Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Property Purchase topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Swain County commissioners approve $350,000 purchase of southern parcel for school project
Summary
The Swain County Board of Commissioners voted to buy roughly 2.5–2.73 acres of land for $350,000 to support the county school project, using public school capital funds; public commissioners raised concerns about prior land trades and acreage lost in earlier deals.
Swain County commissioners voted Sept. 2 to purchase the southern portion of a parcel for $350,000 to support a planned school project, funding the acquisition from the county's public school capital (lottery) fund. The board approved the purchase after a presentation from a Swain County Schools representative and a brief public exchange about past land dealings.
"He has agreed that he and his partners would sell that southern piece to us for $350,000," said Marksel, a Swain County Schools representative, describing the negotiated sale and telling the board the smaller parcel would reduce capital costs and address North Carolina Department of Transportation concerns about vehicle and bus traffic conflicts.
The parcel is about 2.73 acres less a strip at the bottom, described in the meeting as "probably about 2 and a half acres." The school representative said purchasing the southern portion would reduce the county's capital outlay while meeting some site requirements.
Several commissioners and at least one citizen speaker questioned earlier land trades tied to the same school property, saying the county previously expected an acre-for-acre exchange and that four acres appeared to have been omitted from earlier transactions. One speaker described feeling misled about the acreage in a prior resolution and suggested the county had been "robbed" in an earlier trade.
The board made a motion to accept the $350,000 offer, identified the public school building fund as the source of the money, and voted to approve the purchase. The motion passed.
No additional financing details or contract language were read into the record during the meeting. Commissioners said staff and the schools will continue site planning with the architect and construction manager in upcoming meetings.
Questions about the prior land-trade documents and the exact disposition of the previously discussed acreage were raised on the record; county counsel and staff did not provide further documentary clarifications at the work session.
