After discussing the possibility of property sales with the city of Bath earlier this month, the Regional School Unit 1 board is moving forward with land appraisals for the Morse High School building project.
On Monday night, Superintendent Patrick Manuel said the board has ordered two appraisals for the Wing Farm Parkway property and the Bath Middle School athletic field site next month, both of which are owned by the city.
“We’ve ordered appraisals and so has the city of Bath,” he said. “So optimistically, we’re looking at the middle of February and realistically we’re looking at the end of February. And the plan would be for the city of Bath and the RSU to sit down and start to talk about acquisition costs … of buying those properties.”
Through a non-binding straw vote, Bath city councilors had agreed to consider selling the two sites to the school board at a meeting this month. However, keeping the turf field, stadium and track intact at the middle school had also been a concern for the councilors.
At the meeting, Ron Lamarre of Lavallee Brensinger Architects said the city could come up with a long-term agreement or an easement for the RSU if they decided not to sell the middle school property.
On Monday, Manuel also said Morse High School Principal Jay Pinkerton and Bath Regional Career and Technical Center Director Joel Austin met with Lavallee last week to start “programming,” which involved seeing how many students would be enrolled in 2019 or 2020 when the school opens, how big the classrooms would be and what kind of vocational and educational programs would be available for the students.
Manuel said it would cost the board about $11,500 for both appraisals.
“That is a cost that the district has to pay upfront, but it’s something that the district gets reimbursed for once the content has been approved,” he said.
Looking at land
• SUPERINTENDENT Patrick Manuel said the RSU 1 board has ordered two appraisals for the Wing Farm Parkway property and the Bath Middle School athletic field site, both of which are owned by the city of Bath.
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