River Ridge exploring financial options, timeline for track, football field project
By Ted Pennekamp
At its regular meeting Monday evening, the River Ridge School Board discussed possible ways to finance the proposed track and athletic fields project for Patch Grove.
Dave Drone of Top Notch Construction & Design of Prairie du Chien told the board that the whole project, to be done in two phases, is estimated to cost approximately $2.1 million.
The school board has been working with Top Notch and Delta 3 Engineering on the proposed project. Phase 1 would involve excavating, the creation of practice football fields and baseball and softball diamonds, lighting and utility installation. Phase 1 is estimated at $1 million. Phase 2 would involve construction of the track, a high school football field where the current baseball field is, bleachers, a press box-concession stand, fencing, and possible rest rooms.
The board took no action Monday evening. A meeting has been scheduled for March 13 to discuss and possibly take action regarding the financing and a timeline for the project.
“We need to figure out how to move forward, there’s a lot of dominoes out there,” said District Administrator Jeff Athey regarding the many financing options the board needs to consider.
Drone said $7,000 could be saved by having a different drainage system and there could be a savings of $8,000 by lowering the outfield fences of the baseball and softball fields and not having a baseline to outfield fence. Drone said that volunteer work would also save on project costs.
River Ridge already has $165,000 earmarked for baseball field lighting. This money had previously been approved by voters.
Carol Wirth, the president of Wisconsin Public Finance Professionals of Brookfield, Wis., told the board that there is potentially $101,000 available from last year’s budget for the project and $220,000 available from this year’s budget.
Wirth also discussed numerous financial options with the board. She said the board could get financing through a referendum, or by taking the funds from the operating budget, or having a combination.
Wirth said a referendum has to be held on a regular election date. Funding through a referendum would have a property tax impact, said Wirth, while funding from inside the operating budget would not. However, funding from the operating budget could have an impact upon school programming.
Borrowing options could include borrowing through the State Trust Fund Loan Program or borrowing through the marketplace. Wirth said the board might also want to consider borrowing in steps.
The project could begin as early as this summer, but the timeline is not yet known.
A referendum in the fall of 2016 passed in order to consolidate the district at Patch Grove, but a separate question regarding $1.5 million to add a track and football field failed.
One option for the project is to have the track and football field go where the baseball field is now. The baseball field would then be moved to the west of the softball field. Under this option, the crop field used by the River Ridge agricultural program would go from its current 15 acres down to about nine acres.
If a track and football field and the accompanying facilities are to be built at Patch Grove, Athey said it would eliminate the need and the cost to bus students to the Bloomington site for track practice and meets. It might also make the Bloomington site more attractive to potential buyers. A track and football field at Patch Grove would also eliminate the need to lease those facilities from the buyer of the Bloomington site as well as the cost to maintain the leased areas. The district would also be using facilities such as locker rooms that are already at the Patch Grove site. In addition, the physical education department would be able to use the track when needed.
The Bloomington site includes 16 acres and the 38,000 square-foot upper elementary school building.
