A cooperative track team with Suttons Bay, and possible improvements to Hancock Field, were discussed this week by the Leland Board of Education.

The board, with trustees Peter Sneed and Cris Larsen absent, voted unanimously to approve a cooperative agreement with Suttons Bay to have Leland students participate on the Norsemen track team beginning next spring.

Superintendent Mike Hartigan said that athletic director Ryan Knudsen had done the “leg work” on the agreement.

“We also approached Glen Lake. But bringing in the Leland students would bump them up to another division of competition,” Hartigan said. “This isn’t something they wanted to do.”
Suttons Bay would remain in its current division and initial reaction there is favorable, Hartigan said.

For the cooperative arrangement to become effective in spring 2008, both the Suttons Bay Board of Education and Northwest Conference would have to approve the proposal by Oct. 15, according to Michigan High School Athletic Association guidelines.

In other sports-related business, board members discussed the condition of the turf on the soccer field at Hancock Field. The facility, operated jointly by the school and Leland Township, is in need of work.

Hartigan has consulted with a representative of TRI Turf, a Traverse City-based company, and learned that no radical changes need to be made with the field, though additional maintenance is required.

“It’ll cost another $500 for the rest of the year,” Hartigan explained.

Hartigan received an estimate of $1,500 per year that would include six fertilizer applications, and seeding to bring the turf to top condition.

Funding for work at Hancock will come from the school sinking fund, an extra-voted millage approved by district voters earlier this year. However, the turf work is considered “maintenance” and as such can’t be supported with sinking fund revenue.

“It would cover fencing or asphalt there, but not field work which is ‘maintenance,’” Hartigan said.

The superintendent is expected to attend upcoming meetings of the Leland Township Board and Parks and Recreation Commission to discuss improvements and maintenance issues involving the Hancock facility.