Over the years, David has been involved in numerous civic and charitable projects. David is a past member of the Barnstable School Committee and has been active throughout the Barnstable School System with fund raising for Barnstable’s “Celebration” and also spearheaded the “Field of Dreams” project to install a new track and turf field at Barnstable High School. David has coached youth soccer, baseball, and football. David was a board member of the Cape Cod Community College Foundation and selected as a representative for the Barnstable delegation at the All American City Awards in California.

Presently, David is an elected official for the Centerville-Osterville-Marston Mills (COMM) Fire and Water District.  As a Prudential Committee Member, David oversees the finances for the District.  He is the Member primarily responsible to negotiate with the District’s various labor unions.  He also sits on the Board of Directors for both the Osterville Historic Society and the Hyannis Business Improvement District and is a member of the Barnstable Blue Coats.

IN THE NEWS

BHS field project may be on track

Vote paves way for possible replacement

For several years now various folks have come before the Barnstable school committee seeking major renovations to the track and football field at Barnstable High School.
After a vote taken during the Dec. 15 school committee meeting, there is hope that the school could see a new track and field as soon as the fall of 2010.
In a unanimous decision, the committee voted to request to the Town Council that $80,000 in funds from the sale of the former Grade 5 school be used to pay for a contract for design services for track and field improvements.
Former school committee member and local attorney David Lawler spoke about the project’s merits.
“If you looked at the greatest need for the greatest number of students there is no project out there that will benefit more people than this proposed track and field,” he said.
Indeed, the track and field have been the subject of discussion for nearly seven years, with various proposals being put to the committee, including the $3 million Field of Dreams project that included the renovation of every field at BHS, as well as bleacher and light replacement.
The current project involves only the track and football field, which Lawler said would ultimately be replaced with artificial turf, similar to that at Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay.
According to Lawler, the project would cost approximately $1.2 to $1.4 million, money he hopes could come from the $2.7 remaining from the sale of the Grade 5 school building.
“There is the ability to pay for it,” he said. “There is the need, and it’s an immediate need.”
Barnstable head football coach Doug Crook illustrated that need in a slideshow of images showing the track and field conditions as recently as last month.
The track has cracks running, in some cases, the full length, and the field cannot be used again until next fall due to lack of grass from overuse.
“We spent $10,000 to refurbish the field in spring and [it looks like this],” said Crook. “You spend the money to maintain the field, and, I hate to say it, it’s a waste of money. Barnstable high school has the worst fields on the Cape. You can’t find a high school that has worse fields than we have despite the efforts of the grounds crew who put a lot of effort and time into it.”
In the days prior to the meeting, Lawler presented David Anthony, the town’s chief procurement officer, with plans from CDM Engineering regarding a proposal, with the cost estimated at $80,000.
Because the track and field project is what’s know as a “horizontal” rather than a “vertical” project (i.e. one that doesn’t require erecting a structure) laws do not dictate that an engineering study be put out to bid.
CDM has had experience constructing such fields, and was the firm behind the track and field at MMA.
“You want to go out and hire a vendor familiar with this type of project,” Anthony said. “You want to make sure you get a company that has met certain criteria so you don’t get somebody who’s got good intentions but hasn’t done this before.”
Should the project eventually get the go-ahead, it is hoped the new field would be in place for the start of the fall football season. Lawler and Crook noted, though, that a turf field could be used for a multitude of activities, including soccer, field hockey and lacrosse.
Non-school affiliated clubs could also arrange to use the field, possibly through lease situations that could benefit the district financially.
The field would be an ecologically sound move as well. Not only is the turf comprised of finely ground recycled rubber from old car tires, it requires no irrigation or seeding, no spraying of pesticides and can be used regularly without concern of damage from overuse.
“It’s a surface that can be played on 24 hours a day,” Lawler said. “The use that these get is incredible.”
School committee member and MMA employee Fran McDonald agreed.
“I think it’s really a wonderful proposal for a lot of reasons,” he said. “It really impacted all of our varsity programs, it gave us the opportunity to add women’s sports, where we did not have fields to support them in the past, we saw our club programs come out on the very same fields at 8-9 p.m. In addition to that we expanded outreach into the community.”
Supt. Dr. Patricia Grenier also lent support to the project, but made it clear that if the funds could be used for non-capital projects, they would.
“Clearly I’m in support of anything that would improve the safety and the use of the fields as a community project and the safety of the kids,” she said. “If I had money…I wouldn’t use it on the track if I could use it to bring down the class sizes at the high school. That being said, I recognize the importance of athletics, and band and the extra-curricular activities in contributing to the complete education of our students.”
The next step in the process is for Grenier to bring the proposal to Town Council, likely after school vacation. The Council next meets on Jan. 6, 2010. Barnstable Patriot December 2009