SANDPOINT — It was a split decision by City Council members Wednesday night on whether to approve the final concept design for War Memorial Field, which includes installing artificial turf as the field’s surface.

The tie was ultimately broken by Mayor Shelby Rognstad who, despite his previous desire to see a natural option, voted to approve the design.

“I was always leaning on the natural turf side through the early years of this debate, and what has become increasingly clear to me is the overall benefit that we get with synthetic turf ... when we look at the playability of the field that many different students get to enjoy for years to come, many different kinds of athletics, I think that the overall benefit is going to be greater in the long run,” Rognstad said just before casting his vote.

The decision also found both supporters and detractors among the crowd that packed council chambers. While artificial turf has been an expressed desire of many local athletic groups, Festival at Sandpoint officials have said they would prefer natural turf for a number of reasons, including the fact that artificial surface is hotter than natural in the summer, as well as concerns over how they will anchor the tents among other concerns.

“Both activities exist on that space, and with the shortage of time between the Festival and football, and then the weather, we feel the best solution is synthetic turf,” said Tom Diehl with GreenPlay, LLC, the city’s consultant for the design. “It doesn’t prevent anybody from continuing.”

Diehl said the cost over time for artificial turf will be about the same as the cost for natural turf, primarily because the natural turf would have to be replaced every three to five years, and the artificial will last about 10 years before replacement is required. The design includes other improvements as well, such as an expanded parking lot, a new softball field, new baseball grandstands and more.

Among those who voted no, council members Joel Aispuro, Bill Aitken, and Shannon Williamson expressed concerns over the fact that the design was only revealed two weeks ago, giving the council and community little time to mull it.

“I believe it would be responsible for us to wait and to look further into this,” Aispuro said. “That’s is coming from being part of a business and being an athlete myself, and as I heard somebody say that they were concerned there was already preconceived ideas of us having come in here with a decision, and I can only speak for myself, but that is not the case. I listened very clearly to everything that was spoken here.”

Williamson said she was hesitant as she wanted to see a dual request for quotes for the artificial turf design, as well as one with natural turf. City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton said since the consultants final design was created specifically for artificial turf, it could not be substituted for natural turf and a new design would have to be created. That would take additional time and money, Stapleton said, so if the council were to go that way, it would likely put the project another year out. With the approval of the design, construction is expected to start in the spring.

Councilwoman Deb Ruehle, who voted in favor of the design, said it has been on the city’s radar since 2015, with a number of meetings, workshops, surveys and other opportunities for public comment, and it was time to make a decision.

“It is a very hard decision for all of us on council,” Ruehle said. “... I think we need to stop kicking the can down the road.”

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.