Our goal is to try to get done as much as we can in July. Yeah, I understand, but a a little bit more information >> Absolutely. would be wonderful. >> do that. And thank you to to the CSEA people that that uh roped Yeah, and and oftentimes they're behind the scenes, so they're not, you know, they're not seen, but the amount of work they get done is pretty amazing. It is amazing. I do and I thank you. Yeah. My question is regarding um the regrading track um project. Yeah. Uh it just says elementary over here on site. Is that Most all of them. There's a couple of the elementary Shasta doesn't have a track, but it's their jogging tracks. We're going to be putting new material down there, regrading them, rolling them, compacting them, just kind of So, all the all the elementary schools Yes, all all the elementary that have the jogging tracks, yeah.
It was that And I could actually kind of read it this cuz it's not really a lot. Um so, it says So, her email is in response to questions regarding the bench policy at the select board meeting April 29th, 2026. History {slash} why we chose to create this policy. The bench policy we rolled out to the board at the April 15th meeting was to formalize a policy that was fair and equitable to all residents in town. We receive several requests a year for bench donations. Now that the town has invested millions of dollars into downtown area, parks, and recreation areas, with new spaces coming, a policy to be clear on the process seemed necessary. We are trying to make sure there's a clear path moving forward so that we can accommodate these special requests. Having consistency in materials will be more aesthetically pleasing to the grounds we have which we have invested in.
I don't see any dark clouds coming, but the clouds are certainly cloud cover is certainly coming now here. >> As long as we don't get anything like yesterday. >> I don't think we're going to get the light. >> No, no, looks like the sun is found way behind a cloud. >> I I got to give a I got to give props to uh athletic director Pete Connry. um and uh his his lead field maintenance man Richie Hurst who uh did a tremendous job today getting these fields ready. In the past, rain uh like that meant nobody was playing at Ashland. Uh the Department of the Public Works did a really good job fixing this field up in the offse, but Richie and uh Pete made this thing happen. >> As Lauraai Colette will lead off the home half of the fourth, he takes ball one.
Okay, so with that I move to table um discussion on this um until uh Joy returns. Yeah, basically for number one and number two under new business. Yeah. Okay. Can I add just a little context to number two just in case it half the conversation happens after executive session and I'm no longer here. Um if if the board were to combine and have you know uh finance and facilities meet um as one Oh, I see what she did here. Okay, never mind. So it's either separate or the second Tuesday. It would have to be it would definitely have to be in the second week because we wouldn't be able to close find the finances by the first week of the month. So that's Oh, so it would have to be the agenda that has a second Tuesday. Second Tuesday. I would agree cuz that's closest to when the Board of Finance Exactly.
And that's their mechanism for removal. They do not get to use um this idea of vacancy and try to take that power from you. They have their own mechanisms of actions that they can take against Jackie if they're not pleased with her. So I um also want to empower them on that. Um so if they have their own personal grievances, they can rally the troops and go and get the rest of the community involved and invested in their own personal grievances. Hopefully they can do that. Um, good luck because we just had a amazing presentation by Brian Parker today talking about the amazing things that this district is doing and that this board has put forward and a lot of that work was you guys working together and Jackie being very much a part of that. And in in I absolutely love her and in a lot of ways I feel like she was the secret sauce to keep everybody together to make some of those things.
Did Citrus get done? Citrus has a track, yeah. So, that'll be one of the ones. Right now, I believe it's kind of within the construction area of the new construction, so it just got fenced off last week, a portion of it. But uh yeah, they they have a track there. Yeah, and and they they have programs that use their track quite a bit. >> all the schools do, Yeah, we've been busy this week. A lot of them are doing their running clubs or their jog-a-thons, track meets. So, we've been busy trying to get them usable for them, marked off, and kids seem to be having fun doing it. Thank you. Yeah. Any public comment? Yes. Come up. Yeah, go ahead. Maybe I just had a question. I know that Hooker Oak is on schedule to get some new bathrooms installed. Is that in a different document than this one?
