STARKVILLE — Stronger cell phone network connectivity on the Starkville High School campus is one step closer.
At the Tuesday meeting of the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees, the board unanimously approved to move forward with seeing easement documents in a proposal by C-Spire to add two new small cellular facilities on campus.
The two facilities will be attached to already-existing poles given the poles are strong enough to hold the equipment, according to Belinda Bodie, Neel-Schaffer lease and zoning manager representing C-Spire. One location is an existing pole in front of Millsaps Career and Technology Center, and the other location is near the football stadium on the athletic campus.
“There is already a light pole (between the band hall and Millsaps), but we’re not sure if it’s sturdy enough to hold the equipment,” Bodie said. “If not, we would have to place another wooden pole there that is very similar to what Starkville Utilities has for their transformer pole in the back on the next aisle over. Over by the stadium, we would actually attach to one of the stadium light poles — those we do all the time. Over by the stadium, you would not have a new pole. … By the parking lot, (you’d have) possibly a new wooden pole that looks similar to what you see with transformer poles with Starkville Utilities.”
Should the contract be approved after seeing the easement documents, the district will receive a minimum of $1,200 from C-Spire to put the towers up, per SOCSD public information officer Nicole Thomas.
New weather system
SOCSD athletics administrators are currently relying on phone applications to alert them of when lightning is close and could impact a game. However, they will now benefit from Perry Weather, which is a special system that can alert up to 20 designated phones that lightning is within 10 miles.
Athletic director Greg Owen was present at the board meeting to speak about the benefits of entering an agreement with Perry Weather.
“What this is is a warning system that lets our coaches, administrators know mainly when lightning is coming in,” Owen said. “… Last meeting when we discussed (the Perry Weather agreement), coach Kristie Williams was the admin at the game and she was texting back and forth about weather coming in and what to do. Right now we rely on a free app, usually Weather Bug. That app pings off of a tower that we don’t even know where it’s pinging off from, most likely the airport. (The lightning and inclement weather) could actually be miles away, so we’re not getting accurate data when we clear a stadium or a practice field. This gives us a for-sure thing.”
With the Perry Weather system, an announcement can be programmed to let those enjoying an outdoor game know they need to take shelter. Owen said there is a strobe light that can be in stadiums to alert people to take cover, and once that strobe stops, it means that the stadium is safe to enter because the weather threat has passed.
The board unanimously approved the $2,400 agreement, which will come from the athletics budget.
Armstrong gymnasium
In part of the district’s facility improvements, the Armstrong Junior High School gymnasium will receive a new floor. The board approved a contract with Birmingham-based Covington Flooring Company with the lowest bid of $47,995.
This is part of a larger plan to improve the gym facilities at AJHS, for which the district has designated $557,750. The funds for this specific project are coming from the 3-mill note designated for capital improvement, according to Thomas.
There will be new bleachers, flooring and locker rooms when the project is completed. Covington Flooring is responsible for refinishing the gym floor at Starkville High School and the Partnership Middle School. Project architect Thomas Stewart of Architectonics said the floor will match the two floors at the other schools.
New buses
The SOCSD approved five new school buses to be purchased for a total of $500,000. Every year the district purchases at least five new buses, and every three years it purchases 10.
“This year is one of the third years and the next year will be 2025,” SOCSD board president Wes Gordon said. “We wanted to get ahead and approve the first five because the price right now is really good, and later on in the year, we’ll get the other five.”
According to Superintendent Eddie Peasant, no buses in the existing fleet will be phased out of use by the district. There may be a few that are repurposed for other district use, but all are in usable condition.
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