Wind grapples light pole at SHS field

Windy weather forced one of the lights poles to the ground at Saratoga High School's track and football field Jan. 14.

The pole was detached from its base, and the six light light reflectors were bent and the lights were smashed into little pieces.

Damage to the track included a puncture hole and rip. The pole's concrete base was still intact.

Josh Sandlian, Carbon County School District No. 2 Instructional Facilitator, teacher and coach, said he was notified Tuesday morning that the pole had blown over, and that a pole next to the fallen one had a crack in it. A crew of men from Carbon Power and Light checked out the other two poles, and helped pick up the fallen pole to remove it from the track.

"The pole is probably 10 years old at least, and when something like that has to sustain winds for that long of a time, you have to worry," Sandlian said. "Tuesday they were checking the integrity of the other poles so they were prepared for more wind, and took care of one issue with the middle pole. The middle pole had a crack in it, but a welder came in to weld it and increase the integrity of it."

Saratoga Middle/High School Principal Larry Uhling said that Carbon Power and Light was onsite Tuesday.

Cory Nuhn, who owns a fabrication shop, repaired the pole's fracture.

Uhling was also notified of the fallen pole Tuesday morning.

"It blew over and broke off, but there weren't any bolts or anything that came out," Uhling said. "They're looking at anything they might do to stabilize the poles, so if we have wind like that again we don't have to deal with it again. They had all the other poles checked out and saw the middle pole had a crack, but other than that there were no other issues. They're going to clean up around it and repair the track, but we're still looking into who does that repair."

Larry Hepner, CCSD No. 2 District Facility Manager, said he is hoping companies can come soon to investigate repairs for the pole, lights and track.

"We did find a company out of Idaho that is willing to take a look at it, but I don't know how long it will take for them to come out," he said. "They're supposed to get back to me. I'll also call Hallas, the company out of Texas that installed the track five, six or seven years ago, but I'm not sure if they'll repair the track or not. We're still playing the waiting game to see what the next step is."

Sally Wells, CCSD No. 2 Business Manager, said a next step is to get an estimate to see how much repairs are going to cost.

"We need to get an estimate of the damage, and we'll see where we'll go from there," she said. "Our insurance deductible is $5,000, and the rest could be paid through a major maintenance fund. Repairs need to be made to the track surface, pole and light fixtures."

CCSD No. 2 Superintendent Bob Gates said both the pole and track will be fixed as soon as possible, and that the poles on the north end of the field will also be reinforced somehow.

"We're looking at options, because evidently half of the poles are stouter and the other half aren't," Gates said. "They've all been inspected, and we're looking at ways to reinforce the north end poles that aren't as strong or heavy and sturdy. We also know that we have a $5,000 deductible, and that will pay for at least that much of the damage."

Sandlian said he is eager to see the football field and track become whole again.

"We know we can get it fixed so our boys can play football underneath the lights," he said. "We also want to make sure our facility is safe for our students, and for our many community members who also use our track. We're still in the process of figuring everything out. We're gathering information and photos and making sure we have all the stuff we need."

Sandlian was instrumental in getting the lights installed at the football field. One of Sandlian's football players, Mitch Birch, had a goal of playing under the lights on the football field.

Unfortunately, Birch died in a car accident before that goal could be realized.

Sandlian hosted fundraisers and was able to get many of the poles and lights from the Wyoming Indian School when they replaced their lights.

The light were installed in 2012, after four years of fundraising.