completed. There is no compelling evidence that installing a second set of lights at NSHS is the most valuable project to do next.
JT
Justin Traxler
President, Newton Girls Soccer
http://www.fixnewtonsfields.com
Well said @Justin…..well said.
As a neighbor… light it up and enjoy childhood while you can. We adults will make way for you and the opportunities you have to grow up supported by us. We bought a house close to this high school, and we are grateful to be a part of your community and all of the energy and life you bring to the area. All of us will eventually see the light.
dave – that’s great for you. I enjoyed living near NNHS and the vitality of the area as well. At the same time, I was disheartened to have legitimate concerns that involved student safety ignored. In fact, I missed a lot of the more serious issues until my sons were NN students. That too was an enlightening experience.
I think people just want a voice, not to be talked at, so to speak. This benefits students and their safety as well as the surrounding neighbors.
Our backyard abuts the South High playing fields. For 22 years we – and all the neighbors that surround the dense educational compound of South, Oak Hill and Brown Middle schools – have supported the educational and athletic activities of the schools. We worked closely with Mayor Cohen, Mayor Warren and their Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, Bob DeRubeis.
With regards to Mayor Fuller and her Commissioner, Nicole Banks, we have struggled continually to engage in meaningful conversations. Like the “surprise” announcement of installation of lights at North, we today face a second “surprise” notice of MORE lights on the South fields.
We, too, were told when the fields were restored under Mayor Cohen (with the approval of the then Board of Aldermen) that there would be NO LIGHTS. Mayor Fuller, without ever engaging any residents, “told” us early in her first term that lights would be installed on Stadium Field. Period.
In October, 2021, Mayor Fuller “told” us again that lights will be installed on Brandeis Field. We have been trying to have conversations with Commissioner Banks since then. We have 7 homes that are 15′ from the field. Musco has said that there would be no light spillage. Residents around Grellier Field will attest to Musco’s huge failure there. Just ask City Councilor Leonard Gentile.
Our most common question to Commissioner Banks is: What is your plan for fields (lighted or not) across the city? She has no answer. As an earlier respondent here noted, Banks will say she has held many meetings with residents, but: “Holding meetings” and “Working with residents” are not equivalent.”
Also, Banks will tell you to look as Parks’ website to see their comprehensive plan.
It is a list 4 or 5 projects; which does not constitute a “comprehensive plan.”
When asked whether the huge field area behind Oak Hill School will be restored, there is only a vague “in the future.” Anyone with a “comprehensive plan” should be able to say something like: “Yes, we expect to create two soccer-size fields and one multi-purpose field.” Will any of those fields have lights? No answer.
We should ALL oppose the City spending millions of dollars in a haphazard, project-by-project manner. Mayor Fuller should direct Commissioner Banks to pause immediately, and create a city-wide plan for all our parks WITH the active engagement and negotiation of all stakeholders.
We do not oppose student and independent youth athletic programs, and their interest in lights on some fields. But until there is a comprehensive, city-wide plan, South residents will oppose any more lights on Brandeis field.
Mayor Cohen left office 13 years ago – it’s a little ridiculous to expect a decade and a half and 2 mayors later for a no lights promise to be there in perpetuity.
Give us all a break. You moved next door to two schools and their athletic fields. What do you expect? You and your co-whiners get the benefits of trivial access to these facilities. You also suffer the inconvenience such as lights on fields. Buy some shades and find something meaningful to complain about. Or move.