School Board to Tap Fund Balance for JCHS Football Field Lighting
The Jefferson County School Board will make a request to the County Commission to use up to $130,000 from the Department of Education fund balance for new lights at the Jefferson County High School Football Field. According to Director of Facilities Phagan, there is a safety concern regarding the field lights. Phagan stated that, while there has been no electrical evaluation by an engineer, Maintenance Supervisor Steve Wolfenbarger expressed concern about the safety of the lights earlier this spring. Board Member Bradley stated that he did not support using capital project money, which was just injected into the budget in the last Board meeting, for the lighting project. Replacement of the lights is estimated to cost between $185,000 and $210,000 Phagan said during a Called Meeting on Thursday afternoon, May 27, 2016. Phagan said there is $70,000 that can be contributed to the project, either to fund repairs or as a contribution toward replacement of the lights and poles, which will bring down the dollar amount that will be needed to pay for the proposed project.
Board Member Potts noted that there are several capital project needs that have not been met in recent years, though some have been checked off the capital projects list. She requested that a current list of capital projects needs and the associated costs be made available to the Board for consideration. Bradley stated that he had some issues with the timing of the lighting request and would have like to have seen it included in the budget proposal since it was know about prior to finalizing the budget for the 2016/17 fiscal year. Timing for the lighting project was of concern to the Board, given the need for the project to be completed by the start of football season this fall. Board Member Vines questioned if it would be more expedient to use 2016/17 capital project money for the project and approach the County Commission for fund balance use for windows and other needs. Phagan stated that the capital project funds (recently budget $200,000 for school capital projects) will not be available for use until July and the Budget Committee and County Commission will meet in June, therefore they could approve a tap into the Department of Education Fund Balance earlier than July 1st.
Board Member Bradley made the motion to allocate up to $130,000 for light replacement at the Jefferson County High School Football Field, which will include a 25 year guarantee and relamping at 15 years, with any excess to remain in fund balance. He was 2nd by Potts and the vote was Unanimous. (Cavanah, Potts, Vines, Bradley, Jarnigan).
Jefferson County Finance Director Potts stated that the Budget Committee has approved the Department of Education Budget and it will go before the full Commission in June. He informed the Board that Cope, the Board’s first choice as design firm for the White Pine School project, has again declined to sign the contract as negotiated. Potts advised the Board that billing from the firm indicates that they are billing on a $2.8 million dollar project rather than a $2 million dollar project, which is the amount of funding allocated by the Board and the County Commission jointly. Board Member Cavanah stated that the Board should consider moving to the second choice for a design firm and the Finance Director concurred that it may be necessary to move to the second option. The issue will be addressed at the next Board meeting, which will take place following their June 9, 2016 work session.
