Scarborough Town Council Chairman Steve Ross admitted last week he had done work for a contractor who installed a turf field in Scarborough.

Ross told the council at an Aug. 16 meeting that after Eric Lenardson and Sports Turf International were awarded the bid for the field, he agreed to a contract that paid him $95 per hour to survey for the company. Ross had voted on the bid.

However, Ross said he did not feel the work represented a conflict of interest. “I feel it’s necessary to address this straight on,” Ross said at the end of the meeting.

Previously, Lenardson said Ross was not paid by Sports Turf International and was “just helping out” with locating the center of the field and aligning the goal posts.

This week, Lenardson said Ross did not charge him for any work on the field, just for the track. The track and field, said Lenardson, are two separate projects though they were installed at the same time.

“People don’t realize that the two are separate,” said Lenardson. “Mr. Ross may see it differently, but they are different bids.”

In a recent memo released by Norm Justice, the school employee in charge of maintaining school grounds, he questioned the quality of the new field. In addition, Justice asked if Turf Field International employed Ross and if that employment created a conflict of interest.

Ross added that he had no intention of surveying for Lenardson before he voted to award the bid to install the field. He said after conversations with Community Services Director Bruce Gullifer and Lenardson, he agreed to locate the center of the field, align the goal posts and fix the track that was about 10 inches off, Ross said.

“I accepted the chance that someone could accuse me of a conflict of interest, but I didn’t think anyone would,” said Ross, adding that since the vote had already been taken, he didn’t feel there was a conflict.

Ross also said that as a coach, he was in the unique position to leave behind the best possible field and track for his colleagues, adding Lenardson, not the town, employed him. Finally, Ross said he had previously announced his resignation, which is effective Nov. 1.

According to Michael Starn of the Maine Municipal Association, conflict of interest has a very specific legal definition. A councilor must have at least a 10 percent ownership of a business that would gain financially from voting one way or another. For example, if a councilor voted to award a contract to a company he or she owned at least 10 percent of, that would be a legal conflict of interest.

But, said Starn, a town can come up with its own moral and ethical guidelines.

“This is not a simple issue,” said Starn. “Each town can have its own code of ethics. Beyond the statutory definition it’s a community decision. What some people may say is a conflict of interest is really an ethics violation.”

Councilor Jeffrey Messer defended Ross, Lenardson and the quality of the field.

“I have never met a man as conscientious and diligent as Eric Lenardson,” said Messer. He added that Lenardson agreed to give up his summer, go unpaid and construct the field at a loss to help the town and to build a “showcase” field he could show to other local communities.

“You’re a true man of integrity,” Messer told Ross at the meeting.

Messer added that because he was critical of the high school’s construction, a project overseen by Justice and the School Board, both Lenardson and the quality of the field were targeted. “For all of that personal sacrifice, he got thrown under the bus basically because there’s a deep-seated hatred of me,” Messer said.

Messer also addressed poor relations between the board and the council, saying it is basic philosophical differences of spending money, creating budgets and who should oversee projects that have divided the two boards.

“This memo, and I wish I could say it another way, was pure trash,” said Messer, who added later that the town could be sued if Justice did not retract his statements.

In a memo released on Aug. 15, lawyers for Sports Turf International told Justice that if he did not retract his memo as of noon the next day, they would go forward with litigation.

In a final memo sent out by Justice just before noon on Aug. 16, he said that after he sent his original memo, town and school representatives inspected the turf and agreed to accept the field.

“After that discussion,” wrote Justice, “the certificate of completion was signed. It is clear to me that the certificate would not have been signed if the questions discussed with the contractor had not been answered to the satisfaction of all present at that meeting.”

This week Justice said he could not comment on any of the memos.

David Doyle, who is replacing William Michaud as superintendent, also said he could not comment on the potential suit.

“The lawyers are still talking back and forth,” said Doyle. “Our hope is obviously that it will be resolved at that level and we can move on to educating kids.”