by Brian Orr
WALSENBURG- The Re-1 School Board voted on Tuesday to again extend its financial contract with USAPartners after one of the principals involved came down to Walsenburg and told Superintendent Michael Doyle and grant writer Gaye Davis that the Walsenburg football field funding is almost complete.
In a labrynthine maneuver, the $500,000 needed to complete the turf part of the field will be bundled into a deal with 13 other football field projects being done for a suburb in Houston, TX. When those are funded by a bond issue in Texas, so will the Walsenburg field.
The new final deadline for USAPartners to come through with the funding is August 22, which is Davis’ deadline to use the funds for a matching grant from DOLA.
Doyle also asked the Board to give him authorization to pursue getting a bank loan for $300,000 to $500,000 to complete the remaining portions of the sports complex. He would like to keep payments on the loan to around $50,000 a year, and pay for it out of the Capital Reserve fund.
It was noted that the Capital Reserve fund needed to keep some liquid capital in it to pay for items such as school buses as needed. On that subject, it was noted that the Re-1 school bus fleet is undergoing inspection, but are believed to be basically sound.
In other business, the Board approved the hiring of Pat McDonald as the new Assistant Principal and Athletic Director for Re-1 sports. The Board also increased Gaye Davis’ job title to include Projects and Facilities Coordinator.
