CLAYSBURG — Claysburg-Kimmel School Board members Wednesday unanimously approved a contract to install a restroom between the high school football and baseball/softball fields.

WM Contracting will construct a six-stall athletic restroom facility that is scheduled to be completed this fall. The project is estimated at about $54,000.

Assistant to the Superintendent Brannan Raptosh said after the meeting that the facility will be partially funded by the district as they continue to look into grant and donation funding options.

But he said taxpayers won’t have to worry about the additional expense.

Choosing to continue renting plastic portable toilets is not “fiscally responsible,” he said.

In four to five years, he said the district will own the restroom facility, eliminating continuous rental costs. But the district will keep wasting at least $9,000 per year on portable toilets without the permanent site.

Last year, the district paid $10,000 for portable toilets.

“This is a swap of what we’re already paying for,” he said. “We’re going to build this facility and be more fiscally responsible.”

The facility will already have access to plumbing as well, Superintendent Brian Helsel said.

During the site’s original construction in 2004, the district had plans to build a wellness center between the football field and the baseball/softball field, business manager Dena Burket said. Due to budget cuts, however, the plan never came to fruition.

So the building’s plumbing system is “stubbed in and ready to go,” he said.

All board members were present at Wednesday’s meeting.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.