http://www.reformer.com/religion/ci_26750563/terriers-cosmos-play-under-lights-tonight-at-hadley
Terriers, Cosmos to play under lights tonight at Hadley Field
By DOMENIC POLI / Reformer Staff
POSTED: 10/18/2014 03:00:00 AM
A stadium-style light switches on at Hadley Field, in Bellows Falls. (Reformer file photo)
A stadium-style light switches on at Hadley Field, in Bellows Falls. (Reformer file photo)
WESTMINSTER -- It may be only October, but Bellows Falls Union High School just passed a final examination.
The stadium lights hanging 70 feet above Hadley Field were given one last test Friday night and were well within the parameters of the zoning permit issued in August by the Westminster Development Review Board, according to BFUHS. As a result of the test, the high school has bumped up the football game scheduled for Saturday afternoon to 7 p.m. so it can be played under the approved lights.
BFUHS Principal Chris Hodsden and members of the DRB were among those at Friday's test and the results indicated the lights do not produce foot-candles -- how illumination is measured -- in excess of what the zoning permit allows. The high school had to wait out a 30-day appeals period after the DRB made its decision two months ago.
Saturday night's game will pit the 5-2 Terriers of BFUHS against the archrival Springfield Cosmos (1-5). It will also be Senior Night and Bellows Falls Athletic Director Ian Fraunfelder said the ceremonial recognition of the senior players will begin at 6:40 p.m. BFUHS home games have traditionally been played on Saturday afternoons, though the lights give the Terriers the opportunity to play in the same conditions of their professional heroes.
"It is exciting, but it's more exciting for the (players). For the past two years, they've seen the lights but they haven't been able to play under them," he said.
"I think the students are just excited about it -- for the other kids it's something to do on a Saturday night."
Fraunfelder said he started contacting Springfield High School the morning after the final test and his counterparts knew BFUHS was interested in rescheduling Saturday's game for nighttime. Fraunfelder also secured officials for the game.
The DRB's decision came less than three months after the Vermont Natural Resources Board issued a land use (Act 250) permit to the Rockingham Town School District and the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union, authorizing the use of the stadium lights as long as the majority of them have downward-facing shields. There can be no change to the design, operation or use of the project and no further alteration or development on the land with a permit amendment, according to the land use permit. The lights can be used a maximum of 46 nights a year and must be turned off by 11 p.m. any night they are used. They also cannot be mounted any higher than 70 feet off the ground. Also, all but two of them -- the ones that illuminate the outfield of the baseball diamond -- must sport visors to shield them.
The high school wrestled with the question of where it could get the nearly $20,000 to install the shields. Kathy Lisai, who manages the Danscomb Trust, came forward with the offer to donate the funds for the shields and get the lights turned back on this season to allow the seniors to play a night game. According to information from BFUHS, the Danscomb Trust supports educational, recreational and the general well-being of Westminster residents. It donated the new scoreboard to the high school last year.
"My kids and grand kids have benefited greatly from the sports programs they've participated in over the years, and I like to help out with this sort of thing when I can," said Lisai in a statement.
The lights were made possible by the financial holdings of longtime Westminster resident Alvin L. Southwick, who died in August 2011. Leading up to his death, Southwick asked longtime friend Frederick Yates to help him put together his final will and testament. Yates, who had known Southwick for more than 50 years, agreed and as a result BFUHS became one of about a dozen entities to benefit from Southwick's gift and was soon equipped with stadium lights. But getting the lights on for a sporting event was easier said than done.
A few football and baseball games were played at Hadley during the 2011-12 school year, but in August 2012 Westminster resident Ruth Gale complained the lights were so bright they were shining into her rear bedrooms and attracting bugs to a deck of her house. Gale had written letters to the town in February and March 2012 to express her opposition to the lights because she said they could generate additional traffic during baseball games. She has told the Reformer she is the closest abutter to the lights, as her home is along the driveway leading up to BFUHS.
Gale's complaints started a chain reaction, as the contractor hired for the installation job apparently failed to ensure all necessary permits were in place before installation. The single permit, which was revoked, issued by the Westminster DRB was not enough for the project -- the Act 250 permit was required. According to Matt Daskal, who was the Westminster town manager at the time, DRB members revoked the zoning permit because they believed the light levels were in excess of what the permit allowed. They also were concerned about the lights' structural integrity and glare.
Last summer, the BFUHS Board of Directors decided to temporarily close Hadley when it learned Techline, Inc. -- the company that installed the lights -- could not guarantee the safety of the installation it made in the spring of 2012. But a week later the board voted to reopen the field after soil sample borings taken from the field indicated the installed poles hoisting the stadium lights did not pose a threat.
WNESU Superintendent Chris Kibbe said he is relieved the saga involving the lights has reached its end.
"I hope that the community gets many years of enjoyment from these lights," he said in an e-mailed statement. "I also want to thank lighting engineer, Matt Kiley, who volunteered an extensive amount of time to work with us and the zoning board around the permitting and testing of this project."
Kibbe, Fraunfelder and Hodsden have all expressed gratitude toward Southwick and the generosity that enabled BFUHS to acquire the first stadium lights in its history. Hodsden also said it is a relief to resolve "a two-year-long agenda item" and all the "regulatory obligations that come with dotting the i's and crossing the t's."
