What to do with more than $1.5 million in Measure K bond monies was discussed during a Los Alamitos Unified School District workshop Tuesday, Aug. 24. Ultimately, the board asked staff to get figures on the cost of improving track fields and a main water line.
Voters approved the bond issue for improvements to schools in 2008.
About $2 million of the money was earmarked as matching funds for projects that athletic booster clubs wanted to accomplish.
Eleven projects were requested and $488,922 of the money has been spent, leaving $1.51 million on the table.
Director of Facilities, Maintenance, Operations and Transportation Jim Poper said the main water line and distribution system, which is used to water the athletic fields, gives district officials problems just about every day.
Poper said he has received a pair of preliminary estimates for around $1 million for the project.
He said he will be working with a designer to draw up some plans and specifications and getting bids in the future.
Board President Jeff Barke suggested putting some of the monies into the fields at Oak Middle School, which are used by a number of non-district user groups such as Friday Night Lights. Barke said the fields are in “horrible” condition.
Discussion during the nearly 90-minute workshop also focused on a proposed track at Los Alamitos High School, which has been discussed for the last several years.
A number of booster groups, including Taste for Los Al and the Track Booster Club, have raised monies. Poper said he had no hard design plans but preliminary estimates for the track itself have been in the $700,000 range.
Adding additional soft costs such as moving the goal posts of the football field and others could push the total to $1.2 million, Poper said.
This seemed high, according to booster Larry Strawther, who said in talks with athletic directors years ago said it could be done in the neighborhood of $500,000 to $600,000.
Strawther said that depending on the results of a soil test, those numbers could rise considerably.
Strawther also said good working drawings for the track could be done for about $40,000, not the $150,000 estimate Poper spoke of.
Board member David Boyer was frustrated with the time it was taking to get the project off the ground.
Boyer says he receives e-mails regularly critical of the time process.
“We have a great opportunity to do something right and we have the economy to do it,” Boyer said. “I’ve spoken with athletic directors who are getting tracks and football fields for $1.2 million.”
Superintendent Greg Franklin said the district has worked with architects and construction people on a number of projects and asked the board for some direction.
“We know how to do this. We simply want to get hard numbers from reliable sources before we get started on this,” Franklin said.
The board directed staff to have some design and engineering work done and provide some firm numbers on the main water line and track projects at a future date.
