ECISD seeking third round of bids on high school track
By BRENDA SOMMER news1@leader-news.com

A second round of bids to fix the track at Ricebird Stadium has been rejected, as the El Campo ISD board waits to have a look at a new, third set of bids.

The board voted last month to delay a decision on the second round of bids it received Aug. 14 to renovate the stadium's track.

Three bids were received, ranging from $477,000 to $515,135. That was the second time the project was put out to bid, because the first attempt in June yielded only one bid, for $447,200, way more than the $226,810 set aside in this year's budget to repair and resurface the track. That bid was rejected.

During discussion at that time, the board realized that if it wanted artificial turf at the stadium, it meant the track project needed to include drainage and other modifications to ensure the turf could be properly installed.

As well, having the track replaced and artificial turf installed at the same time could result in cost savings, so in part for those reasons, a decision on the bids was delayed.

The board then directed ECISD Superintendent Mark Pool to have the district's architects prepare bid specifications for three different projects, so trustees can find out the cost to:

• Replace the track with drainage and other engineering included that would allow artificial turf to be installed at any time;

• Install artificial turf; and

• Do both projects at the same time.

Consequently, trustees voted unanimously to formally reject the second round of track repair bids during their last regular meeting on Sept. 18.

The next round of bids will be available no earlier than the board's November meeting, said ECISD Superintendent Mark Pool.

Pool estimates it will cost somewhere around $3.8 million or more for the track/turf project and major upgrades and expansion of the high school science building, the two top repair priorities of the board.

He said between fund balance money and cash set aside to cover unexpected overages at the new middle school construction project, the district might have enough money to do both projects soon.

"It depends on how we come out on the middle school," he said. "Right now, we're under budget. If we can keep it under budget, that's another $1.8 million that will be available (that we) set aside out of fund balance."

The track/turf project and science building renovations are part of $15 million in improvements the district has identified and prioritized in recent months.