Daniel Prince
Board approves capital projects list, two activity buses on 5-3 vote
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Union County Board of School Trustees, most of the meeting was spent talking about the capital needs projects list that was submitted for approval. Maintenance Director Mark Haney had gone through the list in detail at the budget workshop meeting earlier in the month, so he did not revisit all of that, but he did highlight a few changes that have happened since that meeting.
He said the line item dealing with playground surfacing and equipment increased to $135,000 from $115,000 due to a math error he discovered after the workshop meeting. He said line items for gutter work and site cleaning went up due to getting quotes in after the workshop. The gutter work at the high school will be $16,000, and site cleaning will be $5500.
The board questioned Athletic Director Scott Sherbert about some of the athletic items listed. Doc Lipsey asked about the scoreboards and noted that the board at USC Union’s Truluck gymnasium was able to be renovated for around $2200. He asked if that had been considered. Sherbert told him the middle school boards were only needing new wireless controllers, and that those controllers would not have external antennas, which has caused many problems over the years, but instead would be housed inside the unit. He said that in talking with the maintenance department and the expert that came in, a lot of the issues found in the scoreboards at the high school gym were due to wiring issues within the walls. He noted the new scoreboards will be wireless. He said the district purchased the track scoreboard secondhand from Richland County. He said there were some wiring and electrical problems with it, as well, and parts of that scoreboard are nonfunctional. He said when parts need replacing in those scoreboards, he is finding that those parts are not even being made anymore. He did note the cost of the wireless controllers went up slightly, from $3000 to $3500 since the workshop.
Sherbert also said he received a quote on track equipment from the rep he had been working with, and it came to around $80,000. He noted this does not cover uniforms or small items, but larger items, such as hurdles, pits, and other things. Board members Mark Ivey and Mike Massey said they wanted to see an itemized list of the items included in that quote. Board member Mark Truitt asked about the financial health of the athletic department and if their budget is on track to make money or lose money this year. Sherbert said he didn’t have exact figures to report, but we are entering the season where expenses outweigh revenue, and he noted that three of the last five years, the department has lost money. Board chair Manning Jeter noted that the board keeps talking about needing to provide more money for the athletics budget, but they haven’t done so.
The discussion then moved to the activity buses. Superintendent Joey Haney said the cost of a new activity bus went up from $119,000 last year to $136,510 this year. The capital plan called for the purchase of one new bus this year and another one next year, but he said the board could choose to buy them both this year if they wanted. He said there is no guarantee the price wouldn’t go up again before the next year. It will be approximately a year before the district could take possession of a new bus. Currently, there are 4 new and 4 old buses. Transportation Director Sammy Tucker said he wants to have 6 new buses and one old one, with the old one parked at Jonesville to be used to transport their softball team to and from practice. Any out-of-town travel would be done using a new bus. He said six buses could handle all the travel needs of the district on any given day. He said the other three older buses could be sold.
Board member Mark Truitt made the motion to pass the capital needs projects five-year plan, with the stipulation that the district go ahead and purchase two activity buses now. The motion passed 5-3, with board members Doc Lipsey, Mike Massey, and Mark Ivey voting against it.
We’ll have more from the meeting in tomorrow’s newscast.