A turf replacement at Art Bernardi Stadium will soon get a vote after last year's effort was delayed.

The Butler School Board is expected to discuss bids for new football field turf at its meeting Monday. The board originally planned to vote on the project at its Jan. 14 meeting, but the meeting was canceled.

Nicholas Morelli, the district's acting director of business, and JTSA Sports, a contractor that handled formal specifications for the proposed project, opened the bids. The district received six bids, although one was disqualified for incorrectly submitting documents.

The lowest of the bids came in at $460,274. Shaw Sports Turf, a synthetic turf company that works throughout the nation, submitted that bid.

On Monday, Morelli said he was estimating spending $475,000 to $480,000 on the project, so that bid meets the budget.

“The current turf is ready to be replaced,” Morelli said. “We're excited to have these bids in. We want to get it done. I'm hoping everything goes well at the board meeting, so we can get the project going smoothly.”

The bid itself would put the project under the district's estimate, but add-ons could bring it closer to the estimate. JTSA put out three bid options for the project, so that interested companies would also include how much it would cost to do extra work if needed.

“We're not going to use them unless we see it's necessary,” Morelli said.

The three additional options are yearly maintenance on the field, leveling out any uneven patches they may find under the field and excavating and replacing drainage stone under the field.

In a letter to Morelli assessing the bids, James Sauer, the JTSA Sports principal working on the project for the district, recommended awarding the project to Shaw Sports, using either the base bid or the base bid and the yearly maintenance. He also addressed the latter two options.

“It is our recommendation to request Shaw hold the number for alternate 2 and alternate 3 and review the need for each of these after the existing carpet is removed and the testing of the field in full is complete,” Sauer wrote. “At that time, if needed, the school can select either option as a change order in the contract without violation to the bidding process.”

Morelli said officials believe there may be drainage issues to address once they peel off the old turf, but that they can't yet be sure.

The board previously approved a $435,000 bid from a company known as A-Turf in May 2018. That approval was granted only after a split 5-3 vote.

Other bidding companies disputed whether A-Turf's bid proposal adequately covered the project. The board canceled its bid process in late June in the hopes of dispelling the conflict, putting the project off to this year.

A-Turf bid again this year, offering to do the job in 2019 for $504,398. However, as Sauer wrote to Morelli, the company's bid this year was disqualified. The company emailed its bid, rather than submitting a sealed paper bid. All five other bidders submitted sealed paper bids.

Besides A-Turf and Shaw Sports, the district received bids from AstroTurf, Frontier Golf, Sprinturf and Act Global.

Administrators last summer said they hoped for cheaper bids during the next round, as they'd be giving interested companies more time. At the time, Morelli said they might ask for bids in the fall.

However, the bid process was later planned for the spring. In a November report to the school board, a consultant company — Facilities Management Systems — the district brought in to prioritize and plan capital projects recommended an “early spring 2019” bidding.

Bids were opened Dec. 20, according to Sauer's letter.

If school directors approve the project, work would occur over the summer. Morelli said specifications require work be completed before the next school year. The existing turf would be 13 years old next season.