WOBURN - The School Building Committee needs to decide on an artificial surface playing field by mid-April, if there's to be any chance the practice area will be available for double session practices this summer.

Despite that shrinking deadline, Mayor Thomas McLaughlin sternly warned the construction oversight board that ongoing deliberations with the bonding company will take precedence over any final decision.

The mayor further cautioned the School Building Committee at its recent meeting that the construction of an artificial surface playing field is not a certainty, although $50,000 has been appropriated for the design of the project upgrade.

"Nobody should look at this presentation today as any indication that we've made a funding decision on the installation of artificial turf," McLaughlin said last week, before representatives from Weymouth-based Gale Associates unveiled their finished design plans for the athletic area.

According to William Seymour, a civil engineer with the Weymouth firm, the actual carpet for the field, regardless of what company or product was selected for the job, would have to be pre-fabricated in Georgia.

That initial 30-day submittal process, which would include deciding how many carpet panels were necessary and where field markings would be placed, would then generally be followed by another 60-day period for finishing touches and installation.

"I can't speak to the overall context of the athletic complex being finished," explained Seymour, who spoke in general terms. "You're talking about 120-days from the time we give an award to the time we cut the ribbon. And by the way, [the field] is usable on the first day."

"If you go backward with [WMHS coach Rocky Nelson] starting football practice on Aug. 15, and come back 120-days, that brings us to April 15," Schools' Facility Director Roy Robblee later responded. "We've got to make a quick decision on this in order to have this ready by then."

Not so fast

Understanding Robblee's argument, McLaughlin informed the Building Committee that no firm commitment could be made for the project until talks with the bonding company have concluded.

Once those deliberations are complete, the group will have a better grasp of the $68 million project's remaining construction reserves, which have been tapped repeatedly over recent months due to unanticipated expenses.

Macomber Builders, the Boston-based general contractor that was awarded the WMHS project, announced last October that it will be stepping down from the job due to financial difficulties.

Since that time, city-hired WMHS construction manager Patrick Saitta, the president of Municipal Building Consultants, has been negotiating with the bonding company responsible for ensuring that Macomber's obligations are met.

Traveler's St. Paul Insurance Company, which has hired its own consultant, Beacon Consultants, is currently wrapping-up the second phase of the overall WMHS project, which is expected to conclude this spring.

In the interim, the bonding company and city representatives are attempting to negotiate the financial terms of the split between Macomber and Woburn, as well as which general contractor will replace the well-known Boston firm.

"There is something else going on. We're obviously in negotiations with the bonding company and are at least weeks away from settling that. I hear you and understand your philosophy, but we have to wait," McLaughlin said to advocates of taking quick action on the playing field.

According to Saitta, who underscored the mayor's call for patience, although the 120-day timetable was accurate, the Building Committee also had to understand that the practice field would be rolled-into the overall athletic complex building phase.

Specifically, that last portion of the project, which includes the construction of an athletic stadium and baseball field in addition to the practice fields, is currently scheduled to be completed by Dec. 31.

In other words, Saitta explained, the project add-on may only take 120-days to complete, but the start date wasn't necessarily tied to the date a decision is made, as that part of the project had to be linked to those other aspects.

"If this was a stand alone project, it would only take so much time. But keep in mind, this is not a stand alone project," the construction consultant commented.

In an unanimous vote last spring, the Building Committee ordered that all work be halted on the practice field, which until that time was going to be a natural grass surface.

At the time, the group was largely confident that enough contingency funding from the construction bond would remain to foot the entire bill for an artificial turf upgrade. The cost of the turf field has been estimated to be anywhere between $500,000 and $750,000.

However, since activity has been halted on the practice field, a number of unexpected difficulties have arisen with the construction project, most notably, the discovery of two large ledge outcroppings where the WMHS stadium would be built.

The ledge removal costs alone have soared to over $500,000, and could rise to as much as $750,000, once the rock is completely taken out, according to Saitta.

With reserve funding dwindling with each unanticipated expense, city officials have recently backed away from their original hopes of footing the practice field upgrade from the construction bond.

If the Building Committee opts to return to a natural grass playing surface, WMHS sporting teams wouldn't be able to use the practice fields until the spring of 2008.