USD 333 board approves $50,000 for turf project

The Unified School District 333 board of education voted 6-1 to approve a request to contribute $50,000 to help fund the replacement of the grass infield on Doyen Field at the Concordia Sports Complex with synthetic turf.
Cloud County Community College baseball coach Eric Gilliland, Cloud County Community College Amber Knoettgen and Concordia city manager Amy Lange met with the school board to discuss the proposed project.
The approval of funds by the school board follows the lead of other governing bodies in Cloud County.
The Cloud County Community College board of trustees, during the April meeting, approved contributing $50,000 to the project and approved applying for a $50,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Cloud County.
Awarding $30,000 in Meridian Way Wind Farm finds, provided by EDP Renewables, to the project was previously approved by the Cloud County board of commissioners.
The Concordia city commission has been presented the information on the project, but has not yet taken formal action.
The grant application for the Wind Farm funds stated that Doyen field is currently home to the Concordia American Legion, Cloud County Community College and Concordia High School baseball teams and that maintenance is shared by the city and college baseball staff and team.
It is stated in the application that multiple sources are being used to complete that project and a $25,000 gift from a Cloud County Community College baseball alumnus jump-started the project.
According to the application, there would be monetary savings to public entities with the installation of the turf including an estimated 15 percent reduction in expenses related to watering, fuel for mowing and fertilizer and grass seed and an estimated reduction of 50 percent in expenses to fill dirt/clay and chalk/paint.
The Concordia High School baseball team practices on the field and plays around 10 games on it each season.
The installation of the turf is considered to be the first phase of a multiple phase plan for improvements at the Sports Complex. The goal is to have it installed by spring 2023.
The estimated cost of the turf is $320,000 and the target amount for all phases of the improvements is $500,000.
In other action taken during the meeting, the school board approved a bid from Wenger Corporation, Owatonna, Minn., for installation of instrument storage cabinets and other miscellaneous storage at the USD 333 Service Center.
The school district is currently renovating the facility so the fifth and sixth grade students can be moved into the building next year.
Included in the certified staff changes approved by the board was the hiring of Sarah Lacy as a half-time Concordia Junior-Senior High School mathematics teacher; the transfer of Sarah Collins from 5th-12th grade business/ computer science teacher to sixth grade teacher replacing Melissa Stiles; and the transfer of Stiles from sixth grade teacher for Concordia Junior-Senior High School to physical science/physics teacher.
A service provider agreement for social work between Pike Valley Unified School District 426 and the Learning Cooperative of North Central Kansas was approved by the board.
The board scheduled its retreat for June 6 at 5 p.m. in Concordia and its year-end financial closeout meeting for June 29 at noon.
Included in the information items on the agenda for the meeting was an update on the chiller unit and rooftop air conditioning unit at the Concordia Elementary School.
The board was informed that the chiller unit is not keeping up with demand and that one of the rooftop units had caught on fire.
The district received quotes for the replacement of the chiller and the rooftop unit.
Quotes from Building Controls and Services of $113,410 for replacement for the rooftop unit and $403,265 for replacement of the chiller unit were presented to the board.
The board met in three separate executive sessions during the meeting. They met in two with superintendent of schools Quentin Breese for confidential business data, and one for 15 minutes with Breese for negotiations.
The June board meeting has been rescheduled for June 16.