School board to decide on Mat Corner, renovation penalties

At a special Havre District School Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday afternoon, the trustees discussed the choices they will have to make regarding the Mat Corner and whether or not to charge a penalty to the contractors in charge of the renovations at Havre High School and Sunnyside Intermediate.

Superintendent of Havre Public Schools Andy Carlson said it was his suggestion that the board sell the Mat Corner.

Once the addition to the areas used by the wrestling team at Havre High School is completed, the team will be completely moved to the school, instead of the Mat Corner on 2nd Street.

The board was not to make any decision on what to do with the Mat Corner building at the meeting Tuesday, but was urged by Carlson to begin thinking about what they would like to do with it.

The wrestling area will be the same size in the addition to the high school as it is in the Mat Corner.

The building was originally donated to the school district so the wrestlers of Havre could have a place to practice. The building now has some structural issues that would need to be repaired if the school district were to continue using it.

The money gained from selling the property would have to be used to pay for the new wrestling facility.

The Mat Corner will be an official item on the next school board meeting agenda Oct. 14.

Carlson also told the school board that they need to have some discussion on whether or not to fine the contractors in charge of the renovations at Sunnyside Intermediate and Havre High School.

“If the projects go over the time projected, you can enact a fee on the independent contractors,” Carlson told the school board.

Sunnyside is about a week or two out of the amended schedule the contractors gave the school administration, but the Havre High School renovations are on schedule with the new, amended schedule.

The new Sunnyside classrooms are scheduled to be available Oct. 10, and kids are expected to be able to enter the new classrooms to continue the school year Oct. 13.

Various unforeseen issues caused the projects’ estimated completion dates to be pushed back, such as rain, sewer pipes that were discovered to need replacing and asbestos removal.

Carlson said there is no real cost value caused by the delays, but instructional time has been lost in physical education classes.

He added that despite the troubles and delays, the contractors have done a good job with the renovations thus far.

Eileen Couch, the chair of the board, said that she thinks the district knew there would be the possibility of a delay in the renovations and that in the bigger picture, the problems may not be paramount if the contractors are doing a good job

The school board will also be discussing the option of issues late fines to the contractors in the Oct. 14 meeting.