School board approves bid for football lights

MARENGO — The Iowa Valley School Board approved a bid for $111,700 for the installation of new lights at the football field.

The school district received three bids ranging from $111,700 to $350,000, said Superintendent Curt Rheingans during last week’s school board meeting. The low bid was submitted by Geo Sport Lighting from Kansas City.

“They do mostly Missouri school right now,” said Rheingans.

Most Iowa schools use Musco Lighting out of Muscatine, said Rheingans, but that company’s bid for this project was $170,000.

The $111,000 low bid was right on budget, said Rheingans. “And they all come with the same [10-year] warranty.”

The school will use the existing poles because new poles would cost $100,000 each, Rheingans said. The new lights will be LED, so they’ll be brighter and less expensive to operate, he said.

Geo Sports can be on site within four weeks. “We’ll be done before track,” said Rheingans.

The board also discussed the new bus barn at the elementary school.

“We need to do the water and sewer before the city does any more with streets,” said Dan Slaymaker.

Construction of the Marengo swimming pool included road work between the pool and Iowa Valley Elementary School.

Rheingans said that electrical work is done at the barn, but he had planned to wait until spring for other work.

Slaymaker suggested the district get it done now so the district can put three buses inside during this winter. It would be a shame to have the building sitting there all winter and not use it, he said.

“I think that’s a smart idea,” said Rheingans. He said he’d get some bids to see what it would cost.

Doing the work now will give the ground time to settle before the district pours the concrete floor, said Slaymaker.

He suggested Rheingans price a pressure washer as well.