The Washington County Board of Education voted to donate a small parcel near Lamar to Washington County EMS for use as a fire and emergency medical services station.

Board members discussed the property’s estimated fair-market value and conditions for the transfer before voting. Board member Keith Irvin moved to donate the parcel; a second was recorded though the transcript did not identify the second by name. After discussion and a failed amendment to increase monetary consideration, the board approved the donation with a condition that the property revert to the school system if EMS ceases to use it.

At a public safety committee meeting described to the board, committee members voted to pursue acquisition of the property and authorized the mayor to negotiate final terms with the school system. The board’s presentation to the committee had placed the parcel’s market estimate at about $10,000 based on comparable acreage priced at roughly $25,000 per acre; the parcel was described in the meeting as between 0.3 and 0.4 acres.

Board members voiced differing views. Irvin told the board he supported donating the parcel, calling it a public-safety priority and noting the proximity to his residence. Other members urged securing some “recognition” of value for the school system. A proposed amendment to the motion to require $15,000 in consideration failed. Board members repeatedly emphasized that the transfer should include a written requirement that the property revert to the Board of Education if EMS stops using it; the original motion as made included that contingency.

Washington County EMS representatives described response-time implications. An EMS speaker estimated current response times to the area at about 12–15 minutes and said locating paid EMS apparatus on the donated parcel would make response “seconds” rather than minutes from that station.

The board recorded the motion as carried. No roll-call vote totals were read into the record during the meeting; the transcript records “motion carried.”

The board directed staff and the attorney to prepare the conveyance documents, including a quitclaim deed and the reversion language, and noted that final construction and funding approvals by the county commission and budget committee would be separate steps after property transfer language was prepared.