The Macon County Board of Commissioners took up the issue of replacing the track at Macon Middle School during its May 9 meeting, thinking it could be done with leftover funds from other recent projects.
The discussion was requested by chair Paul Higdon, who called the MMS track “one of those school-related items we’ve kicked around for quite some time.”
“You can’t have a track meet at Macon Middle School, and we’ve talked about that for an extended period of time,” Higdon said.
County Manager Derek Roland said the just-started MMS locker room and bathroom project has $114,000 in contingency left over from the $2.6 million originally allocated. Roland added that there was $604,531 left over from the $9 million MMS additions done a few years ago.
“We had discussed from the beginning the possibility of taking any contingency from those middle school renovations and applying that towards a new track project,” Roland said.
Roland said the $604,531 would go toward the ongoing locker room project, so the track fund would draw from the locker room project contingency. Also, there’s a $109,000 grant that the county could use toward the track project.
Roland said the school system got two bids for the project in January. The first is for an eight-lane track at $365,000 and one for a six-lane track at $312,000. Both bids would be for the rubberized surface that standard tracks come with and include digging up the current track. Roland said if approved, the funds would be moved into the school system’s capital outlay funds budget and they would handle the bidding and contract work.
Answering questions from Higdon and commissioners Josh Young and Danny Antoine, Superintendent Chris Baldwin said those bids include space for the current middle and high school field events: pole vault, high jump, long jump, triple jump, discus and shotput.
“The only money we’d be coming up with is $255,064,” Roland said, deducting the $109k grant from the eight-lane track option. “If you did the six-lane option, it would be $202,064.”
Finance Director Lori Carpenter said both the six- and eight-lane bids were from the same vendor. Carpenter said there was a second bidder, but their prices were more expensive. But due to the length of time since receiving those bids, Carpenter said they will likely have to ask for updated bids.
Carpenter said the school board prefers the eight-lane track option, which would enable the facility to host a wider variety of meets. Higdon also signaled his preference for an eight-lane track for those same reasons. Teams pay to compete in track and field meets, meaning it could be a revenue generator. Currently, both the MMS and FHS tracks, which are unsuitable to host meets, are six lanes.
Young, who said he “wholeheartedly supports” the project, said the bids sounded surprisingly low compared to the number he previously heard. Young also expressed his desire for ADA seating around the facility, plus a warranty.
“If we could go another 40 or 50 feet [away from the baseball field] and put some really nice ADA seats right there,” Young said.
Baldwin responded saying the shotput and discus would likely be in the open space opposite the baseball field.
Higdon said he didn’t want to vote on the concept that night, wanting to see a scope of work first and hear back at the June 13 board meeting.
“We’ve got two new board members that aren’t party to a lot of the conversations we’ve had, so I think [what’s] appropriate tonight would be to get that scope of work so we can review it, in case we got some questions,” Higdon said. “I don’t want to do something then five years down the road say, “why did we do that?” Let’s measure twice and cut once.”
Commissioner John Shearl questioned having two track facilities within two miles, referencing the FHS and MMS tracks. Higdon responded saying there’s an opportunity to do the MMS track for cheap, plus there will be a need for a track facility once FHS Phase One gets underway and tears up the current football stadium.
“We got 65 children in a track program that’s never had a regional or state meet in Macon County. Where are they gonna run? Around the highway or around the gym? They’ll have nowhere to run,” Higdon said.
Audience member Hazel Norris spoke up during the discussion, saying that track parents can’t see their kids compete half the time due to the lack of adequate local facilities.
During the discussion, Roland said the MMS locker room project, which recently broke ground, was delayed 5-6 months due an electrical panel shortage.
At the start of the meeting, FHS Cheer coaches Lynn Baker and Bonnie Peggs presented the school’s cheerleading team, talking about its multiple state and national titles, plus recently going to USA Nationals in Orlando and getting to the semifinals.
Baker had eight of the cheerleaders speak, then talked about the difficulties in finding practice space during the winter competition season, often practicing in the cafeteria. Baker also said that the cheer mats are more than 20 years old and would cost $7,500 to $10,000 for new mats. Baker said having an extra gym, which is proposed in Phase Two of the FHS plans, would bring in additional revenue from hosting cheer competitions.
Higdon encouraged Baker to submit that request in writing to the school board liaisons, saying there’s a little bit of contingency money in the county budget left.
More coverage from the Board of Commissioners meeting is available in the May 17 edition of The Franklin Press.