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Board holds public hearing on potential sale of 3.06‑acre parcel abutting Gainesville Middle School; no public speakers
Summary
Division counsel told the board that Light Shift Energy (doing business as Laurian Power) exercised an option to buy a 3.06‑acre parcel next to Gainesville Middle School; Virginia law requires a public hearing and a board determination of surplus use before sale proceeds can be retained. No citizens spoke at the hearing.
Division counsel told the Prince William County School Board on March 5 that Laurian Power, doing business as Light Shift Energy, has exercised an option to buy a 3.06‑acre parcel that abuts Gainesville Middle School and sits across University Boulevard from Gainesville High School.
Wade Anderson, division counsel, told the board that the option agreement dated January 2022 set terms under which Light Shift could exercise a right to purchase the parcel within a three‑year period, and that Light Shift notified the division in January 2025 that it was exercising the option. Anderson said Virginia law requires a school board to hold a public hearing and determine that it has no current use for the property before declaring it surplus; the board must also seek the Prince William County Board of Supervisors' approval to retain proceeds from a sale.
The board opened the public hearing on the proposed surplus and sale. No qualified citizens signed up to speak at the hearing; the chairman declared the public hearing closed with no public testimony.
No formal board determination about declaring the property surplus or retaining proceeds was recorded at the conclusion of the public hearing in this meeting record. Division counsel explained the statutory framework and the hearing was held to collect any public comment required by law.
The division and the board will need to follow the statutory steps identified by counsel — including supervision approval if the board later elects to retain sale proceeds — before the property may be sold and the proceeds retained by the school division.
