The West Central Valley School Board has approved the purchase of a 2011 John Deere Gator 620i Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) to be used by the Activity Department.

The school district and the Athletic Booster Club will split the $5,000 cost of the Gator.. The vehicle had been on loan from Barker Implement of Winterset since 2012, but the new owners wanted to sell the UTV or take it back.

School Board members and Activities Director Tod Broman shopped around for other models from John Deere, Kobota, Honda and Kawasaki but ultimately decided the vehicle they were already using was the best deal.

Broman says the Gator is an important tool to his department year-round. “In football, we use it for hauling practice equipment to and from the fields. During track it’s the same thing, hauling equipment, and it probably gets the greatest use during baseball and softball, we use it to drag diamonds, haul equipment and if we’re hauling bags of chalk and paint it is a lot easier to use the vehicle than carry it in by hand.”

The district plans to have a mechanical inspection of the vehicle before purchasing it.