The Salisbury Township School board held an operations and finance committee meeting Feb. 7 to discuss the Salisbury Elementary School water infiltration project bid and to address the safety issues on the baseball field which were brought to the board’s attention during the last meeting Jan. 17.

At the start of the meeting Director Joseph Gnall took the time to recognize the passing of former board member David Hadinger. He acknowledged Hadinger’s willingness to step up when needed and to engage in open conversation to deal with the issues at hand.

Director of Facilities Bill Brackett presented the board with the stormwater mitigation bid recommendation.

The lowest of the two bids received was submitted by GC Mohawk Construction & Development, Inc. in the amount of $689,850. Brackett requested the board green light the project so Mohawk can be notified of the board’s intent to award the bid at the next school board meeting.

Director Joseph Gaither asked when the project would begin to which Brackett responded that as soon as the board grants its approval he will collaborate with GC Mohawk and establish a timeline.

Work could start soon after the last student school day and run through the entire summer.

Most of the work will take place outside of the building except for the floor replacements in the affected areas within the building. He did not anticipate any problems completing the project before students returned to school.

The board agreed to move ahead with notifying GC Mohawk so preliminary work can begin.

In response to recent issues brought to the board concerning the condition of the baseball field, Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten met with parents, coaches and members of the booster club to address specific concerns and establish some short-term fixes and long-term plans.

Fuini-Hetten, Brackett and Director of Student Facilities Monica Deeb visited the field and spoke directly with coaches to understand their concerns and see the problems firsthand.

Most recently Brackett and his team have begun spreading infield mix onto the field since the recent warmer weather has provided a conducive environment to get the job started. The work itself is time consuming and must be done with a tractor which means the wet weather inhibits progress. Brackett detailed how the job will proceed provided the weather is cooperative.

Additionally, his crew has been rebuilding the pitcher’s mound and working to finish the warm-up area which was started by the booster club in March 2023.

Brackett has obtained pricing on prefabricated steps for the dugout so the problem can be addressed as soon as possible.

Fuini-Hetten also acknowledged there needs to be some improvements to communication and understanding the maintenance of the fields such as how it needs to be raked. As Brackett explained, improper raking and maintenance of the field can cause damage and add to problems.

In the long term, Brackett outlined three options for the grassy areas of the field, which include digging up the existing grass, reseeding and adding a drainage system.

Option two involves removing the grass, resodding the field and addressing the drainage issue and the last and most expensive option involves replacing the field with turf.

Brackett and his crew have spent more than 40 hours working on the field and assured the board the baseball team will have a safe playable field by the start of the season.

Director Laura McKelvey questioned whether the administration had a recommendation for what should be done to alleviate these issues going forward and cautioned against losing sight of the end goal.

Fuini-Hetten responded by suggesting the board revisit the issue after this season and get feedback from the coaches about how the short-term fixes worked.

According to director Sarah Nemitz, the scheduling of the project was not an issue as she pointed out the line item for the project was $423,150. Her question was “how are we going to pay for it?”

In the end the board agreed to wait until the end of the season, talk with coaches in May to see how the short-term fixes and maintenance worked and discuss the findings during the June operations committee meeting.

The next operations and finance committee meeting will be held 7 p.m. March 13.

All meetings are held in the administration building, 1140 Salisbury Road, Allentown.