West Nodaway hears presentation from Blazers

TOM PINNEY/DAILY FORUM
Clint Snodderley presents the West Nodaway Board of Education with a blueprint and a rough outline of the budget for the BJ Blazers baseball team’s new cook shack. West Nodaway is looking to partner with the Blazers organization and the City of Burlington Junction to rebuild the cook shack.

West Nodaway and the City of Burlington Junction seek to partner with the BJ Blazers to renovate the cook shack and parts of the existing baseball field.

At the Wednesday meeting of the West Nodaway R-I Board of Education, BJ Blazers coach Clint Snodderley and cook shack manager Shayli Larabee presented to the members of the board, the blueprints and preliminary budget for the new cook shack.

The current cook shack, according to Snodderley, has several problems that need to be remedied.

“Handicap accessibility is the biggest problem we have right now,” he said. “We also need to move home plate back about 20 feet, which would also mean moving the fence back to accommodate that move.”

Burlington Junction mayor Justin Plymell also was in attendance to give the city’s perspective. Plymell said the city had other priorities in the past that caused the field to be moved lower on the list, but that was going to change.

“The city has a fund for parks that we haven’t used in the past,” he said. “As of (the City Council’s meeting) Monday, the council is behind the project.”

In addition to the city parks fund, the Blazers have $345.75 put away from cotton candy sales during this season and Burlington Junction’s Country Days celebration.

District Superintendent Shannon Nolte said the renovations were a high priority. He noted that when the Blazers have a more concrete budget, the district will vote on allocating funds to the project.

“Our teams use the field as well,” Nolte said. “We’ve also hosted tournaments in the past and will host in the future, so it will be good to make the field look great so that other teams will be willing to have events here.”

Another major point of discussion from the meeting was the summer maintenance project list.

Nolte updated the board on current projects and brought to light a few projects still to be completed.

The rafters in the high school gymnasium need to be cleaned and painted, but because classes use the gym daily, Nolte said the project was being moved to the summer of 2018.

Other unfinished projects were listed as ongoing, such as replacing the lights throughout the building with LED lights. United Electric is providing a rebate to cover the cost of the changeover, and Nolte said the lights would be replaced throughout the year.

Nolte also is working on repairing the motors and louvers in the greenhouse. The district currently is ordering the equipment.

Also on the agenda at Wednesday’s meeting:

– The board voted to approve a bid from Clarinda Heating and Cooling worth $5,995 to replace the air conditioning unit for the middle and high school offices.

– The board also approved a bid from MCE Webhosting to put all of the board policies online, worth an initial $1,500 and $400 per year after this year.

– The board approved hiring Brenda Langston as the Before/After School Student Care supervisor. Nolte also announced that Gene Steinmeyer will take over as a long-term substitute in Mrs. Shipley’s middle school math classroom while Shipley is on maternity leave.

– Elementary Principal Holly Brady notified the board that she and her staff had begun implementing the Leader in Me curriculum. She also mentioned that the Project Fit playground equipment is being installed thanks to a grant from the Heartland Foundation.

The next meeting of the West Nodaway R-I Board of Education is currently scheduled for 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 11.