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Central SD 13J board authorizes superintendent to pursue bids and commit up to $650,000 for athletic turf and track
Summary
The Central SD 13J board authorized the superintendent to open a sealed invitation-to-bid and to commit up to $650,000 toward replacement of football/soccer turf and related track work, voting unanimously. The district outlined timelines, funding sources and remaining cost uncertainties (shock pad, excavation).
The Central SD 13J Board of Directors voted unanimously to authorize the superintendent and business office to pursue an invitation-to-bid and to commit up to $650,000 for the replacement of the district’s football and soccer turf and related track work. The motion was presented at the July meeting and approved by board voice/hand vote.
Superintendent (identified in the meeting as Dr. Kavista) told the board the district has three procurement paths: a public–private partnership with a community sports development council (which still shows an approximate $500,000 funding gap for the project), cooperative purchasing agreements with vendors already accessible to the district, and a sealed invitation-to-bid to include Northwest Sports Turf, a vendor not part of existing cooperatives. The superintendent said cooperative bids exist for some vendors but FieldTurf has indicated it cannot complete the work this year.
District staff outlined a procurement timeline that would begin advertising July 17, hold a mandatory pre-bid meeting July 19, close questions July 26 and open bids July 31 to satisfy the 14-calendar-day posting requirement under ORS 279C.365, as cited in the meeting packet. The superintendent said bid specifications were being finalized and emphasized the need to follow prevailing-wage and public-works requirements and to require K–12 experience and bonding from bidders.
Cost uncertainties remain. The superintendent recommended including a shock pad (a subsurface cushion) estimated in the meeting at roughly $100,000; staff said the pad can extend turf life and reduce future replacement costs, but not all vendor quotes included that item. The packet shared with the board shows a construction excise tax balance of about $1,700,000 to support capital work, and the superintendent said that money is one available funding source.
Board members discussed whether to run an RFP—longer but allowing evaluation on factors beyond low price, such as timeline—or to use the shorter invitation-to-bid process (which requires awarding to the lowest responsible bidder). The district’s stated objective is to have turf and track work completed in time for the season where possible; the superintendent emphasized a staged approach (football/soccer first, then track, then baseball/softball) and agreed to return to the board with the award and a public vote at the August 5 meeting.
Motion and vote: the board recorded a motion to authorize the invitation-to-bid process and to grant authority to the superintendent/business office to commit up to $650,000 for the football/soccer/track project; the motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
Next steps: staff will finalize bid specifications, advertise per the stated timeline, hold the mandatory pre-bid meeting and return to the board publicly with an award recommendation at the next board meeting. The superintendent noted some risk in bypassing full civil-engineering specifications for speed and said the district will seek references and bonding as part of the procurement evaluation.
