ADAMS, Mass. — The Parks Commission will pursue a soil test in hopes of improving the infield at Renfrew Field.
The board received a $400 donation Monday from the Berkshire Adult Baseball League that recently used the field.
"Donations like this do help out and give us the ability to buy little things here and there that the parks need without going to the DPW for specific funding," Chairman Scott Cernik said. "Donations like this are massive."
Commissioner James Fassell suggested putting the money right back into the field and improve drainage issues.
"I want to put this right back into Renfrew ... let's put this right back into the field they use," he said. "We should do it now and I don't want to continue to sit on the money."
Counting past donations, the commission has nearly $1,000, Fassell said, he wants to use it for a soil test on the infield.
The testing would determine the material that's on the infield now. The condition of the fields had come up at meetings last year.
He suggested starting the process immediately because he did not want to delay the project any longer.
"Let's get this going and do it right now ... I just worry about the time table because if we continue this way it will be 2020," he said. "We may find out by then the league is gone and we will be fixing a field that does not need to be fixed. I think we need to respond sooner."
Fassell motioned to start the project immediately and although he was able to gain the support of Commissioner Jason Sniezek, Commissioners Todd Shafer and Cernik asked to wait a month before allocating any money.
Shafer said he wanted more information before voting, especially if the testing can get done for free.
"I think we all agree that we want to get the soil tested but what particulars are we voting on here?" he said. "If we just vote on the doing a soil test then it just kind of floats in the wind. We need to take some steps first."
The commission agreed to wait a month and contact the Department of Public Works director and figure out what options the commission has and how much it will cost. The town's fiscal 2018 budget had included a capital line item for $13,000 for equipment and soil testing for Renfrew Field.
