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LINESVILLE — Conneaut School Board approved the purchase of a new stadium scoreboard for Conneaut Area Senior High School (CASH) for $98,325.

The board is being purchased from DeMans Team Sports of Brookville, and measures 26 feet long with a 6.8-by-15.7-food LED (light-emitting diode) screen. It will be used as a scoreboard during athletic events, while the LED screen will be used to announce school events and during graduation at the CASH field.

The measure passed 7-1 with one board member abstaining.

The school’s existing board was discovered to have structural issues by Buildings and Grounds Director Frank Kimmel in January, specifically the metal posts holding up the board beginning to rot. At their work session on March 2, Kimmel called the existing board a “safety hazard.”

Ahead of the vote, board member and athletic committee chairman GW Hall said two of the five sponsorship panels have already been sold. Hall said he received a verbal commitment from St. Paul’s Senior Living Community CEO Chris Wright to sponsor one of the panels for $5,000 and a commitment from DeSantis Janitorial Service to do the same. Both sponsorships will be up on the board for five years.

“So we have two panels down and three panels to go on the main sponsorships if this approves,” Hall said.

Board member Kathy Klink was the sole no vote on the measure, voicing concern for the costs.

“I appreciate all the work that went into the scoreboard and finding sponsors, but I will be voting no,” Klink said. “I understand the scoreboard needs work and it needs to be replaced, but at this time and economic climate that we’re in, I just can’t with good conscience vote yes.”

Board member John Burnham abstained from the vote, but did not state his reason for doing so at the meeting.

After the approval, Hall announced that he would be donating $500 to sponsor an event through the stadium board’s LED screen.

Kimmel, at previous meetings, has said that he hopes to have the board up and running by the start of the fall football season.

Sean P. Ray can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at sray@meadvilletribune.com .

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