Weathersfield board OKs funds for projects

MINERAL RIDGE -- The Weathersfield Board of Education has authorized spending more than $30,000 on two projects at the Joe Lane Sports Complex.
Schools Superintendent Michael Hanshaw said a retaining wall will be installed at the south end of the football stadium, and repair work will be done to structures at a cost of $15,284. Reinnovations Contracting, Inc. of Mineral Ridge will do the work.
Water runoff from Stewart Street has caused soil erosion on the south side of the stadium since it was built and could start to erode the all-weather track.
Board president Bruce Bacak and board member Fred McCandless, who are on the board's buildings and grounds committee, said it would be better to spend the $15,000 now to build the retaining wall than to have to spend more than $25,000 later to repair the track.
Another contract
The board also approved a $14,865 contract with Gabriel Fence of Canfield to install new fencing on the west side of the complex property behind the stadium. The original, 30-to-40-year-old poles used to hold up the fence behind the concession stand are being held up by cables attached to telephone poles.
The poles are grounded in cement bases that have heaved out of the ground over the years. The temporary repairs were made by district maintenance workers, but the board has decided to install new fencing. "We decided to fix it before anything serious happens," Bacak said.