Board talks field lines, more

by Mary Le Arneal
Published 7/17/24

The North Bend Central Board of Education met for almost three hours July 8, spending most of the time on two topics.

The first topic was the purchase of a Turf Tank to paint the lines on the football fields. It is an autonomous robotic field painter for all sports. That means it paints the lines on the field using GPS.

Facilities director Roy Wright told the board that it presently takes 70 man hours to paint the lines on the football and practice fields. Ethan Stratman from the Turf Tank company answered questions.

“Tank Turf would use less man hours,” Wright said. “It would be a one-person job. You would just have to make sure it was filled up to paint and you can go do another job. Now it takes six people five hours to get the football field done.”

Wright said it could be used for other sports, such as painting the throwing marks in track. The band has also requested lines drawn for their band camp.

The machines are expensive: $11,000 a year to rent or $51,000 to buy a Turf Tank 2. Some schools buy one together. Wright suggested approaching the Booster Club, Optimist Club and Music Boosters to see if they would go in on the purchase.

Stratman said the company has a good care plan to keep the machines in shape.

To do a standard football field would take 3.5 hours.

Bob Feurer made the motion that NBC purchase Turf Tank. The motion was defeated 3-3 with Andy Swanson, Justin Taylor and Francis Emanuel voting no. Feurer, Doug Hoops and Nick Emanuel voted yes.
Francis Emanuel encouraged Wright to talk to others to figure out a financial backing and present it again next year.

The second major topic of discussion was Bob Soukup from Carlson West Povondra Architects speaking to the board about the district facility assessment he did.

“The board is annually doing things with the facility,” Soukup said. “Therefore there are no critical issues. With improvements all the time you keep every thing up to par.”

Soukup went through his list of issues that needed to be addressed including drainage problems, single pane glass that needed replacement, flooring that needed to be replaced, concession stand updating, future plans for an auditorium, ADA compliance issues and sidewalk repair in the parking lot. At the elementary school there is a need for a dedicated room for band, a locker room, increased playground for increased student numbers, and office space for traveling staff.

Soukup said his next step is a general discussion with the staff to get their input then he will start working on options.

“I’ll put numbers to it,” Soukup said. “They won’t be good for 20 years but the vision will be there.”

Superintendent Patrick Ningen said that the Nebraska Department of Transportation will hold a press conference at NBC to announce the completion of Highway 30, North Bend to Fremont expressway. It will be held Aug. 5 at 2 p.m.

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