Lehighton Area School District approved several payments for building projects during Monday night's board meeting.

Amounts totaling $4,897 to Barry Issett and Associates and $335.20 to EI Associates were paid out of the unassigned fund balance for their work on the Warrior Stadium and K-5 elementary center projects respectively.Lehighton is proposing a $5 million project calling for a multipurpose stadium on land near the administration building, not far off Ninth Street.The project includes an athletic grass field with an artificial turf field inside the existing track; constructing a visitor and home grandstand, press box, 62-foot-by-260-foot field house, 42-foot-by-74-foot restroom/maintenance building, a 119-vehicle paved parking lot and a 100-vehicle grass overflow lot; and installing a new lighting system for the field and paved parking areas.EI Associates is the architectural firm working on three construction projects including a proposed elementary center, which would house all K-5 students in the district. If the center is built, the district plans to close its four existing elementary schools; Franklin, East Penn, Mahoning and Shull-David.Up until Monday, soft costs for the stadium and elementary center projects were coming out of Lehighton's general fund. That changed with a recommendation from board member William Hill Jr."To me, the general fund is for the day-to-day operations of the district," Hill said. "You don't dip in to your grocery fund if you want to put an addition on your house. You save up or you take out a loan. The fund balance is our savings. Until the time we borrow for these projects, soft costs should be coming out of the fund balance."Lehighton has already borrowed $23 million for renovations to its middle and high school. Design costs for those projects are paid out of that money.On Monday, the district approved payments of $29,690.50 to EI Associates for the middle school renovation project, and $26 437.34 to the same firm for work on the high school renovation project.Other payments approved at the meeting included $11,000 to Quandel Construction, construction manager for all of the district's projects, $1,302.30 to Barry Issett and Associates Inc. for pump station improvements, and $4,389.25 to JMSI Environmental for its work as project manager for an asbestos abatement project at the middle school.The board approved two change orders related to the abatement project, both involving Sargent Enterprises Inc., the firm completing the work.A locker room ceiling removal increased the cost of the project by $20,600, but the district also saw a decrease of $20,575 on blackboard removal, making it almost a wash.Sargent completed abatement at East Penn Elementary School in 2013, and on Monday, the board approved releasing the retainage amount of $9,012 as third and final payment for the work.