FPS Board of Education Approves Joint Partnership with City and Midland University For Soccer Fields

FREMONT – The Fremont Public Schools Board of Education met Monday evening and approved a joint-use facility partnership with FPS, the City of Fremont, and Midland University for the use of and improvements to the soccer fields to the north of the Fremont Middle School.
The Fremont Public District, over the past several years, has developed the site to the north of the middle school to be used for soccer practice as well as lower-level games and camps.
So far, site improvements have included fine grading and seeding, installation of an irrigation system, top dressing, and fertilization.
Through the joint-use partnership, FPS, The City of Fremont, and Midland University will further develop the site to include a gravel parking lot, fencing/netting, and eventually a storage/restroom/concession building.
FPS Superintendent, Mark Shephard, told KHUB/KFMT that the partnership with the three entities will work well, stating that, “Midland’s soccer season is in the fall so they will use the fields to practice then, and Fremont High School will practice on those fields in the spring during their season.” Shepard noted that neither entity is planning to use the fields for games, just for practices.
Shepard said FPS is working with Midland to play some games at Heedum Field so they can utilize the lights and players can play on a turf field, but that FPS will also still play games at Christensen Field. He said it’s a benefit for Midland as well to be able to practice on the grass soccer fields by the middle school because not all teams have turf fields where they go to compete, giving them the opportunity to play in a similar field as their competition.
As part of Midland’s contribution to the joint-partnership, Midland has secured a $60,000 donation to provide materials and installation of fencing and netting that will be installed this fall from Empire Fencing and the Matt Warner family.
The City of Fremont’s main reason to be involved in the partnership is to increase the safety of the environment for everyone involved. The addition of the proposed gravel parking lot along Fremont Drive will not only serve the FPS soccer fields and the City’s soccer/football fields, but also serve as an area for parents of FPS middle school students to park and pick up their children during pick-up times.
Shepard said during the meeting, “This partnership has to benefit all parties, and I think another thing this partnership will do, is honor the legacy of Bill and Mary Johnson. The middle school was the anchor initially and with the addition of the splash station, the Johnson Lake development, field development, the new public playground, and now this partnership- it really adds to the vision that they had.”
The Johnson’s believed and envisioned that their family farm would become an area to be used by multiple community entities when they sold the 113-year-old family farm in 1999, rather than have it become a housing development area.
The board unanimously approved the joint-use facility partnership, and each entity will now go to legal counsel to draft a joint-use cooperation agreement to be approved by each entity.
The FPS Board of Education also took the next step in developing the gravel parking lot at the soccer fields with full approval to accept the bid from Sawyer Construction for $99,700. The FPS General Operations Administrator, Jeff Glosser, received two bids for the construction of the gravel parking lot with Sawyer Construction being the most cost-effective of the two.
The cost of the parking lot is a shared expense between the FPS School District and the City of Fremont Parks and Recreation Department.
The City will be responsible for 40% of the shared cost at $39,880 and FPS will be responsible for the other 60% at $59,820.
The gravel parking lot will host 71 parking stalls and will be a one-way enter and exit.
The construction of the gravel parking lot will include grading, rock surfacing, drainage, and underground work, concrete drive entrance/exits, and parking blocks.
If both entities approve the bid, construction is expected to begin the 1st of November on the parking lot, but the timeline is variable due to possible weather conditions.
The board fully approved the bid with Sawyer Construction.