Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Prompted by School Superintendent Eydie Tricquet, the Jefferson School Board last week began a discussion on what to do with several of its properties.
The workshop on Monday evening, Oct. 25, focused specifically on the A-Building, the Water Street auditorium and gymnasium, and a vacant property near the new high school that is currently being used for agriculture purposes.
Tricquet informed the board about county officials’ interest in acquiring ownership of the A-Building, which the county has now been leasing from the school district for just over 10 years.
Tricquet shared a letter dated Sept. 24 from County Coordinator Parrish Barwick, wherein the latter asked that ownership of the A-Building be transferred to the county so that the latter could better accomplish the structure’s restoration and renovation.
Per the contract that Tricquet shared with the board, the lease was executed in 2010, with the county to pay an initial lump sum of $36,000 upfront and then pay $1,500 monthly for 20 years, with an option to purchase the building at the end of the lease term. (Even so, the lease amount batted about throughout the discussion was $2,000 monthly.)
The county, meanwhile, has put several millions in grants and other monies into the building’s repair and restoration, with several millions yet to go before completion of the project, according to the architect’s last report.
One of the county’s arguments for acquisition is that it would facilitate its efforts to get grants, as it is often prevented from applying for funding because it doesn’t own the building.
Another argument is that the money that is going to the lease payments would be better used going toward the renovation work.
Finally, some argue that it’s redundant and unreasonable to expend public funds to lease/purchase a building that is already in the public domain, as both the county and school district are public entities.
The school board on Monday evening wasn’t necessarily opposed to the idea of transferring ownership, but it wasn’t overly receptive either.
Chairman Charles Boland calculated that per the contract, the county still owes the district $192,000 until the lease’s expires in 2030. That, he said, was a significant amount of money.
He also didn’t see where the county was making much headway in the restoration, Boland said. He noted that architect Bill Douglas, who had been instrumental to the restoration project since its inception in the 1990s, had now passed away.
“I won’t live long enough myself to see the A-Building completed,” Boland said. “I hate to see us give up that much money. I see no progress being made.”
Commissioner Chris Tuten, who was at the meeting and is in the cattle industry, likened the county’s lease of the A-Building to that of a cattleman leasing land; in either case, it didn’t give the tenant much incentive to invest heavily in a property that wasn’t owned, he said. Having ownership of the building, he stressed, would give the county a greater chance of getting funding.
Boland offered two possible alternatives. One was that the district not collect the monthly lease on the A-Building for a two-year period. If, at the end of the two years the county still had not made much progress on the renovation, it would then have to back pay the amount of lease for the two years retroactively. Attorney Thomas Reeves, however, shot down this idea as not legally doable.
Boland’s other suggestion was that in lieu of the county paying the monthly lease on the A-building, it take over the auditorium and put the lease money into the repair and maintenance of the latter structure. This suggestion, however, went no further.
Next to be discussed was the old gym, which the Police Athletic League (PAL) has been leasing from the district for its youth athletic program. Frustrated with the lack of progress on the repair of the building, which is in poor condition, PAL recently asked to be allowed out of the lease agreement.
The board’s decision was that it would act on the PAL request at its November meeting and terminate the lease.
Tricquet told the board that an individual was interested in purchasing the building. This possible purchase will supposedly come up for discussion at the board meeting on Monday, Nov. 8.
Next for consideration was the auditorium, which also is sitting vacant. Tricquet said that her office keeps getting inquiries from individuals interested in the possible rental of the facility for church services, funerals and other functions.
The building’s air-conditioning system, however, remained inoperable, she said. And the current fees for renting the facility didn’t even pay for the utilities, she added. It was at this point that Boland suggested turning the auditorium to the county in lieu of the latter paying the lease on the A-Building.
“If we can do an agreement with the county where it takes over the air conditioning and maintenance of the auditorium, we can do away with the annual $24,000 on the A-Building,” he said.
The board lastly touched on a 40.12-acre property near Drifton and Phelps roads that the district currently leases for $1,650 annually to a citizen for agricultural use. The lease, which was executed in June 2019, extends until June 2030, although it has a provision that allows either party to terminate it after June 2025.
Tricquet said one of her ideas was one day to revamp the athletic program and move the football and soccer fields onto this land, as well as possibly put a vocational program there.