Pawhuska schools: Softball field almost ready

The Pawhuska School District’s maintenance director reported Monday evening to the Board of Education that a natural gas leak at the district’s softball field has been officially resolved.

Maintenance Director Dean Hix told the board that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has issued a report to the effect that any remaining natural gas seepage is so slight as not to pose any health or safety risk.

“So we are good; we are good to play ball,” Hix said. A Corporation Commission report dated July 5, 2018, says that, “0.03 percent gas present is too low to cause an issue and the inability to confine the gas reinforces the lack of the possibility of concentration and/or explosion in the middle of a softball field.”

The Corporation Commission resolved the complaint as of July 5.

The softball field recently received a surface upgrade, when the school district used sod removed from Ormond Beach Memorial Stadium to resurface the softball field. Students donated their labor, picking up rocks and putting down sod, during that project.

The Board of Education on Monday voted to authorize another $10,000 of softball field repairs. District officials said the additional work is intended to address a problem with the outfield not being sufficiently level and to make sure the infield is properly graded.

In other maintenance business Monday, Hix informed the Board of Education that Anchor Paint has donated an estimated $3,500 of paint to the Pawhuska School District to help with an ongoing exterior painting project.

Hix said Jen Jones, the Anchor sales representative who works with the school district, is a former Pawhuska School District student, and she had expressed a desire to have her employer help the district.

Another cost-saving measure that Hix presented to the board Monday was the purchase for $1,369 of a key cutting machine. Hicks said the machine comes with a full kit of key blanks and other supplies needed for changing locks and keys. He said the Pawhuska School District has been spending about $3,000 a year on locks and keys.

“We’ve had some coaches lose up to eight sets of keys a year,” Hix said. The board approved the purchase of the machine.