Board approves sports‑field design contract; district pursuing Safe Routes to School grant

The Galena Unit School District board approved a contract for engineering and design work on the high‑school sports field and heard a project timeline from staff. District staff said the excavation package will be the first and is expected to go to bid this fall; subsequent packages covering the track, turf and field goals are planned for winter bidding so installation can follow. “The goal is to have everything prepped and ready this fall,” a district administrator said. The board also heard an update on a joint city‑district application to the Illinois Department of Transportation Safe Routes to School program. Staff said the program would fund up to $250,000 (non‑matching) for sidewalks, lit crosswalks and other walkability improvements; a parent and community survey and student travel counts were completed as part of the application. District staff said the grant program is competitive and award decisions are expected within about a month. Separately, board members discussed a previous rare state requirement tying public‑works projects to Illinois unemployment levels; that requirement — which forces 90 percent Illinois labor usage when statewide unemployment exceeds 5 percent for two consecutive months — affected past bids. Staff told the board the district’s current regional unemployment rate does not trigger that threshold and they do not expect it to affect the track bid schedule. The motion to approve the high school sports‑field contract passed on roll call.