Jim Thorpe Area School District is taking steps to get an artificial turf field project back on schedule for completion this fall.

On Monday, school board members met online to approve a loan, a corporate sponsor and the first payment for the estimated $1.7 million project.

With Gov. Tom Wolf allowing school districts to resume construction even while schools are closed due to coronavirus, board members are hopeful that the field can be completed by the fall season.

“They can move on with construction and have it finished by August if we say it is critical to the school,” said board member T.J. Garritano.

The board has been pushing to upgrade Olympian Stadium to artificial turf so more sports can use it. The field has been plagued with drainage issues for many years.

On Monday, board members decided to stick with Lehigh Valley Health Network, which the board named as the corporate sponsor on March 2.

The two sides are finalizing a 12-year contract. Lehigh Valley would provide a financial donation, athletic training and other medical services in exchange for advertising rights at the stadium.

The contract wouldn’t take effect until 2022, when the district’s contract with its current athletic trainer, St. Luke’s University Health Network, expires.

The vote against reopening the corporate sponsor search was 5-4. Dennis McGinley, Raniero Marciante, Pearl Downs-Sheckler and Glenn Confer voted to reopen it. Garritano, Cindy Lesisko-Henning, Scott Pompa, Paul Montemuro and President Gerald Strubinger voted against.

Some board members questioned why there was even a discussion after the March 2 vote. Henning said it wasn’t a good business practice.

“We shook Lehigh Valley’s hand, we congratulated them, they congratulated us, I don’t think we should change sponsors,” she said.

Confer said if St. Luke’s proposed paying more, the board should have every right to listen.

Superintendent John Rushefski said he spoke with St. Luke’s following the March meeting. He said he thought the board owed St. Luke’s the opportunity to speak because they are currently contracted to provide athletic training services to the district.

That contract doesn’t expire for two years, and the district plans to honor it.

“We need to make sure the next two years and three months, we get everything we were promised out of that,” Henning said.

The board also voted to approve a $1.74 million loan from Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank to cover expenses related to the project.

The board will use the sponsorship money and money earmarked for capital projects to pay back the loan.

The interest rate for the loan is 1.78 percent and the term is 12 years.

Marciante asked what happens if the cost exceeds the estimated $1.7 million. He said it appears there will be increased costs because the field drainage is worse than the contractor originally anticipated. Parts of the project were redesigned after the field failed a percolation test.

The board also voted to make the first payment, $348,023.09 to the contractor, Keystone Sports Construction. They also voted to apply for permits from state, county and local agencies.

Keystone will only be paid for work they perform. If they are unable to work due to coronavirus, the payments would be delayed. However if the board didn’t vote to make the payment, they could be held responsible for Keystone’s lost profits.

Wolf made the decision to allow local school boards to decide if their construction projects are critical. If they are, then work can continue during the coronavirus shutdown, Garritano said.

“If school is still shut down, school construction can still happen - the state pushed it down to the local schools that construction can continue on,” Garritano said.