It will cost Tamaqua Area School District over $38,000 for safety poles at its baseball/softball complex.

On an 8-0 vote, with Director Aaron Frantz absent, the school board on Tuesday purchased the services of S.J. Thomas Company, Inc., Lansdowne, for the transport and installation of safety poles at the complex, at a cost of $38,115, less a $5,000 insurance deductible.After the meeting, Superintendent Ray Kinder said "insurance will cover all but our $5,000 deductible.""We were able to secure a vendor to transport and install the poles that hold our safety net between the softball and baseball fields," Kinder said. "It is our expectation that they will arrive and be installed during the fall, so they are ready for the spring seasons of both teams."He said the district will receive three poles, and the installer will dig the holes and sink them into the ground. Also, netting will be installed between the poles as well."The poles and safety netting provide a barrier between the two fields," Kinder said. "Although they won't stop every ball that is hit from entering the other field, it stops the vast majority of line drives that are the most dangerous to the players."The district had been awaiting repairs to its softball field that was damaged when poles fell on it, the backstop and dugouts in February.While the damage to the backstop initially made it impossible for the softball team to play, it was altered so that the team could get through the season.