Scoreboard upgrade planned

By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS

For the second time this season, the San Benito Greyhounds will not have a home game this week, which will allow the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District (SBCISD) to work on the scoreboard replacement project at Bobby Morrow Stadium.

The decision to finance the scoreboard replacement project came at an Aug. 27 SBCISD Board of Trustees special meeting when they unanimously approved a financing agreement resolution.

This action occurred a month after trustees unanimously approved ACE Signs (based in Little Rock, Ark.) to move forward with the scoreboard replacement project.

According to a budget amendment form, trustees unanimously approved $846,000 to be taken out of the General Fund for the scoreboard replacement project.

This issue has persisted longer than some elected officials would prefer. Some trustees expressed their disapproval at a regularly scheduled board meeting in July. They had hoped that action would have been taken before the football season started last month.

This agreement should have been presented at the last board meeting,” SBCISD Interim Chief Financial Officer Christopher Cortez said during the August meeting. He added that an ACE Sports representative failed to turn the resolution over to SBCISD before the trustees’ July regular meeting, which delayed the construction process.

“This was all that was holding up the financing and for (SBCISD) to receive the money and for the resolution to be passed,” Cortez said.

Now that the resolution has passed, SBCISD Superintendent Fred Perez stated that SBCISD aims to complete payments for the scoreboard replacement project within five years.

According to SBCISD’s agreement, the terms extend for five years, with yearly payments of $197,635.31 at an interest rate of 4.695%.

The superintendent added that SBCISD could make additional payments without penalty if extra funding becomes available to pay off the scoreboard earlier. However, it cannot be paid off before 18 months, according to the resolution.

Ace Signs has collaborated on stadium video projects with various school districts across Texas, including the Houston area and the Coastal Bend.