Shaker Regional School District closes high school track

By THOMAS P. CALDWELL, LACONIA DAILY SUN

BELMONT — The Shaker Regional School District is soliciting bids for the complete reconstruction of the high school track, whose surface has been bubbling and delaminating, posing a significant tripping hazard.

Superintendent Michael Tursi said the track has been closed to all use because of life-safety concerns.

The first problems became apparent just three months after the track was resurfaced two summers ago, he said. The rubber surface was bubbling and their first thought was that it was a problem with the adhesive bonding the new surface to the original track, built in 1998. Attempts to patch it only seemed to make it worse, he said.

The district hired Harriman, a civil engineering firm, to analyze the track and make a recommendation to solve the problems. The firm determined that the adhesive was part of the problem, with an inadequate primer on the original surface, but the composition of the new surface also contained latex, which trapped water and led to the delamination.

The district sought legal counsel to determine whether the contractor doing the work could be held accountable, but a third problem, involving drainage, would make a quick resolution difficult, Tursi said.

The track as originally designed did not have the proper slope to carry water away, he found. The grade from the outer to the inner track should be 1.5 inches, but there were flat areas where water would pool, contributing to the delamination, Tursi said.

There were other drainage issues, with culverts under the track sitting on sand, which caused the pipes to rise and fall with the frost, creating breaks in the track surface. Scoping the lines showed that the drainage system itself was fine, but the culverts that are supposed to carry water into the system need to be replaced, he said.

“We could have been in litigation for years without any guarantee that we’d prevail,” he said.

The district looked into its insurance policy, but found it would not cover the repairs.

As a result, the Shaker Regional School Board ordered the track closed to all athletic events and practices, as well as community use, at the beginning of the school year. Many local residents have used the track for walking and running, and the district wanted to be proactive about preventing any injuries.

The School Board plans to tap the district’s unexpended fund balance to pay for the repairs, after getting clearance from the auditors to do so.

Tursi said the district realized savings in salaries and benefits as a result of new hires coming in at lower wages than the those they replaced, and requiring less expensive health insurance premiums by not needing the family plan. There also were savings in special education and vocational tuition.

“We did due diligence on whether this was an appropriate use of those funds,” Tursi said.

The estimated cost of the track reconstruction is $300,000 to $500,000, with bids being due on Oct. 10. Tursi plans to bring the bid list to the School Board for a decision in time to get the work underway by Oct. 16.

Plans call for the winning bidder to mill the original surface and regrade the track this fall, letting it settle over the winter. Fine grading, paving and resurfacing will take place in the late spring and summer, with completion in August 2018, allowing the track to reopen in the fall.

“The board felt it was very important to tackle the issue now,” Tursi said. They’ll miss a full season this year, but have it fixed before the next school year.”

Track and field events have been scheduled at other schools last year and this, but the closing of the track is not impacting any other teams. The school still uses the soccer field in the middle of the track.

The track at Belmont High School remains closed due to a deteriorating surface. (Tom Caldwell/Laconia Daily Sun)

Superintendent Michael Tursi points out the bubbling of the Belmont High School track, while portions are breaking up in the foreground. (Tom Caldwell/Laconia Daily Sun)

A crumbling track surface and bubbling that poses a tripping hazard have forced the Shaker Regional School District to close the Belmont High School track. (Tom Caldwell/Laconia Daily Sun)