RHS football season without new field house

By JIM TALBERT\Staff
RICHLANDS – After all the debate it looks like Richlands will not be getting a new fieldhouse this football season.
The problems this time are the amount of time it takes to do the work and a lack of clarity on financing the project. At its July 9 meeting the board received a report from Supervisor of Environmental Services Charlie Simpson that bids for the steel building, rough plumbing and concrete work for the project had been received.
Simpson recommended H.S. Williams Company of Marion for the building at a price of $83,255. He said four companies were solicited for the plumbing and concrete work and Brown Excavating was the only one that responded.
He said Brown was willing to bid only the labor on an hourly rate, allowing the county to purchase the materials. He said Brown also indicated a willingness to allow volunteers to work on the project.
Simpson said that portion of the work would take 10 weeks and both Brown and Williams would start as soon as they were notified they had the bid. Football practice for all county schools starts July 30.
The first home game for Richlands is Aug. 24 against Gate City. The final home game for Richlands is Nov. 2 against Grundy.
While the board was willing to accept both companies, they were reluctant to green light starting work without a clear answer from the board of supervisors on financing for the project.
At its June 4 meeting the board of supervisors approved up to $350,000 for the fieldhouse. School board members left the meeting thinking the county was putting up the money and would deduct that amount from any funds approved for school renovations.
They met June 5 and voted to go ahead with the project, authorizing Simpson to solicit bids for the work. At a June 29 board of supervisors meeting, Supervisor Earl Griffith said he intended for the school board to borrow the money and pay it back when they obtained funding for school renovations.
School Board member Randy Conn and Supervisor Bill Wimmer both disputed that interpretation of the motion. The supervisors took no further action during the June 29 meeting and do not meet again until Aug. 7.
Director of Finance Jammie Lester said the school board could obtain a short term loan to finance the project and delay payment up to 12 months. The board was still reluctant to take action without being clear on the supervisors’ intent for financing.
Board Chairman Mike Dennis said he wanted to see the project keep moving and asked that it be placed on the agenda for the recessed meeting the school board is holding July 19.
  The board directed Superintendent Brenda Lawson to contact the county administrator and attempt to