Walt Whitman, one of America’s greatest poets, spent plenty of time thinking about grass. He is best known for his poetry collection “Leaves of Grass.” In it, he contemplates the “hopeful green stuff,” comparing it to a child, his own disposition, even calling it “the beautiful uncut hair of graves.”
Allen Community College trustees spent a fair amount of time considering the green stuff as well Tuesday evening, as they discussed the sorry state of the college’s soccer field and what to do about it during a special board meeting.
The college paid about $52,000 last summer to have the field sprigged with Bermuda grass. (“Sprigging” a field means establishing turf by planting grass stems, or sprigs, as opposed to seed, into the soil.) Whitman might note Bermuda grass is praised for its ability to resist heat and drought, as well as its capacity to withstand heavy traffic.
Allen trustees just know it’s dead. The whole field of it. And in order to have a soccer program this fall, they need that to change.
Brett Wiens of Turf Solutions speaks to ACC trustees Tuesday about the college’s beleaguered soccer field shown below. 
Allen Community College trustee Jenny Spillman participates in a special meeting Tuesday. 
Allen Community College trustee Corey Schinstock participates in a special meeting Tuesday.
The board’s frustration with the situation was obvious. For two consecutive winters now, the soccer field’s grass has failed to survive. Winterkill has left a brown rectangle surrounded by green, and the prospect of having to pay for a second summer sprigging seemed particularly irksome to trustee Corey Schinstock.
“That’s all on us, right?” he asked, examining the price tag. “There’s no guarantee after what happened the last time?”
Board chair Rebecca Nilges affirmed the cost was the college’s burden to bear.
“OK, that’s all I need to know,” said Schinstock. “To me, if my contractor doesn’t stand behind something he put in, I’m not doing it again. Everybody ought to have some skin in the game, in my opinion.”
“My biggest thing is there ought to be some sort of warranty on this,” said Schinstock. “I’m not talking insurance. I’m talking warranty. Any project I’ve ever been a part of with grass or seed, you get a year warranty on it.” He urged the project be put out to bid.
BRETT WIENS of Turf Solutions was on hand to provide context. Based in McPherson, Turf Solutions has managed the college’s soccer, baseball and softball fields since around 2013. Wiens covered a myriad of factors that could explain why the grass died. Too cold. Too wet. Too dry. But after a thorough exploration of the data, even Wiens was left a bit bewildered, saying, “That’s a very long answer to why the field keeps dying. And I don’t know.”
The trustees also heard Wiens discuss alternatives. Artificial turf would cost more than $1 million and last a decade. Bluegrass, which the Royals play on, does poorly in heat and is more expensive. Fescue is probably the best option, but it’s still more expensive than Bermuda grass, doesn’t withstand heat and traffic as well, and can’t be cut as short as Bermuda grass. (The college’s soccer coaches prefer shorter grass.)
After hearing Wiens out, trustee Gena Clounch asked the question on everyone’s mind: “How can you guarantee this won’t fail again?”
Wiens’ answer was simple. He can’t. There are just too many factors at play, he said. The college could purchase a tarp to cover the field during extreme cold, or even apply a layer of sand over the field in the off-season to insulate the grass. They could even winterize the field in August or September to see if that helps. Trustee Vicki Curry suggested the college look into purchasing a tarp in the near future, saying, “We wouldn’t be out all this money if we’d done that in the beginning.”
The options seemed endless. But in the end, the $53,450 price tag of re-sprigging, and hoping for a milder winter, or at least greener grass come spring, won the day. Athletic Director Doug Desmarteau said men’s and women’s soccer departments will dedicate $10,000 each to the cause, and $15,000 will come from the athletics account. Ryan Sigg, the college’s plant operations director, told the board he had enough funds in the maintenance budget to cover the remaining $18,450.
Desmarteau and Sigg noted the college had already allocated around $13,000 for the field’s maintenance, so the sprigging will only result in about $40,000 in additional expense.
Clounch made the motion to move forward, which passed 5-1. Schinstock was opposed.
