Trustee plans to make motion on stadium proposal during Tuesday's board meeting
By SCOTT POWELL Ledger Staff Writer spowell@gaffneyledger.com

School trustee Lindley Auton will ask board members to vote on a Gaffney High football stadium referendum question at the 7 p.m. school board meeting at the district office Tuesday.

Her proposed referendum would ask voters if they want a new stadium where W.K. Brumbach Stadium is currently located at Gaffney Middle or whether a new stadium should be built at Gaffney High.

"Due to public interest from those who will ultimately be left with the responsibility of paying for our public school facilities, I respectfully request that the question of whether or not this stadium location and cost be put to referendum, be placed on the agenda for the board to take a vote at the Feb. 13, 2007, scheduled school board meeting," reads the motion Auton said she will present Tuesday. "The question of where to locate our new stadium, the complete costs expected to be incurred and the revenue sources to be used to be clearly explained for the voters to understand how the property owners of Cherokee County may be affected."

Whether trustees will vote on the motion remains unclear. Board chairman Willie Crosby said Monday he does not intend to place any stadium issues on the agenda for this week's meeting.

A voter referendum would cost the school district as much as $20,000, according to the state Election Commission. This would cover the county's costs in programming ballot machines and the poll workers necessary to operate a special election.

State Election Commission officials have said a school board can call for a voter referendum at any time at their own expense.

A new 10,000-seat Gaffney High stadium was included in a $35 million school building program approved by school trustees in November of 2005. Other new projects include Blacksburg and Gaffney High ninth grade additions, a Limestone Learning Center and a 6-classroom addition at Goucher Elementary.

School trustees tabled the stadium project in December after deciding the low bid of $8.3 million from Farley Associates was too high. The original estimate by Southern Management put the cost of a new stadium at $5.5 million.

Auton is urging voters to express their opinion about the stadium to school trustees before Tuesday's meeting.

"Do not wait! Contact these trustees now to voice your opinion. Do you want the opportunity to have a say in this decision? Do you want to vote?" Auton said. "Four trustees did not have a problem spending $3 million dollars over the $5.5 million budget to build a stadium with no stadium lights, $116,000 for a 'financial advisor' to provide a service that the treasurer's office provides at no cost to the taxpayers or the school district. Why is $20,000 for a referendum, to know the wishes of the people paying the tab, a problem?"