Town Board Approves Plainview's Turf Field

The Town of Oyster Bay has given final approval to build a turf field that has been long sought after by Plainview residents.

The Board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an agreement with the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District to install the state-of-the-art field at Plainview JFK High School.

"It's money well spent," said Town Supervisor John Venditto, just before the vote. A Town spokesman said they do not yet have the final cost of the project, as the plans are not finalized. 

Town officials are waiting to hear back from the school district about scheduling issues for teams that need the field, before they announce a start date.

The Town says they will complete the project in time for a September ribbon cutting.

The  turf field will replace a natural grass surface at the existing high school football/soccer field.

Venditto said the field was championed by Councilwoman Rebecca Alesia whom he called the project's "spark-plug." 

"It started with Rebecca coming to me. That's how it happened," he said. "My head was spinning, we had other projects in other areas, but we knew it was the right thing to do, and it got done."

Alesia, who is a parent in the district said she championed the project because, "As much as I love my job on the board, I am a councilwoman second and a parent first."

"It's more about the community and the school district coming together very clearly on this," she said.

The board also voted to change the date of the meeting that had been scheduled for April 23 to April 29. The location of the meeting has also been changed from Town Hall in Oyster Bay, to HB Mattlin Middle School in Plainview. The change is being made to accommodate public interest on a proposed development in Plainview.