SPRING VALLEY — The Spring Valley School Board approved an additional $1.579 million in track projects that include lighting, a walkway, a sound system, security systems, utilities for a future concession stand, bleachers, a press box and storage at the May 20 meeting.

“After all the projects were bid and done, there was a little over $2.9 million remaining. Of that, we needed $1.84 million for the bus barn. What’s left after all that is $1,060,486,” District Administrator John Groh said. “If no other expenditures needed to happen to come out of contingency, which is unlikely, there’d be enough money to pay for it right now.”

The district had to make a decision of what to do with the leftover referendum funds, and further track items were the determined solution. To cover the remaining project costs beyond the referendum leftovers, the district will use the fund balance while making a push for fundraising to limit the out-of-pocket expenses.

“We’re in a really good spot, because we can do this. We have over double our board policy amount in fund balance,” Groh said. “We have the funds there to do it. It’s about your comfortability level at that point. I would say, if you’re going to spend money out of fund balance, it better be on one-time, impactful purchases.”

Groh said the additions would put the track somewhere between 90 to 95% of the way to a competition track. It was determined that if the additions were going to be made at some point, it made the most sense to do them at the same time as the track construction and while the fund balance is thriving, keeping construction costs to a minimum. The goal now is to fundraise as much as possible to protect the fund balance as much as they can.

“I really want fundraising to really get active now. We can have our plan, let’s get out there and fundraise,” Board Member Beth Ingli said.

Track and Field Coach Sean Hoolihan said the community backed a track coming back to Spring Valley, and hoped the school made the last spending push to get it to a competition level.

“All the stuff up there is very necessary to run a track meet,” Hoolihan said. “Because our community spoke, and it was supported to build this, to do it where when it’s done, we’re able to move forward and hold track meets when we can, when everything is good to go.”

The last home track meet in Spring Valley was around 1985. The plan is to move forward by starting small, building into larger track meets as they go.

“Ultimately, my goal would be, whenever we can run that first one, we’d invite Elmwood/Plum City and Glenwood City, and we’d have a three-team meet. Tell them we’re going to make mistakes, because this is the first track meet we’ve ran in 50 years,” Athletic Director Matt Ducklow said. “That’s what I would start with, and then eventually just make it bigger and bigger every year.”