Artificial Turf Fields

As the last comprehensive community parks and recreation needs assessment was conducted in 2011, a study was conducted in 2022 which included meeting with the Village Associations, Board of Directors and 2,000 web-based surveys.

As this all-weather turf renovation was part of the overall renovation of Falconwing Park(PDF, 743KB), additional meetings were held with the Indian Springs Village Association, a separate web survey of Indian Springs residents was conducted and several public meetings were held to review the design and cost.

At their July 20, 2023 meeting, the Board of Directors approved a proposal for artificial turf at Falconwing Park, Wendtwoods Park, and Gosling Sportsfields- Field 4 at a total cost of $4.3 million using funding from the 2022 Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment Fund.

The park renovation has received media coverage throughout the planning process and project signs for the turf replacement were installed in the park in October 2023 in two locations (“field” parking lot and Indigo Sky Drive).

• https://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/woodlands/article/Woodlands-parks-improvement-plans-move-forward-16211395.php
• https://www.yourconroenews.com/neighborhood/woodlands/news/article/The-Woodlands-Township-to-begin-1-6M-upgrades-to-16947179.php
• https://hellowoodlands.com/township-invites-community-to-participate-in-falconwing-park-survey/
• https://www.fox26houston.com/news/new-pickleball-courts-at-falconwing-park-in-the-woodlands
• https://www.yourconroenews.com/neighborhood/woodlands/news/article/Woodlands-adds-artificial-turf-to-Falconwing-Park-17187338.php

Before the installation of the first all-weather turf field in 2012, there were community concerns about the use of artificial turf, similar to the issues raised recently. We share resident concerns about ensuring a safe space for the community to play. The fields are required to meet the various requirements of the Synthetic Turf Council for performance, material use, and non-toxicity. Please note there are approximately 12,000 all-weather turf fields in use today in the United States and approximately 1,000 new fields are being built per year.

To ensure these standards are met, vendors test the materials for heavy metals, PAH’s, and VOC’s, among other items by an independent accredited laboratory. PFAs are a group of manufactured chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s because of their useful properties. There are thousands of different PFAs, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others. You can see the current EPA statement on PFAs.

A current challenge in the industry is the lack of a specific national standard for all-weather turf related to limits of acceptable toxins, thus the industry has benchmarked its product against drinking water, a product which is ingested, a higher standard. The State of California has established guidelines for all-weather turf, which has stricter regulations on many chemicals than the US, and the turf being installed meets BOTH of these requirements. The Synthetic Turf Council is working with the US-EPA to help develop specific testing for synthetic turf due in part to the concerns raised.

We continue to monitor this concern and through our involvement at professional associations meetings/presentations and newsletters.

The fields are well used by the community (qualified organizations, pick-up groups, and residents in general). While the all-weather turf fields are used by tournaments, especially at the sports complex, the drivers for the addition of these fields are resident-based qualified organizations and public comments about the lack of access to all-weather fields. To be a qualified organization, the organization must be non-profit and 60% of its users must be residents, among other requirements. The qualified organization program allows groups access to the fields for seasons that range from introductory programming to highly competitive and nationally ranked teams.

On January 18, 2024, the Board of Directors recognized the Parks and Recreation Department as a result of receiving a maintenance award from the Texas Recreation and Parks Society- East Region for its all-weather turf maintenance program. The goals and objectives of The Woodlands All-Weather Turf Maintenance Plan includes but is not limited to:

• the playing surface is kept safe and clean;
• airborne contaminants and other contaminants are removed;
• the playing surface remains level and consistent;
• the system does not become over-compacted and hard;
• extends the life of the surface and maintains the manufacturer’s warranty in effect

The maintenance program has proven effective as there have been limited complaints from users about the condition of the turf over the past 12 years. The program includes the following, which is performed by a contractor who specializes in all-weather turf maintenance:

• Bi-Weekly Maintenance- Turf Grooming & Sweeping.
• Quarterly - Decompaction & Brushing – penetrate into the turf 1/5 inch/ 5mm minimum via mechanical brush and/or compressed air system separating and lifting the infill in order to relieve compaction while cleaning and conditioning the surface.
• Deep Cleaning, Conditioning, and Decompaction – As needed, penetrate into the turf 3/4 inch/ 20 mm minimum via mechanical brush and/or compressed air system separating and lifting the infill, cleaning the infill via mechanical shaker screen, removing debris, dust, and untangling fiber.
• Top Dress- as needed, install materials (70% rubber/30% sand) base to maintain acceptable infill rates.

There have been comments in the community that the reason for the conversion of the field in Falconwing Park to all-weather turf is due to the sport of cricket. The addition of a cricket pitch (bowling area) added approximately $10,000 of cost to the project. The goal of this project is to extend the use of our space, due to The Township's lack of ability to build new parks (i.e. available land), and water conservation, and reduction of operational cost.

