New high school track construction kicking off

 Separated out into two alternates, B and C both have to do with curbing on the inside and outside perimeters of the track’s asphalt area, B’s bid amount at $35,327.55, and C coming in at $63,033.30, both of which Head said he would recommend ahead of the other two alternates.

 “One, it will avoid overspray of sprinklers, because they will be two-feet wide, prolonging the life of the surface,” Head said. “As well as when mowers are crossing over, it’s going to be a lot easier than driving on a thin asphalt edge, so it also provides two fixed concrete edges for the asphalt to stay within and not slough off.”

 The fourth add-alternate at a cost of $47,000 will upgrade the track’s surface from a standard black material to “Weiser Wolverine red.”

 Answering a question a few minutes later on the difference between the two, Head said, “The red track surface is actually a slightly better product from the black track surface. The black track is basically you’ve got your asphalt, a black rubber cushion material, a coating black finish on the top with white striping.  

 “It’s a similar process with the red, but they start with a black base layer, then add a small layer of colored rubber, so even as the coating would wear or get damaged by something, you’re not seeing black underneath it. The surface will come with a five-year warranty, with a reasonable expected 8- to 10-year life.

 “Of the entire bid amount, the actual track surface is about $200,000,” Head said. “The real investment you want to protect is the base.”

 Explaining the base infrastructure protections built into the initial bid, Head summarized, “Basically what the project also includes is two new goal posts in the football field area, and a significant amount of drainage. In order for site maintenance for this to drain anything into area drains and will be contained in underground seepage beds.”

 District Clerk Kyla Dickerson said she and a committee of people are currently working on a grant application for the cost of the asphalt.

 “(Deputy Clerk) Barb (Choate) and I sat down when we had the bid opening, and I went ‘Oh, my goodness,’” she said. “A, B, C, and D, are all very attractive. We said, ‘You know what, we are pretty healthy in our plant facility levy, we could afford those options.’ 

 “We are coming in a little bit higher than our $800,000 from our constituents, but altogether it’s going to be about $1.2 million. Basically our community is sponsoring the track for the $800,000 (in the current levy), but the school district could put in the $400,000 gap that would be the difference. So we’re putting in one-third (from existing funds) and (the new levy) two-thirds make the whole project, so we could do it and we’ve got the funds to do it now.”

 In the meantime, a hoped-for fieldhouse to be added south of the softball fields and west of the track will be on the back burner.

 In response to a question about the fieldhouse a couple of days later, Superintendent Kenneth Dewlen said they had hoped the track’s base bid would come in under the $800,000 levy amount, with the anticipation of applying any available funds left after the track toward the fieldhouse construction.

 “As you can see, there isn’t any money left after base construction of the track,” Dewlen said. “We will at least be doing some new calculations to figure out how to begin building the fieldhouse, but, at this point, we are focusing on the track construction.”