Hadley Field also hosted the Connecticut Valley Peewee Football League (CVPWFL) 2014 Championship, a tie-breaker in which the CVPWFL Packers defeated the CVPWFL Dolphins, on Wednesday night.
The Terriers are a perfect 3-0 in night games this season, having defeated Milton, North Country and Fair Haven on the road and under the lights.
Bellows Falls running back Carson Fullam has been on fire, including 207 rushing yards and four touchdowns versus Fair Haven last week, and 211 yards and five scores the game prior to that.
Springfield tailback Josh Rivers had 20 carries for 128 yards and a TD in his team's 31-6 loss to U-32 in Week 7.
Domenic Poli can be reached at dpoli@reformer.com, or 802-254-2311, ext. 277. You can follow him on Twitter @dpoli_reformer.
The Game's History
*Bellows Falls has 52-42-4 record versus Springfield in the series that began in 1914. Saturday will be the 99th regular-season meeting.
2013: Terriers 77, Cosmos 8
2012: Terriers win by forfeit
2011: Terriers 41, Cosmos 0
2010: Terriers 43, Cosmos 24
2009: Cosmos 19, Terriers 18
2008: Cosmos 39, Terriers 14'
2007: Cosmos 32, Terriers 24
2006: Cosmos 13, Terriers 6
2005: Terriers 60, Cosmos 42
2004: Terriers 44, Cosmos 6
2003: Terriers 42, Cosmos 26
2002: Terriers 42, Cosmos 6
2001: Terriers 35, Cosmos 7
2000: Cosmos 24, Terriers 0
1999: Terriers 22, Cosmos 12
1998: Cosmos 20, Terriers 16
1997: Cosmos 20, Terriers 18
1996: Terriers 26, Cosmos 6
1995: Terriers 24, Cosmos 13
1994: Terriers 37, Cosmos 6
1993: Cosmos 14, Terriers 12
1992: Cosmos 8, Terriers 6
1991: Cosmos 25, Terriers 0
1990: Terriers 26, Cosmos 7
1989: Cosmos 24, Terriers 0
1988: Terriers 14, Cosmos 0
1987: Terriers 21, Cosmos 18
1986: Terriers 44, Cosmos 14
1985: Terriers 22, Cosmos 6
1984: Terriers 41, Cosmos 7
1983: Terriers 33, Cosmos 0
1982: Terriers 18, Cosmos 12
1981: Terriers 42, Cosmos 16
1980: Terriers 25, Cosmos 6
1979: Terriers 48, Cosmos 0
1978: Terriers 8, Cosmos 6
1977: Cosmos 28, Terriers 6
1976: Cosmos 21, Terriers 14
1975: Terriers 14, Cosmos 0
1974: Terriers 22, Cosmos 8
1975: Terriers 14, Cosmos 0
1974: Terriers 22, Cosmos 8
1973: Terriers 12, Cosmos 6
1972: Terriers 14, Cosmos 6
1971: Terriers 41, Cosmos 0
1970: Terriers 48, Cosmos 14
1969: Cosmos 39, Terriers 6
1968: Cosmos 39, Terriers 6
1967: Terriers 13, Cosmos 0
1966: Cosmos 13, Terriers 12
1965: Terriers 30, Cosmos 7
1964: Terriers 26, Cosmos 6
1963: Cosmos 39, Terriers 0
1962: Cosmos 20, Terriers 0
1961: Cosmos 25, Terriers 13
1960: Cosmos 26, Terriers 14
1959: Cosmos 7, Terriers 0
1958: Cosmos 13, Terriers 6
1957: Terriers 13, Cosmos 0
1956: Terriers 19, Cosmos 7
1955: Cosmos 25, Terriers 6
1954: Cosmos 19, Terriers 13
1953: Terriers 14, Cosmos 13
1952: Cosmos 19, Terriers 13
1951: Terriers 6, Cosmos 0
1950: Terriers 6, Cosmos 0
1949: Terriers 39, Cosmos 7
1948: Terriers 0, Cosmos 0
1947: Cosmos 7, Terriers 0
1946: Terriers 7, Cosmos 0
1945: Cosmos 18, Terriers 12
1944: Terriers 75, Cosmos 0
1943: Terriers 7, Cosmos 0
1942: Terriers 0, Cosmos 0
1941: Terriers 6, Cosmos 0
1940: Terriers 0, Cosmos 0
1939: Cosmos 32, Terriers 0
1938: Cosmos 14, Terriers 0
1937: Cosmos 7, Terriers 0
1936: Cosmos 14, Terriers 0
1935: Cosmos 13, Terriers 0
1934: Cosmos 25, Terriers 0
1933: Cosmos 39, Terriers 0
1932: Terriers 6, Cosmos 0
1931: Terriers 18, Cosmos 6
1930: Terriers 7, Cosmos 7
1929: Cosmos 27, Terriers 6
1928: Cosmos 28, Terriers 0
1927: Cosmos 39, Terriers 3
1926: Cosmos 14, Terriers 9
1925: Cosmos 64, Terriers 19
1924: Cosmos 12, Terriers 6
1923: Cosmos 7, Terriers 5
1922: Cosmos 72, Terriers 0
1921: No Game
1920: Terriers 13, Cosmos 0
1919: Terriers 13, Cosmos 0
1918: Terriers 14, Cosmos 0
1917: Terriers 39, Cosmos 0
1916: No Game
1915: No Game
1914: Terriers 88, Cosmos 0
