News

Chester BOE deadlocks on Cohen project

Posted August 27, 2015 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

What seemed like a sure thing weeks ago dissipated into a deadlocked vote during a special meeting of the Chester District 139 Board of Education on Thursday.

With a 3-3 vote, with board member Troy Clendenin absent, the BOE appeared to have second thoughts on a decision that would have ultimately used a portion of the district's sales tax funds to renovate four fields at the Cohen Complex.

Vice President Tom Welge, Debi Caraway and Trent Vasquez all voted no, with board President Mitch Hammel, Secretary Jamie Eggemeyer and Dan Colvis voting yes.

Interim Superintendent Bill Riley said the tie vote means the measure does not pass. During discussion prior to voting, Welge questioned whether or not the project was a good use for the sales tax funds given other needs in the district.

"I respect the board's decision on this, but I don't think the district should be spending the sales tax money on this," Welge said.

Under the agreement, the district would have "licensed" the Cohen Complex for a period of at least 10 years, while making regular payments to the City of Chester.

The wording of the agreement was changed from "lease" to "license" due to concerns about additional liability to the district.

Welge also questioned the legality of the tactic. Riley told the board that the district's attorney, Barney Mundorf, had acknowledged that this approach was untested in the court system.

"I would hate for the district to have a lot of attorney's fees because a taxpayer watchdog group decided to test it," Welge said.

If the measure had been approved, it would have gone to the Chester City Council for consideration and approval. In a phone interview, Chester Mayor Tom Page expressed his opinion of the decision.

"I'm disappointed, but I understand the process," he said. "I understand it better probably better than the average person does, but I can't say I'm not disappointed because I am."

Page said the city had appropriated funds for the project in its fiscal year 2016 budget.

"We appropriated so much hoping that the school district would help and we don't know where to go next," he said.

The $67,750 project, which would have renovated fields 1, 2, 3 and 5, would have been mostly paid for by matching funds from the district and the city in the amount of $30,875. Chester Sports Inc. was to contribute $3,500, with the rest being made up by donations from various businesses and organizations.

"I'm real disappointed," said Trevor Kelkhoff, president of Chester Sports Inc., in a separate phone interview. "I put a lot of time into researching different companies to find the most economical way of going about it and reducing the amount of maintenance to make sure it lasts.

"It seemed to be a pretty reasonable dollar amount. To have it done professionally like that, it would take a big load off of the city in terms of maintenance."

Board discussion during the meeting also dived into how many district students use the Cohen Complex for baseball and softball, with a figure of 7 percent (69 players) of the combined Chester Grade School and Chester High School student body being mentioned.

In a media interview after the meeting, Welge said the sales tax funds should be put into a "war chest" for future projects.

"I think more important to me - knowing the kind of expenses we're going to have, the kind of projects we're facing and the state of the state - we need to be putting these funds into a war chest so we can afford to address more pressing issues that affect a bigger percentage (of students)," he said. "I'm 100 percent behind the Chester sports and the parents that have worked hard. I can appreciate why the city wants to make improvements to the fields, but I just didn't see this was something this particular source of funds should be used for to make those kind of enhancements to what are already good baseball fields."

In other action, the board approved the deficit reduction plan discussed at its regular meeting on Aug. 20. Thursday's meeting was the third week in a row the board had met.

"We're kinda meetinged out," Hammel said.

Roundup

The BOE approved employing Jennifer Schroeder as a seven-and-a-half hour special education paraprofessional at $9 per hour retroactive as of Aug. 21.

The BOE approved the 2015-16 supplemental positions per its agreement with the Chester Education Association.

Board member Dan Colvis brought up a desire to address a portion of the sidewalk along Opdyke Street at the entrance to Chester Grade School. Colvis said he's seen students on bicycles attempt to make the turn toward the school too fast and wind up skidding close to the road.

The next regular meeting of the BOE is scheduled for Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. in the CGS Band Room.

Article Categories
News