Wellington School Board contemplates rebuilding high school track — but maybe not before next year
by James Jordan, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington School board heard two proposals for a new track at the middle school, at the regular meeting Thursday night. They will likely hear from one more before making a final decision, but a new track is expected to cost more than $300,000.
After hearing from two companies, there seemed to be a consensus that it would be best to take out the existing track and replace it completely, rather than just repairing it. A track that was completely replaced would last 20 years or more, and repairs would be costly and not last nearly that long.
Replacing it would involve taking out the asphalt and or concrete, and going down to the stone or dirt underneath. They would put in a base of stone, and then concrete, topped with asphalt and then the modern softer surface.
Both of the presenters said that just taking off the top and replacing that would only last a few years and would not address structural and drainage problems that currently exist.
Superintendent Mark Whitener said later the board believes replacing the entire track would be best. They would like to get the track rebuilt in time for the next track season, but that may not be possible. In order to do that they would have to get it done before the onset of cold weather, and it takes 2-3 months to do the job.
They still want to hear from one more company, but could reach a final decision soon. The money would come from capital outlay funds, and not from the building project that was approved by voters recently.
Budget
The board also scheduled a public hearing on the upcoming budget for 6 p.m. On Aug. 17. After the public hearing the board could approve the budget, which is at about $11 million. The budget includes a 2.5 mil tax decrease, so taxpayers should see a slight decrease in school taxes for the coming year.
This is the second part of the two-year block grant the state instituted a year ago. The result is there are very few changes in the budget from last year. However, they were required by the state to move money around, so on paper at least, they had a $13 million budget for the current year, and an $11 million budget for the coming year.
Whitner said that was because they had to move money around, and some money was counted as revenue twice by the state. On paper it looks like the budget is $2 million less, but it is essentially the same because they did not have to move money around this year.
