After weighing the results of a recent survey and public comment Tuesday night, the Carson City Parks and Recreation Commission decided that the four upper softball fields at Centennial Park in northeast Carson City should be converted to artificial turf.

After more than two hours of public presentations and discussions, the Commissioners unanimously recommended the project in its submitted form to the Supervisory Board.

Kurt Meyer, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission, acknowledged that the exact product and cost are still uncertain. He said, “When I vote yes up here, I want my yes to be loudly expressed and say, ‘Hey, let’s do this right and give Carson City and the people of Carson City the best product we can get and not buy something inferior instead.'”

The switch to artificial turf was to be part of park improvements that would be funded by up to $5 million in general obligation bonds, which were approved by the Board of Supervisors after required hearings earlier this year. Under an agreement between the city and the Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority (CTA, or Visit Carson City), the bonds were backed by a portion of room tax revenue, so visitors would initially pay for the new spaces.

David Navarro Jr., Carson City Parks director of operations, said he prefers natural grass surfaces, but given the number of games in the upper Centennial area, he could “triple the number of my three employees up there and we still wouldn’t keep up with the usage.”

Navarro estimated the cost of artificial turf at around $1 million per field and presented figures on the current use of the upper fields. According to Navarro, each field hosts between 494 and 1,016 total games per season for recreational and tournament play. His figures showed that the grass outer fields and the sand inner fields require more than 1,000 labor hours per season and the turf uses an average of 8 million gallons of water per season.

Park commissioners and members of the public have had safety concerns about playing in the current conditions, fearing the playing surface is not level. Maintenance issues have included flooding, and the park management is simultaneously working to improve drainage and renovate the park’s tennis courts and restroom facilities.

“I was surprised at how many games are actually played at this complex. Given the amount of maintenance staff we have and the ability to maintain these fields, I really don’t see any way we can continue to operate this facility with natural grass,” said Commissioner Dave Whitefield. “It just doesn’t seem safe. It just doesn’t seem feasible.”

Blake Gudmundson told commissioners that he had been the head umpire for Carson City softball for 25 years and that Carson was losing tournaments to the Golden Eagle sports complex in Sparks, which has artificial turf.

“I don’t mean to offend anyone, but the fields are terrible,” he said of Centennial. “The infields are dangerous. There’s one to three inches of sand around every base. It’s terrible. With a turf complex, you take all that away.”

Other parts of the public expressed concerns about the safety and environmental impact of artificial turf.

“I believe the decision you must make is an important one for our community,” resident Robyn Orloff wrote in an Aug. 19 letter to the park commission. “For my part, I oppose a vote for artificial turf in Centennial Park – given the proven health, injury, sustainability, air/water/soil and financial impacts.”

In 2016, the federal government launched a cross-agency study on the use of tire granulate as infill material for artificial turf. The project’s second report was published in April.

“In general, the findings from the full field portion of the FRAP study (both Part 1 of the Tire Pellet Characterization and Part 2 of the Tire Pellet Exposure Characterization) support the conclusion that while chemicals are present in the tire pellet (as expected) and exposure may occur, it is likely to be limited,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement.

The EPA cited four examples from the study:

“In general, only small amounts of most organic chemicals from tire granules are released into the air through emissions. For many chemicals measured during active play on the outdoor courts, airborne concentrations were no different from background samples, while others were slightly higher.

“In the case of metals, only small amounts (i.e.

“In the biomonitoring pilot study, metal concentrations in the blood were similar to those in the general population.

“No differences in urinary PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) metabolites were observed between study participants who used artificial turf pitches and those who used grass pitches.”

The full EPA reports are available online: https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/federal-research-recycled-tire-crumb-used-playing-fields-and-playgrounds.

According to the parks department, a recent survey of 760 people in Carson City found that about 60 percent favored converting the upper playing fields at Centennial to artificial turf, but about 53 percent generally preferred natural grass and sand.

The main advantages of artificial turf were easy maintenance, uniform surface, water savings and playability in all weather conditions, while the main disadvantages were hotter playing surfaces, higher risk of injury and health and environmental concerns.

Anthony Stevenson of Lloyd Sports and Engineering was also present at Wednesday’s meeting. The board is expected to review a $238,405 contract with Lloyd for the design phase of the artificial turf facility.

Stevenson said Lloyd specializes in both natural grass and artificial turf sports facilities and has worked with other park authorities and professional leagues such as the NFL.

“As far as heat goes, the heat with artificial turf is real. It is basically registered and documented,” he said.

Heat problems, however, can be mitigated by water cannons or infill (what goes between the synthetic fibers of the turf), Stevenson explained. Park officials pointed out that the industry offers organic infill materials such as cork and coconut shells. On Wednesday, a sample of a TenCate synthetic turf was passed around that did not require infill.

“It’s definitely a problem that can be solved,” Stevenson said. “If you think about Arizona, there are a lot of high schools. There are a lot of recreational programs that have artificial turf. In fact, the largest artificial turf facility in the world is in Phoenix, Arizona: 3.1 million square feet of soccer and baseball fields … and two of my colleagues’ kids play there almost year-round, and through some of these different systems, we can mitigate the heat.”

David Peterson, CEO of Visit Carson City, also attended the hearing and advocated for a modern sports facility in the capital.

“I am pleased to say that the opportunities we now have to encourage additional visitor investment in Carson City will not only benefit our lodging establishments … but also our restaurants, bars, museums, galleries, gas stations and the like,” he said.

Stevenson said artificial turf fields can last 8 to 15 years, depending on use. Commissioner Lea Case asked what would happen if the bond proceeds ran out and the city had to replace the artificial turf.

“Where will the money come from in ten years and who will be responsible for it?” she asked.

Jen Budge, Carson City’s parks and recreation director, responded that depreciation is being considered, adding that the interior areas could wear out faster.

“We will plan for replacement purchases years in advance and use Quality Life’s capital budget for this purpose,” she said.

The Quality of Life Initiative was passed by Carson voters in 1996 and introduced a 0.25 percent sales tax, with 40 percent of the revenue earmarked for the open space program, 40 percent for park projects, and 20 percent for park and facility maintenance.