The sport of cricket was identified as a need in the 2022 Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment, and there are two to three different groups playing cricket in the parks and at school sites. Township staff has been in consultation with a local cricket group on the design of the pitch, materials to be used, along the dimensions of the field, including a discussion on having their field be all-weather turf. (February 27, 2024)

The plans, which were created by a State of Texas Professional Engineering company, for the renovation of the field to all-weather turf, have to be approved by Montgomery County for drainage and flood impact. This project has received all necessary permits. Within the design of the all-weather turf fields, there is storage created for the runoff from the field to minimize the impact of the field on downstream drainage. (February 27, 2024)

Due to the composition of the soil, it did not allow the cement stabilization process to be used which the current all-weather turf fields used. Eco-Soil is being used to stabilize the soil which “creates an electro-chemical reaction in the soil, pushing out the ions that cause the clay soil to swell, and freeing the attached water as the solution flows through the soil, the pressure of the solution fractures the clay, allowing the solution to fully penetrate. The process alters the clay soil, neutralizing its ability to attract and bind to water.” For more information on the soil stabilizer, please visit the EcoSoil Stabilizers website. The runoff residents are seeing is the freeing of the water in the subsurface which is flowing through two rock dams and ten filter socks before its final discharge point at the street. The materials used for this process include a blend of citric acid, sulfuric acid, and phosphoric acids. (February 29, 2024)

To address the community's need related to sport field access, field lights were at Falconwing Park in 2014. Between 2011-2014, The Township added lights at several parks including Lakeside, Shadowbend, Harper’s Landing, Creekwood and Cattail Park. It was determined to use this approach as it was a cost-effective method in which to leverage existing resources (field, parking, restrooms, etc.) while enhancing the community’s access to the park. Due in part to this need, Wendtwoods Park was specifically built with field lights, the first Village Park to be built with field lights.

As part of the 2022 Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment and to reduce operational cost, LED lights were installed on each field in the system. Parks and Recreation staff has worked with one resident at Falconwing Park to address their concerns about the lights. The vendor who installed the new fixtures worked to re-position the lights to address their concerns. Staff is also working to install additional trees between the fields and the residents to enhance the forest buffer in this area. This issue will be re-examined when the field is finished (lights/additional trees).

The lights at the fields are only on when a field reservation is made by calling the Parks and Recreation Department and paying the applicable fee. To assist in the management of the light system, the on-call supervisor and park rangers have access to this system to be able to shut off the lights/turn on the lights if the need arises. (February 29, 2024)

The community currently has nine (9) all weather fields and three more are currently being built which include Falconwing Park, Wendtwoods Park and Gosling Sportfields (Field 4). Each of these fields utilizes a crumb rubber and sand mixture as part of the fields base.

Liberty Tire Recycling, based in Houston, Texas, has been and will be the provider of the crumb rubber for this project, through the prime contractor (Act Global). Please note that they have provided all of the crumb rubber for each of the community’s all-weather fields. Like all materials used in this project, they are tested on various measures to ensure a safe field which is compliant with various testing standards. Samples of Liberty Tire Recycling crumb rubber were analyzed for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS was not detected in either of the samples tested. This was an expected result as there is no technical reason to add PFAS-containing compounds to either car or truck tires.

Firefly, an independent sports materials testing lab that is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited has certified this product. To obtain this certification, the product has been tested to “meet stringent, third-party requirements for lead content, heavy metal migration, and chemical emissions.” The certification is based on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), European toy safety standard criteria for heavy metals, and the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)’s Chronic Reference Exposure Levels (CRELs) for volatile organic compounds.”

Please also note that the Safety Data Sheet provides information on OSHA Hazards which include but are not limited to “Identifying workers' exposure to health hazards is typically more complex than identifying physical safety hazards. For example, gases and vapors may be invisible, often have no odor, and may not have an immediately noticeable harmful health effect. Health hazards include chemical hazards (solvents, adhesives, paints, toxic dusts, etc.), physical hazards (noise, radiation, heat, etc.), biological hazards (infectious diseases), and ergonomic risk factors (heavy lifting, repetitive motions, vibration).” These standards are set for people working with and around these materials and the Safety Data Sheet for this crumb rubber identified “No known OSHA hazards.” (February 29, 2024)

The community’s park system pre-dates The Woodlands Township as it was born out of The Woodlands Development Company’s vision and was then stewarded by the Community Associations of The Woodlands, before being transferred to The Woodlands Township. While there have been several parties involved with the development of the park system, what has not changed is the structure of the park system which includes the following:

• Amenity Park
• Neighborhood Park
• Area Park
• Village Park
• Townwide Park

Residents are correct in stating that Falconwing Park is not a sports complex (Townwide Park), however the conversion of the field from grass to all weather turf is consistent with the goal of the park which “……. is (to provide) the full spectrum of recreational needs, from supervised tot play to organized field sports and court sports.” (2003 Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment). The fundamental use of the park does not change with the conversion. (February 29, 2024)

The Woodlands Township has used various budget methods to understand the financial impact of decisions. For many projects, a pro forma is used to forecast the financial impact (capital, operational, revenue) which allows the organization to have a “full” picture of the long-term impact. Below is a 24-year pro forma that examines the initial cost of the project, replacement cost, operational savings/expenses and revenue forecast. Over the course of 24 years it is estimated there will be $4.568 million in expenses and a cost savings/revenue generation of $5.405 million, thus saving the taxpayer of the community $836,677 during this term. (February 29, 2024)

Pro Forma(PDF, 117KB)