submitted by Ted Senecal
Over the past several weeks, the Town of Hoosick Youth Baseball & Softball Board members have been fielding questions from concerned parents about the presence of PFOAs at the ball fields, working with the EPA to understand potential outcomes of the soil testing performed at the baseball/softball fields, and reaching out in our community and neighboring towns to understand what options we have available should the results of the soil samples negatively impact our ability to play ball at our fields this season. [private]Following these discussions, the Board has decided not to wait until it hears back from the EPA (estimated time frame is early April) to proceed with planning for this season’s activities, which has resulted in the decision to play baseball/softball at Hoosick Falls Central School for the 2016 season. This decision has been made to ensure the children have a safe environment to play baseball/softball, to ensure there is no interruption or delay during our season, and to keep baseball/softball options within the town limits for the 2016 season.
The Board understands that this plan might not be the best outcome for everyone involved due to the fact that the fields are not “in town” as they have been in the past. It is hopeful that this is a temporary situation and the kids can resume playing ball at the Waterworks in 2017. Should the results come back from the EPA that indicate that we can use our fields without concern for the safety of the children, the Board will stick with its plan to play games at HFCS for this year, but utilize the Waterworks fields for additional practice space (something that has been needed for a long time) and potentially some Friday/Saturday night games under the lights.
For those wondering why we’re not utilizing the athletic fields near the skating rink, it’s because soil testing is occurring there this week and we won’t know the results of that testing until 1 or 2 weeks prior to Opening Day, which does not give us enough time to prepare to move should the results come back telling us we can’t play there either. As a result of this change in venue and the need to coordinate our schedules with HFCS sports schedules, we will be shortening registration by one week, therefore registration must be completed by March 25. There will be a registration day at the Armory on March 19 from 9 am to noon for those that would prefer to come register in person. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please contact Ted Senecal at 331-7286, chiefsenecal@yahoo.com; or Shawn Jones at 859-4362 , shawn.p.jones@gsk.com[/private]