SOUTHWICK – The Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School Committee will vote Oct. 15 to reallocate funds toward a new track at the high school.
Superintendent John Barry said a donor has offered to give the district $400,000 for a new track. The schools would need to come up with up to an additional $250,000 for the track.
Barry said there is just over $98,000 in balances from capital projects that he will present to the committee for a transfer at its next meeting.
The money is comprised of ending balances from projects dating back several years that are earmarked for capital projects.
“Eventually these funds have to get spent on capital projects,” said Barry.
He added that he and Business Manager Steve Presnal have done their research and it is legal to transfer those funds for another capital use. They also said the project would fall under the category of a public works project and does not need “to go through a formal process to hire a project manager.”
The nearly $100,000 would allow the district to begin the process of hiring a project manager. Presnal said he would send out a Request For Proposal to at least three firms and once a project manager is chosen, that person would guide the designer selection process.
Barry said the district has plans from the Mount Vernon Group that were designed prior to the current campus renovation project.
Barry and Committee Chairman James Vincent addressed the Southwick Board of Selectmen this week to infirm them of the donation and their plans to move forward. Barry assured the board that the district would use existing funds and would not seek “taxpayer dollars” for the track.
Barry said the track is in a very poor state of disrepair.
“We have teams ask us to move our home meets to their track,” Barry noted during discussion about the state of the track. “They do not want to use our track.”
Barry told the committee that the entire track would be redesigned, including what he jokingly called the “beloved wooden benches.”
The committee is set to vote on the fund transfer Oct. 15.
