Town council liaison says council may consider using leftover project funds for high school track and turf

Town council liaison Bill Beckert told the Town of Farmington Building Committee that the Town Council discussed adding a goal to the strategic plan to consider using remaining project contingency or bonding funds to repair the high school track and replace the turf.

Beckert said the council discussed the idea at a meeting the previous night and plans to incorporate that consideration into the strategic plan up for approval at the council’s next meeting. "One of the goals was to consider and address ... how or a mechanism by which we could use some additional bonding funds that are still available under the project to repair the track and the turf field," Beckert said.

Why it matters: Committee members and staff said the building project has been managed on time and largely on budget, leaving contingency dollars that could be repurposed. Project manager Russ and staff provided high-level contingency figures during the meeting that committee members said will inform any council decision.

Committee members raised a series of practical questions, including whether the work had been included in the original scope (it was not) and whether reimbursement mechanisms would be available. Johnny asked about prior scope decisions and reimbursements; Michael questioned whether, if funds are available, the school district could manage the fix instead of the town or whether the building committee should oversee additional capital work.

Staff said the discussion is preliminary. Kat and Russ said the council would need to decide if it wants to pursue the work and, if so, staff will return with detailed options on how to execute the project and how responsibilities would be assigned. Russ reported contingency-level figures during the meeting and staff later combined contingency lines and estimated roughly $3.3 million in combined contingencies, while rough estimates for the track and turf together were described as about $2.5 million.

Next steps: Beckert and committee members agreed the item will move to the council’s agenda as part of the strategic plan decision. If the council approves pursuing the turf and track work, staff said they will analyze whether the town will run the work as a capital project or whether the school district will handle it, how to ensure transparency, and how to use remaining contingency funds if permitted.