Voters gave the Lowndes County School District the go ahead in May to issue $44 million worth of bonds, but one-fourth of that money has no place to call home.
The $11 million career technical center — a driving point for the bond — does not have an official building site. During Tuesday’s specially called Lowndes County School District Board of Trustees meeting, officials narrowed down the options to two sites. Both are near the intersection of Highway 12 and Lehmberg Road.
The school board’s discussion of the potential site was done in executive session closed to the public.
Board attorney Jeff Smith told The Dispatch the two sites being considered are a 12.5-acre parcel T.E. Lott owns behind Lowndes Funeral Home and a 17.2 acre property belonging to S.L. Sethi on the west side of Highway 12, about 1,000 feet north of Highway 50.
The board has approved $800,000 to buy the land, which must be at least 12 acres.
Waiting game
For architect Joey Henderson, who the school board has tapped to help design the technical center, it’s a waiting game. He can not go to the drawing board until he knows where the building will be located.
“We won’t get real serious with the design until we do have the property,” he said.
Henderson said he had recommended the board choose a site somewhere near the intersection of Lehmberg Road and Highway 50. That location is the most central to Caledonia High School, New Hope High School and West Lowndes High School — the three LCSD high schools the technical center will draw students from.
Henderson has told the board he would like to know the location by August. The project, he said, will take about 18 months to complete once ground is broken.
T.E. Lott’s property
Tommy Lott, owner of T.E. Lott, said he has agreed to the district appraisal price of $635,000 for the 12.5 acres for the building, and plans to donate LCSD the remaining 20 acres he owns at that location. The land is inside Columbus city limits, which he said should not disqualify him.
Lott said he has done dirt work to ensure the land sits six-inches above the flood plain. He said the site has water and sewer access, natural gas and drainage, and has been granted all needed environmental permits.
In a January 2014 board meeting, LCSD board members voted 4-0 — Jacqueline Gray was absent — to work with Lott on making a deal for his land. Lott said everything he did with the district has been verbal. He said he did not hear from the board formally until November 2014, when he was told the board was still looking at his property but was going to consider other options.
Sethi’s property
LCSD officials also received an appraisal in May on a 17.2 acre property belonging to S.L. Sethi on the west side of Highway 12, about 1,000 feet north of Highway 50. The appraisal, done by Stewart Stafford, valued the property at $700,000.
The Sethi lot also sits on land that was recently annexed into the city in 2014, and is in close proximity to Lott’s land. Stafford’s report states that while part of the northern section of the lot was submerged during the inspection, the site does not sit on protected wetlands.
“However, due to the apparently large amount of water which appears to be standing on the site, and the presence of what appears to be numerous willow trees on the property, an expert with regard to the classification of protected wetlands should be consulted prior to any transaction involving the subject property,” the report states. “Based on the visual observation, it appears the northern portion of the subject site would require some degree of engineering and fill work prior to development.”
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