A new plan to upgrade the high school playing fields using grass in place of artificial turf hit a snag this week when school leaders learned that promised engineering drawings to rebuild the track may not in fact be available.

Committee chairman Robert Lionette said Monday he had learned that Gale Associates owns the rights to the drawings, not MV@Play.

Last week a controversial proposal by MV@PLAY to upgrade the playing fields using synthetic turf was put on hold after an opposing group unveiled a counter proposal to upgrade the fields using all grass. Vineyarders for Grass Fields is offering to underwrite the cost of a new track and infield and upgrade all the playing fields on the Island.

MV@Play immediately offered to step aside while the new plan is vetted, also offering to share the engineering work already done by consultants at Gale Associates for the track and field.

In a statement MV@Play president David Wallis pledged to provide “the substantial engineering specifications that represent more than $100,000 in savings towards pursuing their goal.”

But speaking to the Gazette Monday, Mr. Lionette said committee members learned on Friday that MV@PLAY was unable to share the plans because Gale Associates owns the intellectual property rights. The Weymouth consultants are partners with MV@Play in the turf venture. The high school has signed a license agreement with MV@Play for the project.

Mr. Lionette said committee members embraced the grass fields plan last week with the understanding they would be able to move ahead quickly because of the shared engineering plans for the track. “Everything that happened last week was predicated on that assumption, or that part of the presentation, we were all under that impression [that the plans would be shared].” he said.

The condition of the track is so poor that athletes must train and compete off Island, and the committee is under pressure to rebuild it in time for the spring 2018 sports season.

A meeting is still planned for Thursday at 5 p.m. in the high school library conference room to discuss the project with Vineyarders for Grass Fields.

A hearing set for Thursday at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on the artificial turf plan is on hold.

Mr. Lionette said he remains hopeful that the snafu can be straightened out.

“I’m hoping we can access [the Gale engineering plans] in a manner that makes financial sense, it’s the most expeditious way to move forward,” he said. “That’s goal number one.”

Rebekah Thompson, a spokesman for the grass fields group, confirmed the snag but said it is unclear how the issue will be resolved.

“We don’t know,” she said. “They [MV@Play] don’t own the rights to the plan for the track . . . those rights are owned by Gale.” She explained that the goal of her group is to modify the plans, using grass instead of turf for the track infield. But the problem and decision making rest with the high school, she said. “The high school owns the track, so it’s up to them to decide,” she said. “We were never going to own the track. We’re trying to help fundraise for grass fields. It’s a wrinkle.”

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Wallis said the matter is now between the grass fields group and the school committee. “We’ve stepped back to let them to move forward, not sure where they are in the process,” he said, adding: “We turned over everything that we physically have, which are pdfs, bid documments, but my guess is for anyone to continue on, they would have to use Gale to move forward.

“If they choose to conitnue to use Gale they would be in a very good position . . . I don’t know the legalities of any of that, I do hope they work with Gale because they’ve been a tremendous source for us.”