Daniel Prince
Payment amount from stadium renovation could be used toward some of the needs
At Monday’s school board meeting, a third major focus was on the needs of the athletic department.
Athletic Director Scott Sherbert gave school board members a list of capital needs for the department that go above and beyond their normal budget. While board members pressed for pricing details on some of the projects, Superintendent Joey Haney told them that the list was for information only, and that the projects would have to go through the procurement process to get quotes and bids, which then would be brought back to the board for possible action. Sherbert divided the list into urgent needs, immediate needs, and long-term projects. He said the urgent needs are scoreboards at the high school gym and track field, both of which continue to have problems and are beyond their life spans. He said a turtle cage for baseball and a soccer goal was damaged in a storm this spring, and he was told that filing with insurance, with its high deductible, would not be the best solution for replacement. He said a concession area needs to be built in the gym lobby so that they would have a nice area from which to sell and would not have to continually haul concession items to a table and back again. He also noted that netting for batting cages and backstops at the practice fields are rotted and need replacing.
Under immediate needs, he noted that wireless scoreboard controls for Sims and Jonesville are needed. He said they need a new scoring table at the high school gym. They need a track timing system and other things for home track meets. They need flooring and covers for baseball and softball batting cages. They have some needs in the weight room. They need turtle cages for Jonesville and Sims. They need new game chairs and a rack for them for the high school gym to use for all sports. They need new doors and locks on the storage building at the practice field, and they need the water fountains fixed at the baseball and softball practice fields.
Long-term projects include alleviating lingering wet conditions at the baseball field at Sims and at the baseball and softball fields and the track field at the high school. The practice fields need to be leveled with several divots taken out. He said an auxiliary gym with weight room has been mentioned several times in the past and would be a good long-term project. Getting the baseball and softball fields ready to play is another long-term project, as is getting a new building between the track and tennis courts.
Superintendent Joey Haney said the district has been paying the county $135,000 a year over the last five years for their part in the stadium renovations. He said the last payment was made last year, so he would advise taking that money and applying it toward some of these athletic capital needs. The board accepted the report as information, and they will address the items in the future as they are brought back after going through the procurement process to get quotes and bids.