>RHS field lights : It certainly appears that the BOE intended to install the field lights all along
As you may have seen or heard, I spoke at the Village Council last evening about the RHS field lights issues. Attached for your edification are my remarks.The more that I look at this, the stranger it looks. For instance:
How did the BOE pay for the engineering work that went into the field lights bid request on May 16 to possible contractors. Supposedly, the state budget cuts forced the BOE to eliminate teaching positions while at the same time they were spending on professional services for construction engineering for which they told the Planning Board that they had no money?
The actual bid request has language that tells prospective bidders that they must put in the pole foundations before the artificial turf has been installed. This means that the bids that they were seeking for the lights could only be used if the light work was done with the turf installation. Yet at the time the bid packages were prepared (May 16) there was no money to install the lights. Was the BOE clairvoyant in that they knew that they were getting the money in gifts?
How did the BOE approve the contracts with the lighting contractor at the July 19 or August 30 meeting when these monies were not in the Council approved budget? While the BOE accepted restricted contributions from sports groups totaling $79,500 at the August meeting, this was short of the $100,000 needed in the financing that was approved at the August meeting.
It certainly appears that the BOE intended to install the field lights all along and that their surprise at the sports teams getting their act together was just an act.
Jim Morgan
