City of East Peoria issued the following announcement on Feb. 5.
EastSide Centre is an environmentally responsible sports complex, earning an Environmental Facility Certification from the Sports Turf Managers Association.
The certification was announced in the January issue of SportsTurf magazine. EastSide is one of 34 certified facilities in the United States, one of three in Illinois and the only one south of the Chicago area.
“I’m very excited to be presented with the STMA facility certification,” said EastSide Grounds Manager Joel Rieker. “The STMA plays a vital role in educating its members to provide safe and environmentally friendly playing surfaces and it is an honor to be recognized. It is very important for me and my staff to show our commitment to the environment and provide safe playing surfaces for the thousands of people that use them every month.”
The STMA launched its certification program in 2016, and Rieker began the application process in 2017.
The certification program consists of a facility self-assessment on storm water management, fertilization, pesticides and integrated pest management, recycling and educational outreach, mowing, energy conservation, shop buildings and storage, and irrigation. Each area must receive an 80 percent pass rate to move to the next step of the certification process.
Once the self-assessment has been successfully completed, an attester completes a walk-through of the facility. The attester is either a certified sports field manager or an academic in turfgrass management and verifies that best management practices noted on the assessment form are in place. The attester then recommends the facility for certification.
Original source can be found here.
Source: City of East Peoria
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