Soccer Lights On Hold

    The only way Glenwood Community High School soccer teams will be able to light up their home field this spring will be to keep putting points on the scoreboard.
    For at least one more season, the Ram soccer teams will play their home games without the aid of artificial lighting. The Glenwood Board of Education’s plan to have a $200,000 lighting system installed on the field before the start of the 2013 season was postponed last week because of concerns about potential damage construction equipment could cause if the lights are installed while the ground is soft and soggy.
    The school district had anticipated installing the lights in February, on frozen ground, but warmer-than-normal temperatures this winter have left conditions on and around the field less-than-ideal for construction traffic.
“We’re really hoping it (ground) is frozen, but there were night crawlers on the parking lot this morning, which tells me the frost is out of the ground,” school district Director of Operations Dave Greenwood said at a special school board meeting last Monday, Jan. 25.
    Greenwood said construction cranes would likely be utilized to install the 70-foot-tall light poles.
    School board member Dave Blum, who owns and manages a construction company, cautioned fellow board members about moving forward with the project.
    “Let’s not put mud on our faces and tear that whole place up down there,” Blum said.
    The school district received two bids for the project on Jan. 28, one from Pro Tech Electric Services for $197,440 and one from Van Maanen Electric for $201,442. The project would consist of installing a lighting system, electrical power and controls at the field. Terms of the bid process specified work be carried out within 21 days after start-up. The lights would be assembled by Musco Lighting and delivered to Glenwood two weeks after approval of the installation contract. The board’s goal was to have the lighting system in place by March 1.
    After about 30 minutes of discussion at the special meeting, the board voted unanimously to reject both bids, with the understanding the project will rebid for installation after the conclusion of the high school soccer season.