School officials have run afoul of town watering rules in Coupeville.

Volunteers worked last month to place sod for a new practice field for the Coupeville High School soccer programs.

To make sure their efforts aren’t wasted, school officials are looking at ways to water the new field located outside town limits at the corner of Ebey and Terry roads.

Currently, workers are using a hose and sprinkler to water the soccer field. The water comes from a town water source and is funneled to a property outside town limits.

It turns out the town code currently prohibits town water from being used outside of town limits.

Gary Goltz, construction manager for the Coupeville School District, said it was an oversight in not contacting Coupeville officials about using town water. He said staff originally thought it wasn’t a big deal because water was going from one school district site to another.

To allow the district to use town water, Mayor Nancy Conard telephoned each member of the Town Council to see if they would support such a proposal. She said they would support allowing the school district to use the water. Conard said she did that because the Aug. 9 council meeting was cancelled.

“It’s kind of a unique situation,” Conard said, noting that the school district is already a water customer and the town has the capacity to accommodate the school district’s needs.

The Coupeville Town Council will formally decide Aug. 23 whether to allow the school district to use town water. The proposal allows the school district’s use through Oct. 31.

The town will charge a higher out-of-town rate for the water used for the field. It takes 5,000 gallons a week to water the field. It could cost the district approximately $8,000 to water the field through a growing season, according to information from the Coupeville School District.

Conard said, even though the water comes from an in-town water connection, the town can monitor how much water is being used on the field.

Should an emergency situation arise in the near future, then the town would interrupt water going to the field.

The Coupeville School District is using the property that will some day become Kettles Park as a temporary practice field for the soccer team. Volunteers will soon plant a baseball diamond to allow a temporary place for games and practice.

The current practice field is scheduled to be the site of the new high school. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2006.

School officials had planned to develop Kettles Park into an area that includs facilities for the soccer and baseball programs. Plans, however, changed when costs for the high school construction increased.

While the school district has a temporary solution for watering the field, officials are looking for a permanent solution. Options range from digging a well to finding a way to use the town water permanently.

Gary Smart, maintenance manager for the school district, said it would cost approximately $30,000 to drill a new well.

That well would provide irrigation water for the new baseball and soccer fields and fields located across the street. It would also replace a well near the gymnasium. That well is failing and will be removed when another field is installed.

Gary Goltz, school district construction manager, said officials will meet with Coupeville, county and state officials to discuss the possibility of drilling the new well.

He couldn’t give a timeline and he is trying to gain more information to present to the school board.

There is a $100,000 budget to pay for installation of the temporary fields. Including the well installation, officials will spend nearly $85,000 for the project leaving a $15,570 reserve.

“I’m hoping we don’t spend that,” Smart said during a recent school board meeting.

Other possible solutions include having the town annex Kettles Park or for the town to start selling water to out-of-town customers.