Continuity in materials lends itself to a more attractive public space. The bench donated in honor of Izzy Ascenco at the community center is an example of why this policy is necessary. The Lions requested the bench either be placed on the patio or in front of the building. The bench was brought to the board to accept the gift at the 6 5 24 meeting. The bench was then purchased. The assistant town manager approved the bench to be placed in front of the building and notified the Lions. The bench was then installed by the Lions, but the town was not notified it was happening. The bench location was not recorded by the town and was improperly installed and did not meet ADA accessibility requirements. When the snow came and the bench was covered, the DPW was unaware of the bench and it was damaged by a plow.
Alexis Cahill remains on the mound. The 01 or the 10 is smoked to center FIELD AND IT IS GONE. >> War gives Ashland the spark they need. A solo homer to lead off the fourth and it is six to four. It it it's been bound to happen for Lauraai. She had her first home run against Bellingham. And when I say that she has been swinging the hottest bat right now, I mean it. in the last two games. Now she's got two triples, a double, and that one was a laced home run. Lauraai brings with her some tremendous power, and that might be exactly the Energizer they needed. Uh, and dare I say, this might be a perfect opportunity for backto back with Ruby coming up. Uh, maybe it will be the best call I've made all season long. >> Well, that I would like to see the odds on that on DraftKings, but certainly is possible.
meeting happens, too. And it's still before the Board of Finance meets, right? Cuz that was part of why we moved it back. Yeah, cuz it's a Tuesday. So we got the information before you had to give it to them. Correct. Yes. From what I remember. Yes. Right? Yes. Yes. So we would adopt Yeah, that's why we moved it to the Tuesday rather than the Thursday. >> Yeah. Okay. We're good. Um Wendy made a motion. Any I second I second I got a second. All right. All those in favor of moving discussion for new business to the end of the agenda indicate by saying aye. Aye. Aye. All right. Any nays? All right. We'll move right along to unfinished business. Board of Education's adopted budget. Any announcements for us, sir? Oh, thank you. Wrong one.
She did incredible amount of research. Not to mention, she involved the community in those decisions. And it is a point of pride that I live in this district and that this is a example across California because you guys were a lot of the times in the top five to enact those things and show leadership in those things. And I have been able to use my platform to amplify that throughout the entire state. And I am incredibly proud that you guys have done that. And I brag about you all the time. Um so keep doing what you're doing. Keep your power and do the right thing here. And you don't need you don't need to make any changes as far as that goes. Thank you. Before I say anything, a lot of these people in the room know who I am. West Valley High School is my heart.
Is that like a master plan document, not the summer projects? Just clarification. Different. Yes, that's Question. I I guess I could stand here. Yeah, that's that's a different program. Facilities is working on that, so that's not a part of our summer list. Any further public comment? Yeah, I think Yes. Um I just want to thank you for Hooker Oak has historically not been included in a lot of these lists, and I was we were really excited to see our name on this list in some really meaningful ways. Um we're not even mad that we have to repaint our sensory path on the blacktop. We'll take we'll take the win for that, but thank you for prioritizing some of those projects. They're going to directly impact our students in a big way, and I know that the campus is really excited to come back to school in the fall to all of these improvements.
If DPW can track where the benches are located, we would have avoided this problem and not incurred a cost to repair it. Also, DPW would have ensured it was accessible to all with proper installation. Um and why it says why we chose the benches in the policy. The two benches listed in the policy of the benches we have bought for {quote} on road such as downtown and in parks example of the uh Ashland Arboretum. The intent was to keep consistency with the investments we've made. We realize these are more costly than benches the Ashland Lions have donated through the years, but these are the benches that have been used in the projects recently and consistency will create a more cohesive look. Um and then there's a thing about installation and how we came to the pricing in the policy. We reached out to three vendors for installation cost estimates.
Ruby Caden does have a home run this season. She will pop that one up and it'll head into the seats. And a nice grab by one of the dads over there. >> Looks like Mr. Brian Beerman makes that catch over there in left field. Luckily, we're not playing banana ball. So, Ruby is still going to be able to take her shot. She's got a second life here after the nice play by a lucky fan. >> In four innings, we've seen two shots to center, one from each side. That one just missed as the catcher Granada held it there for a little extra. >> Kayla wanted that one bad and I I think actually Ruby might have been shocked by it too. I think she may have thought that she was going to >> That one's grounded short. A nice backhand play and the throw is dropped at first base by Clinton.
