Othello School Board eyes tennis court project

OTHELLO — Stalled construction at the tennis courts was the subject of discussion at the Monday meeting of the Othello School Board.

In July the board approved a $498,000 contract for six new courts plus bases where lights can be installed. The contract requires the project to be completed by Nov. 30.

“I don’t drive by there every day, but I’ve probably driven by 10 times since it (the project) started, and one time there were any humans beings actually on site,” said board member Rob Simmons. When there are so few visible signs of activity, “it makes me concerned the contractor is not making it a priority,” he said.

Brian Bodah, the district’s new executive director of business services, said he had asked the architect in charge of the project about the slow progress. The architect replied that the anchor bolts for the light bases were a specialty part and couldn’t be found locally. The shipping process was disrupted by Hurricane Harvey, and the materials were stuck in Houston. No more work could be done until the light pole bases were in place.

Court paving is set for Oct. 4, and the surfacing is scheduled for Oct. 20. The architect said the subcontractor surfacing the courts “will have a plan in place should weather and temperature become an issue.” Project completion is projected for Nov. 2.

Bodah said he asked if the delay will affect the 2018 tennis season. “The answer was no.”

Simmons objected the contractor couldn’t guarantee weather wouldn’t delay the project. He was most concerned that the project doesn’t impact the 2018 tennis season, he said.

In other business, technology director Rodrigo Ozuna detailed the first steps of a project to “provide internet access to all students, basically any time, anywhere.”

The district is in the process of providing laptop computers to all students; Othello High School senior Kaiden Quigley, a student representative to the board, said computers have been distributed to OHS students within the last two weeks. Ozuna said the goal is to ensure Othello students can get access to the internet after school is out.

Research into the options is continuing, Ozuna said, but district officials are recommending installing solar panels on the district’s bus fleet as a first step. That would allow students wireless access while they’re on the bus, and the buses might be used as mobile hot spots. The second phase would be to apply for a program offered by a phone company to help provide access to homes without it.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.