Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Facilities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board reviews stadium press-box fixes, tennis-court erosion options and long-range facilities plan; district pilots FMX maintenance software
Summary
District staff recommended condemning a structurally compromised north press box at a middle-school stadium and described options to move scoreboards and audio. Staff also presented erosion-control ideas for the tennis courts, the long-range facilities plan and a move from TMA to FMX for work-order and asset mapping.
District facilities staff told the Garden City USD 457 Board of Education they recommend removing the structurally compromised north press box at Horsgood Middle School and using the south press box as an interim/alternate location while upgrades are made.
Brandon Anderson, director of plant facilities, said a structural engineer advised the north press box "probably needs to be condemned and not utilized." Anderson presented a plan to shift scoreboard and audio functions to the south press box, retrofit wiring to support wireless scoreboard control (Honeywell/Daktronics estimates) and reassign speakers from Horsgood to Kenneth Henderson Middle School. Anderson estimated an upgrade to run a scoreboard wirelessly at about $4,500 and said reusing a newer scoreboard taken from the old high school could reduce costs for Kenneth Henderson to about $2,500. He told the board the combined project to make both stadium press-box sound and scoreboard systems wireless and functional is expected to fall in a $10,000 to $20,000 range.
Separately, staff presented several erosion-control and landscaping options for the sloped areas around the district tennis courts. Staff described recurring wash-and-erosion problems where water runs down concrete aprons and fills low areas near the pole-vault/triple-jump infield. Options discussed included hardscape steps, concrete aprons and a textured cement "blanket" that is pliable at installation and hardens in place; staff noted heavy equipment access (crane access to reach the scoreboard) could limit some solutions.
Anderson and his team also summarized input from the district's long-range facilities committee. The committee reviewed roofing, HVAC, electrical and other capital priorities and suggested moving some projects based on updated condition assessments. Ken Kerr, a 38-year facilities department employee who announced his planned retirement in May, was recognized in the committee presentation.
Brad Knight (maintenance/custodial staff) demonstrated the FMX facilities-management platform the district is piloting to replace its current TMA system. Knight showed FMX features including calendar-driven preventive-maintenance schedules, asset mapping, building blueprint overlays, geospatial and rooftop equipment tags and QR-code access for technicians. District staff said FMX will allow them to attach manuals, photograph defects at the time of a work order and provide principals and custodians with status updates on outstanding jobs. Staff noted the district had paid about $67,000 for a one-year TMA renewal and provided an estimated annual FMX cost of roughly $1,212,000 (staff said the figure was an estimate to be confirmed) and argued FMX's mapping, reporting and workflow features would drive better preventive maintenance and record-keeping.
Board members discussed aesthetics and durability for the tennis-court slope (some preferred rock placement over large concrete surfaces) and asked staff to continue refining cost estimates and an implementation schedule for the press-box work and erosion remediation. Staff invited board members to tour sites and said they would return with refined bids and options.
Ending: District staff said they will refine cost estimates, check crane-access constraints for erosion-control options and return to the board with firm bids and a proposed schedule for any work that requires board approval.
