Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Swap topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenters urge land swap to build new South Paulding-area school; questions raised about Mulberry Rock Road purchase
Summary
Two public speakers addressed the board about potential land swaps and a 10-acre purchase on Mulberry Rock Road, with one commenter saying most South Paulding residents favor a land swap to avoid tax increases while another asked whether the 10-acre contract is still in play.
Two members of the public addressed the board before the meeting's executive session, urging the district and county to proceed with a proposed land swap to site a new school and asking questions about a separate 10-acre contract on Mulberry Rock Road.
A resident who identified herself as Shannon Price asked, "I'd like to know about the 10 acre, contract that's on Mulberry Rock Road. I'm not sure if that's still in play or not in play." Price asked how the district's property holdings could be combined with the 10 acres to meet acreage needs for a new high school and suggested selling surplus property as a funding strategy.
A second speaker, identified in the transcript only as a resident from South Paulding, told the board that "the majority of South Paulding residents do not care if you put a school on that park land" and urged the board to approve the land swap. The speaker said the swap would avoid raising taxes and argued the district needs new buildings to handle growth; he or she reported having spoken to more than 1,000 people and said the public sentiment in the South Paulding area favors moving forward with the swap.
Context and board response: the speakers raised growth and acreage calculations tied to North Paulding and South Paulding campuses, new home construction in the county, and the prospect of converting or selling existing properties to fund school construction. The board amended the agenda to hear public speakers before going into executive session so the speakers could leave and then returned to executive session; no board action on the land-swap proposal was recorded during the public-comment period.
What was not decided: no motion or vote on a land swap or on any property purchase was taken at the work session. The board later adjourned to an executive session to discuss land, legal and personnel matters; the transcript records that no votes were taken during the executive session except to approve the executive session minutes.
