The other side of the football field issue

To the editor:
    After reading the Letters to the Editor over the past few weeks, I would like to have my side heard regarding the football field. I am one of those home owners that did not want the football field forced upon me.     On March 7, 2008, I attended a meeting where I was given the design of the football field. I was told at that meeting I was the only neighbor objecting to the football field being built. I was also told the field would be constructed and the zoning board hearing was a formality. After leaving the meeting, I spoke to my neighbors and discovered that I was not the only one objecting to this project. I also found out that in the beginning stages of planning for this football field there was a board meeting and several of the neighbors voiced their objections during the hearing. At that time, the football field design only had one field. Now they want to build two fields, a concession stand, maintenance garage, restrooms and parking lot. Now after reading the newspaper, Mr. Wyckoff, the president of the Aroostook Football League wants to add other things.
    At the zone board hearing on May 13, 2008, I was given another outline of the football field. It was bigger than the one I was given in March. I was told there would be 50 to 70 people attending the games, with the intention of more recruitment. I was told that the parking lot was going to be 100 feet from my property. It is not, it is 73 feet from stake to stake. The back and the side of my property are opened with no trees except a few trees on the corners of my land, but there is a clear view of the field. The neighbor’s homes are opened as well, with no trees blocking the back field. Mr. Wyckoff stated several times the lights would not be a problem, but after doing some research I found out that is not so. The field would be only 300 feet from my property and the field is situated higher than my property, so yes, I would be affective by the lights. Not only would I be affected by the field lights, but the lights from the cars in the parking lot which would be adjacent to my property.
    At the May 13th hearing there were landowners who objected to the special exception to construct two football fields, a concession stand, maintenance garage, restrooms and parking lot behind their homes. Mr. Wyckoff was there representing the Aroostook Youth Football League. He could not answer all the questions that the board members asked so they denied the request to have a special exemption to change the zone. The board members voted on the information that was presented to them at the meeting. The board found that the football field would have an impact on the neighbors due to the increase in lights and noise pollution. These neighbors have enjoyed their homes much longer than Mr. Wyckoff has lived in Presque Isle or this project been discussed.
    Mr. Wyckoff stated that it is his intentions to have night games which may not end until 10 p.m. I spoke to the Presque Isle High School Athletic Director and he said they had to implement a curfew of 9:30 p.m. because of the complaints of lights and noise from the neighbors. In town, the neighborhood is already flooded with street lights, there are trees surrounding the field, and they still receive complaints concerning the field. I also spoke with someone from Maine Public Service and was told that I would see the lights and they would be intrusive, especially since they would be the only light against the night sky. And due to the August to October practice and game schedule that Mr. Wyckoff presented, the lights would be turned on much earlier then if the season began in early summer.
    There is also the increase of noise pollution. People have so much to say and they don’t live on Route 1. Yes there is traffic and from 7 to 8 a.m. and 4 to 5 p.m. there is heavier traffic flow because people are going to work and returning home, but after that it is quiet. You cannot compare the traffic with 50 to 80 people right out back of your home yelling, cheering, beeping their car horns, driving in and out of the field, especially during the hours that I am relaxing after work or enjoying my weekend with my family.
    I have gone to games at the Presque Isle middle and high schools. I have sat in my car with the windows up in the back of the parking lot at the high school, and the noise echoed throughout the parking lot. I even drove over to Lombard Street to observe what I could hear and see. The lights flooded the neighborhood, and the noise echoed. At the Presque Isle Middle School, I watched a game from my car. The lights and the noise from the cheering of the crowd and the horns of cars cannot be compared to the low rumble of traffic on Route 1.
    On June 3, 2008, a hearing to reconsider the denial of the Special Exception to construct two football fields within the Agricultural Farming Zone was scheduled. The meeting came to order at 6:30 p.m. the time it was scheduled for. There was a motion made to hear more information regarding the football field. No one seconded it, so the motion died. Even if the motion was seconded, another hearing would have needed to be scheduled which would only discuss new information the football league had discovered, not reiterate what was presented in the past or to show the board signatures in support of the project. This hearing had nothing to do with public opinion. The board members are required to follow the law just like any court. They have statues and laws regarding implementing changes, conducting hearings, and following procedures.
    The immediate neighbors and I would experience the most impact of this project and we have no children that play football. I am very sorry for those children who play on these teams, and I support and am aware of the importance of sports for children. The children on these teams are from towns all around Aroostook County and Mr. Wyckoff had stated what a wonderful relationship he has had with the Caribou Rec. Department. He bragged about having the first option for scheduling practices and games. Why not continue this relationship? Why invest so much money into a sport that can only be played a few months out of the year and will only benefit a small population of children? Or develop the field where there are no homes around. If Mr. Wyckoff or the parent’s of the players want two football fields, a concession stand, maintenance garage, restrooms and parking lot, have someone whose child plays football put it in their back yard. Mr. Wyckoff has land, why doesn’t he build it there. What it really comes down to is no one wants it in their back yard.
    I spoke to a mother whose child plays for the football team and she told me she would not want it in her back yard. So how fair is it to force home owners that live in an Agricultural Zone to change it? Especially when we pay extremely high taxes and this organization is a non-profit. How fair is it to force it on us when we have no vested interest? Shouldn’t we have a say since this impacts the comfort of our homes and our way of life?
Kim Milbury
Presque Isle