It will take six tractor-trailers to deliver the bleachers for the Eagle Event Center and five weeks to assemble them.

Hennessey Board of Education members got that update Monday night from Jack Quirk and Todd Cameron in the absence of Superintendent Dr. Mike Woods, who was in an auto accident that afternoon (See story on Page 1).

The fl ooring and bleachers should arrive in about two weeks, said Quirk, who was hired by the school to document and video the construction process. Then it will take three weeks for the flooring to set up, said Quirk, CEO of KJFilmworks.

The structure, called “The Dome” by most Hennesseyites because of it’s two-story shape, will seat 1,711. All of those seats will have back rests (including bleacher seating) and certain sections will also have armrests, the board was told at an earlier meeting.

The Dome’s completion date has been pushed from this month to the fi rst of the year.

It will be “close” but it should be ready for the Eagles’ first home basketball game after the holiday break on Jan. 20, said Cameron, the school’s network administrator.

Cameron and Quirk agreed that probably not everything would be totally set up by Jan. 20, but it should be workable.

Board President Patrick Griffin asked if they had the lights for the sign, which is a gigantic marquee-type display.

“They need electricity for that,” said Cameron.

“They are working on the electricity now,” someone else said.

Quirk said they’ve got the bathrooms in, but haven’t finished the locker rooms.

“The lockers are here now,” said business manager Timberly Jech who is also the board’s recording clerk.

“The (acoustic) ceiling clouds are up,” said Quirk. “They’re cool.”

He also said they are having hour-long training with staffers once a week on working the video wall system.

Not only will the dome include basketball/volleyball courts and locker rooms, but will include “safe rooms,” coaches’ offices and training rooms, an elevator and walking trail on the second story. The administration offi ces will be housed on the fi rst fl oor.

All board members were present at this month’s meeting: Vice President Dr. James Matousek, Clerk Luke Lough, Joe Garrison, Cristopher Choate and Griffi n.

Audit report via Skype

“Your general fund balance was $862,000, an increase over the previous year,” accounting fi rm representative Steve Blasingame told the board via Skype.

“That’s mainly due to your ad valorem taxes from oil and gas,” he said.

The written report showed the June 30 general fund carryover was $3.521 million compared with June 30, 2018, carryover of $2.659 million.

Total general fund revenue was $9.711 million compared with $7.929 million the previous year.

That’s up $1.782 million, Blasingame said, and again due to $912,000 in gross production and ad valorem taxes, he said.

“Of course you were down about $200,000 in state aid due to gross production,” he added.

Building fund expenditures totaled $432,118, the report showed.

“That’s mainly because you had about $120,000 in bullet-proof doors,” he said.

Blasingame said the child nutrition fund was down $22,000 overall because “students eating at school declined” over the previous year.

He said it was a “good audit” and commended the school’s accounting staff.

Meeting Dates

The board set the 2020 meeting dates as the second Monday of each month except for the January meeting, which will be the second Tuesday, Jan. 14, because Griffin has a confl ict.

He suggested alternates of the first or second Tuesday of the month and Jech said the earlier dates wouldn’t work because that’s when staff would return from the Christmas break.

Choate said he didn’t know if he could make the Jan. 14 meeting.

“Tuesdays are bad for me,” he said.

The board took no action on an agenda item by Griffin to change the Dec. 9 meeting because Griffi n said it worked out that he won’t have a confl ict that night.

(Ed. note: The town board changed its meetings from the first Monday to the second Monday at the request of the media so it wouldn’t conflict with the school board meetings. Then the school board members changed to the second Monday because of a board member confl ict and an accounting issue for the staff so now both boards meet the same night.)

Other business

The board routinely approved training stipends of $1,500 for certifi ed employees and $750 for non-certified employees. This is the same amount provided last year.

They also approved extra-duty assignments for the new band director Adam Ray of $3,500 for the high school and $1,050 for the middle school.

A new football coach this year, David Redus, was also listed to receive $175 per student for after school drivers education classes.

Teachers of the Month

Jech announced Teachers of the Month: Elementary, Taylor Black, pre-K teacher, and mid-high, Jenna Matousek, high school language arts teacher.