Durham Public Schools has picked a corner of Martin Luther King Parkway and South Roxboro Street as its preferred site for a new elementary school, but Durham County commissioners aren't sold on it.
DPS assistant director Hugh Osteen presented the site to the county commissioners' work session this morning.
The 33.2-acre site is across Martin Luther King from the Kroger shopping center, about half a mile west of the new Lowe's store.
Osteen said the schools have secured a purchase price of $1.87 million, less than the $1.95 million expected before the economic downturn depressed real-estate values. An independent appraiser valued the tract at $2.9 million.
Osteen said the sale contract needed the commissioners' OK by the end of October, but commissioners wanted more information before scheduling their vote.
Commissioners raised concerns about safety, given the high traffic flow on the adjoining streets, and environmental effects on a creek that flows most of the site's length through a sharp ravine.
"I know it carries a lot of runoff, that creek, and it goes somewhere," commissioner Joe Bowser said.
Rock removal at the site may require blasting, a potential danger for nearby homes, Bowser pointed out. Osteen said DPS has a protocol for working with homeowners, but the rock issue and other concerns left commissioners wondering about extra construction costs.
"I just think we need some answers before we appropriate money for this site," commissioner Becky Heron said. "We don't want to buy a pig in a poke."
"You hear people feeling uncomfortable,"said commissioner Ellen Reckhow, who requested a review by the city-county planning department.
The county board set a public hearing on the site for their Oct. 26 meeting.
