This could be the next flashpoint in the ongoing fight between the school board and county commissioners.
As noted in today's North Raleigh News article by Michael Biesecker, some commissioners are not happy with the school district's request to buy 89 acres off Forestville Road for a new high school. They're not happy with the $5.1 million asking price, especially when it could cost another $2 million to clear the rocky site.
"We aren't buying the best land in Wake County," said Joe Bryan, chairman of the board of commissioners. "We seem to be buying some of the toughest land — in a recession."
But Betty Parker. the school district's director of real estate services, told commissioners the property was still the best land available for the money.
Comments
How come.....
Sat, 07/26/2008 - 11:47 — Uncle Ruckus (not verified)After the last couple of "mistakes" made by Ms. Parker, why is she still employed by the WCPSS?
I smell a Goodnight!
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 20:52 — g88ky07Somebody check, I smell a Goodnight lurking in the background of this land deal too!
Priorities
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 19:54 — SideburnsYou forgot one priority in purchasing land for WCPSS. It must be strategically placed to allow maximum busing from other municipalities. IMO, this is why Betty Parker said it was the "best land available".
I was reading about this
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 13:38 — NCBoyMommyI was reading about this yesterday in the Wake weekly and was shocked at the $63,000 per acre price. There was a comment that it was factored into the price that the land would be annexed ito Raleigh. It seems if you are building schools for Rolesville that you have a lot of land to chose from. why select expensive land in a high traffice, highly sought after commercial area? All you have to do is take a drive out 401 or 96 to know there is a ton of land available.
Price not so bad, but....
Sat, 07/26/2008 - 18:02 — Bob_SconceAs far as the commercial area, there are some practical considerations -- you want it relatively close to a sizeable road (there will be a lot of traffic to/from), you need utilities, you want to avoid floodplains, and you need a fairly good-sized chunk of land. It would not surprise me if there were only a handful of tracts that met these criteria. $63,000 also seems like a reasonable price -- that's less than the price it would fetch if subdivided and sold to homebuilders.
The bigger question, though, is why Betty Parker is still in her job -- she wasn't aware of a significant geographic feature at the time the contact was signed; she didn't think it would have been important to the appraiser (although, the appraiser should have seen it himself), and she believes a landowner who says "Well, gosh, I just can't go any lower on the price." She pulled similar stunts the last time she bought land in Rolesville. And after the last fiasco, which resulted in the Commissioners demanding appraisals, she went in front of the Commissioners with a half-baked story AGAIN. After the first spanking, you'd figure she'd straighten up.
Just guessing here
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 14:59 — Dadof3My guess: bureaucratic largess.