Bus storage discussions resume at NR-S

 On Monday, Dec. 12, the New Rockford-Sheyenne School Board rekindled conversation about an indoor storage facility, or “bus barn,” for the district’s school buses.

 School board president, Mike Jacobson, led the discussion and expressed his belief that NR-S should be taking better care of its equipment, namely by housing their buses inside during the winter months.

 “It’s become very evident as I travel around for some of these sporting events, that pretty much every town we go to that’s relatively our size has a bus barn and has a second gym, and it’s a little bit frustrating in my mind that we can’t figure out how to do it,” said Jacobson.

 Late last year, the NR-S building committee had been discussing plans to build a storage facility for their buses, but those discussions eventually petered out.

 A cost estimate for a bus barn was presented to the committee in December 2021, which showed that a 60-by-120 foot non-insulated building on footings would cost around $250,000.

 The price increased to over $280,000 if they were to include a concrete floor, and increased even more if they wanted to add insulation and other features.

 However, prices for concrete and steel have skyrocketed since then, and there’s no telling how much the same bus barn would cost now given current prices.

 Jacobson said he would prefer that any bus barn the school gets includes a concrete floor and insulation.

 Board members also brought up the new $200,000 activity bus, which is due to arrive next year, and how keeping that bus and others in good shape would likely save money in the long run.

 NR-S Business Manager Dave Skogen noted that repair costs for the current activity bus cost the school tens of thousands of dollars last year alone.

 Discussion also revolved around how the school would pay for it, and whether the board would be willing to take out a loan to be paid back over time. In the end, though, nothing was officially decided, other than that the building committee will have to dive into specifics at a later date.

 Also at Monday’s meeting, board members got to hear from a few of the volleyball players who recently took fifth place at the Class-B State Volleyball Tournament in Bismarck.

 Kelsie Belquist, Kyria Dockter and Madison Myhre gave a quick update on how they thought the tournament went, as well as the season overall.

 “A lot of the girls this year were for each other,” said Belquist. “We all wanted what was best for each other and we all wanted the same goal … everyone really, really wanted it this year and was really dedicated.”

 The board congratulated the girls on their success and expressed how proud they and the whole community were to see them represent NR-S with so much success.

 The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.