By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Machines continue to prove their efficiency over man. Since the invention of certain sports, someone had to apply the markings to the field before the game. Now, automated machines, fully equipped with GPS, can do the work themselves. Several years ago, USD 428 Director of Transportation Cody Schmidt and Great Bend Rec Director Chris Umphres watched a demonstration of one of those machines. At Monday's USD 428 Board of Education meeting, Schmidt laid out the need for the new technology.
"At that time, I had staff that had been with the district many, many years and knew everything about the dinosaur we run today," he said. "Over the years, you lose good help and it's hard to replace help. The people who were comfortable with the paint machine and system are now gone."
Schmidt and Umphres recently saw demonstrations for two automated paint machines. One company offered a year-by-year contract at $17,700. The board of education voted 6-0 to approve a $62,589 purchase of a TinyMobile Robot, contingent on the Great Bend Rec board approving the same next week and splitting the bill down the middle. GBRC would also have access to the device.
"We spend, on average, $13,000 a year for paint and labor," said Schmidt. "That's everything a year I'm spending to keep those painted. We paint from mid-August to the first of November, then we picked back up early-April through the first of June."
Schmidt said fields need painted at least a week, sometimes twice during busy rain and grow seasons. The $63,000 purchase includes $20,000 in paint over five years. Schmidt said the district currently spends approximately $5,200 on paint annually. Once programmed, the TinyMobile needed just 27 minutes to paint the entire soccer field. It can take at least a day for one employee to work through three fields.
"It's not bad once you get them lined out," Schmidt said. "If you lose the lines, somebody's in trouble because it's a pain to get out there with all that rope and re-rope everything."
Nearly $9,000 of the contract included annual fees to access towers for the GPS for five years. Another $1,900 included a custom design which will allow the district to paint its Panther logo on various surfaces.