>> [laughter] >> Um discussion No, we just wanted to make sure that the Board of Ed, if they had any questions about the adopted budget, I guess I you know, we we're all waiting for this Saturday and you know, to go through and it did. So, fortunately we have a budget. Yeah, so that that's really what it's on for to announce that our budget passed and so we will go forward with an increase of 3.96% to our budget for the the 2026-2027 school year.
I bleed bread and gold. I've led it since West Valley started. Um, Mr. Gibson is the teacher station, my friend. I've worked for these people that are sitting over here. I live in this district. I would love to run on your board and work in this district. If that seat was open and I had to live in Anderson, I would live in Anderson. I live in Happy Valley. That is Mr. I think having your voices in our district, living in our district, the students that you speak for is very important. I've worked for those students. I spent my life with those kids for for 15 years. I I was on the football field. I was in the classroom. Um I know the difference it takes. We're a different community than Ready. I went to Shessa High School and worked on their football team. I went to one game, there was no respect.
So, thank you. Go. We're ready at this time if there's a board member that would like to make a motion. I'll motion to approve the 2026 summer projects. I'll second. Okay, we have a motion by Vice President Olsen and a second by Uh, Conklin. Any further discussion? Okay, let's go ahead and vote together. Um, all those um, in favor of approval of the 2026 summer projects, please vote now by saying I. I. >> I. Opposed? All right, this passes. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. All right, we're moving along um, to discussion action item number uh, or in regarding regards to resolution 1727-26 uh, committing fund fund balances presented by Jacqueline Krueger. Yes, good evening board. I'm here in front of you this evening in preparation of the 26-27 original budget that I will be presenting next month at the June 17th meeting.
One vendor quoted $3,000, but was still not interested in scheduling. The most affordable {quote} quote was from Grover at $2,500 for a 9 by 4 by 4 concrete slab. Please note that this price covers only the slab and does not include any bench work. We then calculated the cost for DPW to perform the work that included labor and materials. This is how we determined that a charge of $1,500 would cover these costs and avoid a significant loss financial loss to the department. Um Okay, so It says Yeah. a question from Bill Gath regarding the draft policy being acted on even though we have not approved it. We have been following guidelines for benches for years. Examples of benches that have been donated that match this existing bench policy in town are Mill Pond, Rotary Club, well, Mill Pond the Rotary Club, Stone Park, the Fleet family, Dr.
Walsh made a nice backhand but the throw was a little bit towards the runner. Really tough play there by the shortstop uh who went deep into the hole. I I think that's maybe it should have been handled by the first baseman. They would have had her. I I'll be interested to see what the official score on that one is. I would think that that might go down as a hit. Uh I'm going to take a look. No, they they did charge the the shortstop with an error. So Kazadian reaches via error. Uh but nonetheless, she's on first base and we've got no outs. >> Yep. Rebecca Creggsman pulls back a bunt and it's two balls and no strikes. Cregsmann had a single her first time up. It was that uh roller to third, correct? >> Yeah, >> that was the one that was the one I missed.
So, just wanted to open up to see if there were any questions about that. I have a question. Can I make a comment? Absolutely. >> I just wanted to say with the amount of discussion we had as a board around having no voting in the schools while kids were there. I certainly appreciate both as a board member and as a community member and as parent having the voting on Saturday at the community center. I think it was the numbers show that it was successful. So, I'm really glad that there was a lot of engagement. I know we were a little nervous about moving locations, moving to a Saturday. I think I'm so appreciative of the community participating, understanding, you know, that the location moved and the date moved. I think um It was really great to see you know, we'd love more. >> [laughter] >> But the fact that there were more votes cast in this referendum than last year's referendum is a you know, really great sign.
It's a totally different world when you live out of our district. It is very important to understand when you live in the district and you work with those kids and those kids are your neighbors. Those families are your neighbors. It's very, very important. And I'm telling you from my heart that I don't know, Jackie, I know two of the board members. They work very hard. But you have to be connected to the school. If you cannot send your student or your child to our schools, why are you representing the rest of them? That's what I don't understand. If your student cannot go to our high schools, how can you make a decision for the other kids? So, when you have a vote coming in from other areas, you're not representing the community that you live in. That's all I have to say. I love West Valley.