Gilmer approves revised bid for gym scoreboard

Board of Education, News
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EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer’s BOE has spent four months analyzing engineering and specifications for scoreboards in the high school’s gym. Since the approval of the Plainview LED scoreboard for the football field, the board has been looking at replacing the gym scoreboards and had an opportunity to look at options in December 2021.

Three options were presented for the Board of Education on Thursday, but approval came for Option C. Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley said in the meeting that this option was the revised bid where they changed the format of the boards. The option still has the middle two-sided board but with two smaller fixed-digit scoreboards on the side walls. The three options totals in prices were Option A for $551,569, Option B for $471,569, and Option C for $297,879.56.

Final approval for the gym scoreboard came for Option C with a 4-1 vote. Board member Joe Pflueger was the dissenting vote.

As stated earlier in the week, the board also is adding shot clocks with illuminated backboards with this project. The middle two-sided video board will be suspended from the roof by a hoist, according to reports.

Plainview was on hand during the week’s meetings to discuss questions that included the maintenance, how the shot clocks and backboard illumination would work, and the hoist option over purchasing a new lift. The scoreboard is set to work alongside the gym’s audio system that has been replaced in the last few years.

BOE approves PlainView LED board for Pettit Field

Board of Education, News
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EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – A split vote this week saw the Gilmer County Board of Education officially approving PlainView LED as the bid to install a new scoreboard at Pettit Field.

The decision came 3-2 with Joe Pflueger and Michael Parks being the dissenting votes. The 21 feet by 36 feet board will cost $440,103 and is set to finish installation before graduation in May.

With the gym scoreboard over the basketball court awaiting engineering and bids, this approval only came for the scoreboard on Pettit Field. Discussion from Monday’s meeting saw the presentation of information about the video scoreboard and the bids offered.

The scoreboard does come with a 10-year warranty and training by PlainView LED for students. The board itself is a 10 millimeter board, meaning that the LED lights used in the board 10 millimeters apart. This has become standard in similar boards across the country according to Dana Berry, Gilmer School’s Director of Operations.

When asked individually about there no votes, both Parks and Pflueger gave similar answers pointing to the timeline of the vote and voicing no concerns or issues with the board itself.

Joe Pflueger stated, “Number one, I don’t think the process was followed like it was presented. Number two, I’d like to have more than two days to look at real numbers, especially when we’re dealing with almost a half million dollar purchase.”

Michael Parks stated, “I just felt like we needed a little more time. I thought its a good plan, but I just felt like we might be rushing into it a little bit.”

When asked to clarify about the time issue, Parks explained that it was a public issue, that some of the public weren’t aware of the item and the board could have used more time presenting more information with more time available for the public before the vote.

Moving forward with the board installation, the idea presented is for replacing the current board in its location. Doing this, according to their report, will not require new permits from the county or city.

Installation of the board will also include sound adjustments to aid in some of the echo and lightning protection according to the presentation on Monday.

BOE to vote on new stadium scoreboard tomorrow

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EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – With there December meeting moved up a day, tomorrow will see Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley’s recommendation for the Board to approve a low bid with PlainView LED for a scoreboard to replace the current scoreboard at Pettit Field.

Though this month saw information on both the stadium and a board for the gym, bids are only set to be approved for the stadium as information is still being gathered on the gym such as the engineering specifications and safety checks about the weight that could be supported and if the board can hang from the ceiling or if it needs to remain on the walls.

With eight companies having responded and six of them submitting bids, PlainView LED was both the low bidder and a company that the board has worked with previously. According to the board’s report in the meeting, they also looked at accessibility, customer service, serviceability, and the software involved. Looking ahead at having students operate the video screen on the board that can run instant replays, advertisements, and designs, students will be achieving CTAE skills and helping the school with operation of the board under supervision and reportedly with training from PlainView LED. As such, both the software and the scoreboard are similar to those used in professional stadiums across the country.

The base of the technology is the “the exact same technology that’s in Mercedes-Benz Stadium”

And the board is already looking for more than use on Friday nights. During their presentation several items were mentioned including movie nights, graduation, sports, and gaming competitions as possibilities.

As for graduation specifically, approval tomorrow could see the installation complete by this school year’s graduation in May. Plans have already been discussed to potentially have students working on the software and technology long before the installation completes in order to make full use of the board as soon as it is operational.

The board will incorporate new signage around the main screen while also including an older style miniature board below it to be used as a secondary scoreboard and also for use with operations, sports, and events in need of a board but not the larger screen as the smaller board can also be operated with a modular controller separate from the main screen. The board comes with ongoing updates through the company and can do test runs and scanners over a ten-year period.

With a cost just over $440,000, reports indicated very similar experiences in service, but PlainView LED had a nearly $50,000 price break compared to other close bids.

Though not approved yet, Dr. Ridley did say in Monday night’s meeting that his intent was to recommend approving PlainView LED’s bid and plan for the project at the Board of Education’s Wednesday night Regular Session at 6:00 p.m., December 15, 2021.

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