Stonington - The town has closed the newly renovated all-purpose field at the high school until next year because the work done by the company it hired has resulted in unplayable conditions.

The town awarded the $194,501 contract to the low bidder, Aqua Turf Irrigation of Orange, even though 2012 news reports in the Weston Forum show that the Town of Weston charged Aqua Turf with abandoning a baseball field renovation there. This forced Weston to hire a new contractor to fix the problems and complete the $144,900 project.

In the Weston Forum report, Weston officials charged that Aqua Turf broke irrigation lines, didn't have the proper equipment to remove rocks and installed a cheaper variety of clay than that called for in the contract. The town also had to resod the field. Weston withheld $46,000 of the $144,900 payment to Aqua Turf while its president, Marc D'Andrea, disputed the Weston allegations, saying he did the job properly. He added there had been many irrational people involved in the project and that the controversy had severely affected his health.

The project to repair the all-purpose field in Stonington was bid separately from the installation of the artificial turf football field and the work done on the other grass fields. That contract went to R.A.D. Sports, which installed the football field at Gillette Stadium and has installed fields and tracks for numerous colleges and high schools in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

So far, the town has paid Aqua Turf $89,412 and is withholding the rest of the payments.

Director of Public Works Barbara McKrell said Thursday that the town has a meeting scheduled with D'Andrea on Tuesday to determine what repairs are needed and whether he will agree to do the work.

She said the field does not meet "elevation and grading requirements specified in the contract." This has resulted in an uneven field surface that does not meet playing standards.

She said the town has sent D'Andrea a letter asking him to propose a plan to solve the problems.

"We cannot accept a field that does not comply with our requirements," she said.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference will not allow games to be played on unsafe fields, which is the position the town was in before it began the $2.8 million project to upgrade the fields behind the high school.

McKrell said Aqua Turf had the equipment to do the work and supplied the town with references.

"There was no reason for us to think he could not do it," she said of D'Andrea.

In addition to withholding the rest of the payment to Aqua Turf, McKrell said the town also holds performance and payment bonds that could be used to hire another contractor and complete the work.

The project, which was done this summer, has forced the high school girls' soccer team to move its practices and games to the boys' field and the field hockey team to play on the artificial turf field.

High School Principal Mark Friese said Athletic Director Bryan Morrone has done a good job with ensuring all the teams have the practice time they need.

D'Andrea and Weston First Selectwoman Gayle Weinstein could not be reached for comment Thursday. Unlike R.A.D., Aqua Turf does not have a website, so other projects it has completed could not be determined.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas