School district settles artificial turf case.Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard A dispute over quality problems with the artificial turf Artificial turf, or synthetic turf, is a grass-like man-made surface manufactured from synthetic materials. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass, however, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial fields at the Eugene School District's four high schools is resolved - at least for the time being. After suing the fields' manufacturer and insurance company last year for failing to repair the polypropylene-fiber and crushed-rubber fields under warranty, the district last week negotiated a $27,000 settlement with the insurance company, Dealers Assurance Co. The settlement covers the better part of a $35,000 fix, completed this summer, that added about an inch-thick layer of tiny rubber granules Granules Small packets of reactive chemicals stored within cells. Mentioned in: Allergic Rhinitis, Allergies to the fields to bring back some of their lift. The district ordered an inspection of the fields last year after noticing exposed fibers and compaction. The inspection found that the fields' "G-max" rating - a measurement of the fields' thickness and resiliency The ability to recover from a failure. The term may be applied to hardware, software or data. - exceeded the 125 specified in the warranty. Jon Lauch, assistant director of facilities, said the district has little chance of collecting on a judgment against Georgia-based Avery Sports Turf, which has been unresponsive unresponsive Neurology adjective Referring to a total lack of response to neurologic stimuli from the start. "It appears there's not much to collect on," Lauch said. The insurance company has alleged that the school district had no policy and was not covered not covered Health care adjective Referring to a procedure, test or other health service to which a policy holder or insurance beneficiary is not entitled under the terms of the policy or payment system–eg, Medicare. Cf Covered. as a third-party beneficiary third-party beneficiary n. a person who is not a party to a contract, but has legal rights to enforce the contract or share in proceeds because the contract was made for the third party's benefit. in any existing policy. "There's some question whether (the policy) exists," Lauch said. Under the terms of the settlement, the district has released the insurance company - though not Avery - from any responsibility for the G-max issue, but not for other potential problems covered by the warranty. Should any such problems arise, it's not clear who would be responsible, Lauch said. "It's really kind of a mess," he said. Even when the fields were at their flattest, they were still plenty safe for play, he said. "This just seemed like a preventive, precautionary pre·cau·tion·ar·y also pre·cau·tion·al adj. Of, relating to, or constituting a precaution: taking precautionary measures; gave precautionary advice. Adj. 1. measure to get the resiliency back up and protect the fibers," he said of the work done in July. Overall, he said, the district has been pleased with the emerald-green fields, which were part of an $8.6 million, bond-funded initiative to improve youth athletics facilities. The city and the district collaborated on the project. "They're holding up really well overall," he said. The fields' life expectancy Life Expectancy 1. The age until which a person is expected to live. 2. The remaining number of years an individual is expected to live, based on IRS issued life expectancy tables. is 10 years, he said, at which point the district will likely seek replacement through another bond measure. |
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