Memorandum of Understanding for Stadium Lights Use (Final As of June 25)

Memorandum of Understanding for Stadium Lights Use (final as of June 25)

Weston FORUM

By Weston Forum on June 25, 2014

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDINGBETWEEN THE TOWN OF WESTON, THE WESTON BOARD OF EDUCATION, WESTON LACROSSE CLUB AND WESTON YOUTH FOOTBALL AND CHEER, INC. REGARDING LIGHTS ON THE STADIUM FIELD

WHEREAS, the Town of Weston (“Town”), the Weston Board of Education (“BOE”) and Weston Youth Sports (“Youth Sports”) (collectively “Parties”) have the opportunity to benefit from a gift (“Gift”), of privately raised funds, to cover the costs associated with the design, purchase and installation of stadium lighting (“Lights”) on the School Campus; and

WHEREAS, the Town, BOE and Youth Sports desire to accept the Gift and take advantage of the Lights; and

WHEREAS, certain adjacent neighbors are concerned about the impact of Lights and noise; and

WHEREAS, the Town, BOE and Youth Sports have agreed to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) setting forth the proposed terms and conditions of the use of the Lights and noise.

NOW THEREFORE, the Parties agree as follows:

Fall Schedule

The fall schedule is mid-August through Thanksgiving. Teams that make the playoffs, may continue to practice and play until the playoffs are completed.

Monday-Friday: High School regular season games and/or practices and Youth practices may be played with lights until 8:45 pm. For the purpose of a quarter final or semi-final games, in which a Weston school team is participating, lights may remain on until approximately 9:30 pm. Exit lights may stay on for 15 minutes after the end of the game or practice to allow for safe exit.

Quarter Final or Semi-final game/Saturday Night: One Saturday night game is permissible for the purpose of a quarter final or semi-final game, in which a Weston school team is participating. The High School Athletic Director shall request a start no later than 6 pm, but, the game may still be played, if the request is not honored. Exit lights may stay on for 15 minutes, after the end of the game, to allow for safe exit.

Friday Night Games/ School: Five “Friday night lights” School football games are permitted. Expected end time is 9:30pm. Exit lights may stay on for 15 minutes after the end of the game to allow for safe exit.

Saturday Night Games/Youth Football: Youth Football games may be played on two Saturday nights per year. Games will end at 8:30 pm. Exit lights may remain on for 15 minutes for safe exit.

Sunday: Lights are not permitted on Sunday evenings, with the exception of a Town or School Special event up to no more than 2 per calendar year as further described below.

Spring Schedule

The spring schedule is mid-March through June. Teams that make the playoffs may continue to practice and play until the playoffs are completed.

Monday-Friday: Regular season games and/or practices may be played with lights until 8:45 pm. Exit lights may stay on for 15 minutes after the end of the game or practice to allow for safe exit. Due to home track meets a delay until 9pm, up to five times per year, is permitted. In years where a Holiday as outlined in the “Holiday Section” (excluding Good Friday) falls during the week, Youth lacrosse may hold 1 additional practice until 9:15 pm on another evening, Monday through Friday.

Saturday and Sunday: Lights are not permitted on Saturday or Sunday evenings, with the exception of a Town or School Special event up to no more than 2 per calendar year as further described below.

Sound Schedule

Amplified sound, including but not limited to pre-game music and the National Anthem, is permitted no sooner than 30 minutes prior to the start of a game. No amplified music is allowed after half-time.

All football games are allowed play by play sound.

Amplified sound is not allowed at practices of any kind.

Boom boxes and similar large portable sound devices are not permitted at any time on the tennis court, the Stadium field or track. Appropriate signage will be displayed.

Lights Oversight Committee

A Lights Oversight Committee (“Committee”) shall be established. This Committee shall consist of two neighbors that live within a 1000 foot radius of the Stadium Field,(preference will be given to abutting neighbors), one member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, one member of the School Facilities Committee (or designee), and a member of the Board of Selectmen or its designee. The Committee shall meet on a quarterly basis for at least one year to discuss any lights or sound related issues. The Committee may bring issues for consideration to the Board of Education and to the Town of Weston. Complaints should be reported to the First Selectmen (for a non-School related issue) or the Superintendent of Schools, or designee, (for a school-related issue). Where possible, such action as deemed appropriate will be taken within five business days of notice from the Committee.

The sound level policy shall be re-evaluated by the Lights Oversight Committee once the new sound system is installed. It is the intention of the Parties that light and sound usage will not be extended materially beyond what is envisioned in this document.

Miscellaneous

Conference or State Games

In addition to normal season games, SWC or State playoff games and required practices are allowed, provided that they conform to the above mentioned Fall or Spring hours..

Weston can host up to 4 Conference or State games that do not involve a Weston High School team, provided that Weston participates in that conference.

Walking Lights

Walking Lights shall be permitted until 8:45 pm on all weekdays between April 1st and November 1st. They are only operative during times when Stadium lights are not on. Lights will be on a timer set for 30 minutes and will only go on if someone activates them.

Screening

The Town will commit to adequate screening of the surface of the playing field. Plantings along lot lines shall be planted and maintained with native evergreen landscaping of a type, height and spacing that is adequate to effectively screen the view of the stadium field from a person standing at ground level on abutting residentially zoned properties. After the lights are installed, the abutting property owners may request a review by the Lights Oversight Committee of the adequacy of the screening of the surface of the playing field up to one year after the lights are installed. Any remaining funds raised for the Lights project shall be held by the Town, for this purpose, for a period of one year.

Costs of Use of Field

The BOE will cover all costs associated with School use of the stadium lights, including, but not limited to: utilities, security, and maintenance.

Youth Sports shall be responsible to cover all costs associated with Youth Sports use of the stadium lights, including, but not limited to: utilities, security, and maintenance.

Holidays

Recognizing that the use of lights and amplified sound on the Stadium Field on certain Religious Holidays would be disrespectful to the neighbors, lights and amplified sound will not be permitted on the following Religious Holidays: the first 2 nights of Rosh Hashanah, the eve and day of Yom Kippur, the first two nights of Passover, and Good Friday. Additional holidays may be added after review and approval by the Lights Oversight Committee, the Town and the BOE.

Monitoring Field Usage

No “back to back” Friday night activity/Saturday activity event can occur on the same weekend.

There shall be no exceptions for practices. For High School games, the lights may remain on for an extended period of time due to extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the Weston High School Athletic Director for HS Athletics only. All Youth games shall begin on time. It is understood that a delay may be necessary due to injury or other unforeseen issue.

The Director of Parks and Recreation will work to ensure that all Town policies are followed. The School Athletic Director will work to ensure that all School policies are followed.

On High School practice days, the Athletic Director will make every effort to ensure that the youth leagues may occupy the Stadium Field by 6:45. The Director of Parks and Recreation will monitor field usage, and every effort will be made to begin Youth Athletics as early in the day as possible. The Directors will also work with the end users to create a system so that the lights are turned off no more than 15 minutes after play has ended.

Special Events

Lights may be used for 2 Town or School special events. All Special Events must end by 10:00 pm, except for Relay for Life. For the Relay for Life event, main lights will shut off at midnight; walking lights are permitted until dawn. Amplified music is permissible.

This MOU may not be amended, waived or otherwise modified except in writing by the Town and BOE. Enforcement shall be limited to the Town and BOE and there are no third party beneficiaries

The undersigned have read and agree to with this MOU. The signatories are each authorized to act on behalf of their respective parties.

TOWN OF WESTON

WESTON BOARD OF EDUCATION

WESTONLACROSSE CLUB

WESTON FOOTBALL