The Crookston Public Schools Finance Committee met on Tuesday morning to discuss a proposed Outdoor Multiuse Complex Referendum amount to be brought forward to the next City Council meeting on Monday, October 24.
Interim Superintendent Dave Kuehn opened the meeting by comparing the history of the prices from when they added the referendum to the ballot in February, where the school had requested $3.91 million. With the new prices, not including the $702,000 that came with the concession stand costs, the referendum would now cost about $4.9 million.
Kuehn gave the committee handouts of the renderings of some changes to the fencing and track and field areas presented at their special meeting that could be changed to help lower the price. Kuehn proposed that $4.963 million was a good amount to come forward to the board with for the referendum’s construction cost, with them also having some options to save money by removing some paving additions, which otherwise would have it around $5.3 million. With $702,000 being used for the concessions stand construction coming out of the school’s budget and using the school’s Construction Trades class to help save costs and give them experience. “It doesn’t change the project a lot. There are some minor changes on the west side with the bleacher area,” Interim Superintendent Dave Kuehn explained. “Then part of that $4.9 million is some dollars going towards the construction of the restroom and concession area, but there’s going to need to be some district dollars or some type of sponsorship or fundraiser that will help complete that piece of the project.” The committee felt this would give the school more direct control over how the concessions building would look and other additions, like how many bathrooms and sinks it would have.
The committee noted potential skepticism about a student-led project on the concessions area that may have turned some people away from the project as they may not complete it in time with the rest of the referendum. “There are some different things that are needed at the field, like additional storage, but the question was if we want to get this project done and within in a timely manner, including the restrooms and concessions. We have to ask if the Construction Trade class is a viable option,” Kuehn explained. “There are more conversations to be had on that, and we need a rendering of what that facility will look like. There wasn’t a concern but more a question on what we have to do to get the project done so when we open the doors and have games or track events, we have a concession and bathroom area built, not in progress.”
Tim Dufault noted that the concrete they planned to take out would be essential to keep the facility dry during wet times of the year. People want to stand on concrete rather than in the mud or bleachers. So he voiced his support for the original plan amount of around $5.3 million over waiting multiple years to include them.
With the full additions of the concrete and paving and the costs of completing the concessions stand, the total cost for the referendum would be about $5.6 million, with construction cost estimates being where they are now. To help cover the costs, the school could enforce a policy to accept sponsorships from residents or businesses in exchange for being recognized on the field. “We’re going to start meeting with some businesses, organizations, and individuals that expressed interest in helping back with the first referendum. We want to wrap up some marketing of different things people can contribute dollars towards, whether advertising on our scoreboard, naming the field, or having your logo on the turf,” said Kuehn. “There are a lot of different things school districts and colleges have done to bring in some dollars to help with costs or future plans with that facility, so we’re looking to reach out to some of our entities and organizations that have been very good at helping out with Pirate activities and the school district itself and to see if they have some interest in helping us with the project.”
Some members voiced they didn’t believe voters would support the increased prices with the substantial additions, especially if prices continued to rise. And if they do, the school could choose to take it out of the original proposal to lower the cost if they had to in the future if prices rose. Kuehn said he would work with the architects to update the concession numbers to help make it fit within the referendum’s costs.
After plenty of discussion, the committee decided to choose $4.963 million to be brought to the board. Kuehn said he would update things about the concessions and other earthwork construction and could use local construction companies to help save costs and help local companies.
The Crookston School Board will meet to vote on this price on Monday, October 24, at 5:00 p.m. in the Crookston High School Media Center.
