News : Track project funding $200k short; school board to discuss project, Nov. 24

The Vinton-Shellsburg School district has approximately $1 million available for the track and turf resurfacing project, which district officials hope to complete in time for the beginning of the 2015-16 school year and athletic season.

But the low bid for the project the district received this month is $1,191,700, leaving the district approximately $200,000 short of the funding it needs to complete the entire project.

What to do about the project will be the topic of a special meeting at 6:30 pm. Monday, Nov. 24.

The VS School Board set that meeting date during it regular monthly meeting held Monday in Shellsburg.

The district has allocated $810,000 from its PPEL funds for the project, which will include resurfacing the track and installing tiling and other drainage features designed to keep water from the track surface in heavy rains. Local fund-raising efforts and donations have increased the total funding available to approximately $1 million.

VS officials are also hoping to replace the grass of the main football field with an field turf that would be available for daily use by all VS sports teams, as well as the band and gym classes.

The bid from Peterson Companies of Chisago City, Minn., was lower than the other two bids, but $33,000 higher than the bid the district received last year and $11,000 higher than the engineer's estimate. School leaders had hoped that with more bidders (three) the final bid would be lower.

Peterson’s bid includes $581,000 for the track resurfacing and drainage. The field turf would cost an estimated $572,000. There are also alternates for game clocks ($14,000) specialized covers ($18,000) and concrete instead of asphalt on the north end of the track, which would be used for the high jump event at track and field meets ($,6,200).

The board will discuss whether to approve parts or all of the bid during the Nov. 24 meeting. It’s possible that leaders will decide to resurface the track in 2015 but install the field turf in a later year, when funding becomes available.

Superintendent Mary Jo Hainstock told the board in her pre-meeting summary packet that there is strong community interest in doing the track at this time, but less community support for the field turf project.

VS coaches and teachers say the new field would provide immediate benefits to many programs outside of the football teams. The band could use it for daily practice, it would be available for gym class, and the soccer teams – which play on a field that slopes downward south to north and contains many uneven areas – could use the field for both games and practices.

Fund-raising for the project has totaled around $200,000. School officials have been encouraging local businesses to participate through an advertising program. See more about that effort HERE.