Quaker Valley School District officials recently gave the green light to a proposed lighting project at the Bell Acres ball field despite several residents’ concerns about its environmental impact.
The school board voted 8-0 on April 21 to move forward with a Quaker Valley Recreation Association plan to install six light poles with 10 Ephesus LumaSport 8 LED lights each at the Esmark Baseball Field at the James P. Bouchard Family Park.
Board vice president Geoff Barnes was absent. The move did not come without opposition.
Several Bell Acres residents who live close to the park told the board the lights would negatively impact wildlife, create noise with later games and practices, and harm their view of the night sky.
Resident Katherine Rosier said she is worried about potential health risks and distracted driving.
“Installment of these lights will potentially cause more traffic and possibly more accidents, especially if allowed at 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. at night, which they are,” Rosier said.
Resident Martha Murdock talked about light pollution and disturbing animal habits.
“Our whole world is becoming artificially illuminated,” Murdock said.
Resident Lucy Malarik stressed the need to hold the association accountable to all applicable regulations, including enforcement of usage limits, curfews and protections.
Bell Acres ordinance requires recreational lighting to be turned off by 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
QVRA secretary Joel Swanson said lights will improve safety in the area and were requested by multiple players on district and association teams.
He reassured residents that environmental impacts were considered, and there would be no shine into their homes.
“We’ve done our due diligence on that and we’re pretty comfortable with the lights that we have,” Swanson said. “They are down-directed shielded lighting. It is not just a bunch of lights.”
The state-of-the-art lights have a wireless control system to ensure automatic curfew compliance as well as other control capabilities to ensure they do not impact nearby homes. Additional lighting is expected to dissipate about 30 feet beyond the field fences.
The association sought proposals from three companies before ultimately partnering with NGU Sports Lighting, the same company the school district uses for its football field lighting.
Resident Georgette Austin, a parent of three young students, handed the board various pictures of the ball field.
Austin hoped the association would spend more money replacing dead trees and addressing water runoff. She stressed she was not against kids playing ball, just not at night.
“In the area that we live in, the reason that we chose to live here was for the peace,” Austin said after the meeting.
Following additional criticism by other speakers about field maintenance, school director Gianni Floro, facilities and operations committee chair and Bell Acres resident, made the unusual move of moving to the center of the room and addressing his colleagues and attendees during the public comment portion of the meeting.
He talked about how the association is an all-volunteer organization and that the lighting project will benefit both the district and youth leagues.
“What you’ve heard just now, you should discount that because it’s not accurate,” Floro said. “That field is maintained very well by its volunteers (and) by the school district.”
Floro went on to talk about the efforts the association went through to secure the money for the project, and encouraged board members to keep their eyes on the ball.
“The goal is to have somewhere safe and protective where our students and our community can go participate, have fun in athletic endeavors,” Floro said. “It’s just not baseball and softball. Quaker Valley soccer plays up there. Quaker Valley lacrosse plays up there. We have time for horses. The people will take their equestrian pursuits going on up there. It’s really used by the community.”
The project costs about $400,000 and is part of an estimated $1.5 million fully-funded park upgrade.
Funding includes about $1 million in private donations, which will cover a match requirement for a $500,000 state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant.
Other work includes increased parking, a walking trail, a playground, a new entrance off Camp Meeting Road and other improvements.
Swanson, after the meeting, said he appreciates the public input and was grateful for the district’s support.
“We are going to address those concerns to the best of our ability,” he said. “At the end of the day, we need volunteers and we’re going to need the monetary support of our community to make any of this work. We will continue to address the needs of our neighbors and our children. We’re there to support youth sports and get safe and sustainable fields.”
Bell Acres officials approved the plan on March 9. The district owns the field.
Next steps
Mike Riordan, lead of the association’s capital campaign, said the next steps include working with the contractor to have the lights installed and operational. He hopes to flip the switch sometime in July.
Riordan said selecting NGU a few months ago was an easy decision.
“The other bids were not even remotely close in terms of technology ability, design ability and price,” Riordan said on April 28.
The trail development, parking and other upgrades are still in the design phase.
Plans will need to go to the borough and district for approvals, meaning residents will have more opportunities to weigh in on the proposed developments.
Riordan hopes to get all related permits by the end of the year in time to start on another capital campaign for a new multi-sport turf field near the baseball field.