Shelter from the storm

But the people who own properties surrounding the field are worried how the building will look on a field that has long been devoid of any permanent structure.

Of course, other people have their own worries about the lack of a shelter, such as hundreds of area children in youth soccer, lacrosse and flag football programs being hit by lightning, or leaving their school bags with books and computers sitting in mud puddles, or helplessly seeking shade on hot days, or just having a place to sit down and put on their cleats.

“That’s, like, coaching 101,” Jack Marhefka, a local ski coach, said at Monday’s Stowe Select Board meeting. “It’s a safety issue, and I’m surprised nothing’s happened yet.”

Monday’s meeting drew more than 50 people on multiple sides of the issue:

• Those clamoring for a permanent building for shelter, storage and a place to go to the bathroom, such as Sarah McDonald, whose kids are among the 250 who play soccer at the Polo Fields. McDonald said every other town the teams travel to has some sort of place to escape the elements.

• Those wary about putting a structure on farmland conserved by the Stowe Land Trust, such as Evelyn Frey, who said in a letter that the management plan for the Mayo Farm fields has been “a compromise all the way down the line.” Frey said “it’s bad enough the town allows” a Port-a-Potty on the field, right in view of all the neighboring homes.

• Those who think building a shelter with town money could invite more trouble than it’s worth, such as the man who warned that an improperly constructed shelter could be more dangerous in a lightning storm than sitting in a car.

The Stowe Soccer Club’s current evacuation plan for the Polo Fields is to run for the parking lot, which Marhefka called “ridiculous.”

“You can’t put them in a car,” he said.

Aiming for March vote

Although the Stowe Soccer Club has been doing much of the work, without pay, over the years in getting a proper location for the shelter and having designs drawn up, club leaders think it’s time for the town government to take over the project.

The Stowe Recreation Commission supports the project and hopes to get it completed. To that end, the select board agreed to keep the funds allocated, and asked for more solid plans and cost estimates by January so it can be on the ballot for Town Meeting Day March 1.

It’s understood that $33,000 won’t be enough to build the shelter as designed. The soccer club has agreed to raise more money, but will likely need more money from the town.

Gordon Dixon, a soccer coach and builder, said part of the reason the project has taken so long is that the town and state spent almost five years determining which of the multiple Mayo Farm fields — the Polo Field is officially “Field L” — have wetlands.

Carol Schall, whose property sits behind the Polo Fields parking lot, said the lot already attracts nighttime visitors “making transactions” or “having trysts” away from the watchful eyes of the local police.

Schall suggested using the $33,000 to help shore up the town-owned Parker Barn, on West Hill Road near the Polo Fields entrance. The club keeps its goals there.

But there are two problems with that. First, when voters approve money for a project, it has to be used for that project. Second, as the soccer club wrote in a letter to the town, “The barn is too small and poorly located for our purposes. We must disassemble our goals and transport them via trailer.”

Select board chairman Billy Adams said the new building should be limited to rudimentary uses, such as shelter, storage and sanitation. Any new building will need zoning approval, after scrutiny of location, size and aesthetics.

The design, drawn up by architect Andrew Volansky, looks like a traditional New England barn.

A Mayo Farm field is already set aside for events, such as Oktoberfest and British Invasion, and Adams says the town needs to “watch out for excessive commercialization of the Polo Fields.”