Council OKs 1-year lease for Edgewood Community Developmental School, adds maintenance protections

Goldsboro City Council voted May 19 to enter a one-year lease with the Wayne County Board of Education for the Edgewood Community Developmental School property, a vacant school facility identified by staff as suitable to consolidate Parks & Recreation offices and programming displaced when Hermann Park Center closed in 2022.

Parks and Recreation staff described program relocations that followed the Hermann Park Center closure and said Edgewood offers classroom space, an auditorium/gym, accessible playground equipment and a walking loop. Staff and council members said the move would reunite staff and programs that were dispersed to multiple facilities and improve public access to recreation services.

The proposed lease drew council questions about maintenance and capital repairs. Council members sought to avoid exposure to large unbudgeted capital replacements (for example, a significant HVAC replacement) during a short-term lease. City attorneys and staff said the school system had maintained the building and kept necessary systems in operation; nevertheless council members requested and the council approved an amendment specifying that the tenant (city) shall be responsible for “basic repairs and maintenance” during the lease and adding illustrative, non-exclusive examples such as grounds upkeep. Council members asked staff to request clarifications from the school board attorney on caps for larger capital repairs. The motion, as amended, passed by voice vote; staff will seek school-board acceptance of the amended terms and, if accepted, proceed to execute the lease with an effective date of July 1, 2025. Staff indicated they would use the parks and recreation master-plan process to align long-term use of the facility and pursue ownership or longer-term arrangements if warranted.