Education Officials Approve Additional Expenses for Fields Project

Members of the unanimously approved three change orders Thursday night paying an additional $43,300 for the athletic field refurbishment project at .

Additional drainage work made up $18,000 of the extra expense. Contractor Dakota Excavating Contractor Inc. installed a new subsurface drainage system for the soccer field, connecting it to the main system, and installed a new catch basin and drain next to the third base line of the softball field.

Board members also approved an $18,800 expense for the regrading of center and left field on the baseball field and an extra $6,500 to install a four-foot high chain link fence near the concession area.

With the approved expenses, the total cost of the field project is $3,215,393. The original contract, , was for $3.08 million and used $2 million in leftover bond referendum funds. The remainder will be paid from the capital reserve.

Superintendent Geoffrey Zoeller said the items are additions "the board has voluntarily elected to do" to finish the project. He said officials want to make sure the project is done correctly since they don't anticipate doing work of that magnitude again for a very long time.

"Just like a project you do in your own home, you want to make sure it's done right before you walk away from it," Zoeller said.