A transformer taken out of service in May 2020 at Lehighton Area School District’s middle school stadium will be replaced for just over $21,000 following a split board vote Monday night.

The 6-3 decision authorized the purchase of a new transformer for an estimated $13,560 and an additional $7,456 in labor, equipment, a crane rental and permit fees. Lehighton Borough Light and Power will complete the installation, according to the agreement.

The borough notified the district last summer that the transformer had failed and there was an issue with the switchgear that operates the stadium electric. It was sinking, Light and Power officials told the district, and may have damaged the underground conductors feeding the switchgear.

“I strongly recommend this issue be corrected before a new transformer is installed at the site,” Lonny Armbruster, of Lehighton Light and Power, wrote to the district last July. “When the transformer is replaced, a crane will be required to remove the old unit and to unload and set the new unit in place.”

During Monday’s meeting, LASD Director David Bradley questioned where the money for the transformer is in the district’s budget and if anyone tried to negotiate with Lehighton Light and Power to see if the borough would cover some, if not all, of the device.

“We pay such an exorbitant rate with them,” Bradley said. “Tens of thousands of dollars we spend with them and it doesn’t look like we negotiated at all.”

Bradley voted against the transformer replacement, along with Gail Maholick and Richard Beltz. Larry Stern, Wayne Wentz, Joy Beers, Rita Spinelli, Stephen Holland and Nathan Foeller voted in favor.

LASD Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver did have an outside group investigate any alternatives based on information received from the borough.

“The electrician we had look at it agreed with the borough’s recommendation that this would be the direction to go to address this issue,” Cleaver said.

The district’s building and grounds committee also discussed the issue at length and recommended approval of the transformer replacement to the full board.

Cleaver said it’s important for the district to address the issue because not only the lights at the stadium are affected, but all of the electric, including the water supply. The district has a decades old agreement with the borough, allowing it to use a well for watering purposes, since the field at the stadium is natural grass.

Edward Rarick, LASD’s business administrator, said there is money in the 2020-21 budget for the work, but it will end up falling under next year in the repairs and maintenance part of the building and grounds budget.

Unhappy with the price the district pays for electricity, Bradley suggested further discussion with the borough.

“We could buy a combined gas powered generator to provide all the electricity to our facility and sell the excess power back to Lehighton,” he said. “We could maintain our current electric production with piped in natural gas, which is really cheap. It would pay for itself in a few years.”