New Richmond board agrees to purchase agreement to transfer former bus garage to Clermont County, contingent on Brownfield approval

The New Richmond Exempted Village School District Board of Education voted May 27 to enter a purchase agreement with Clermont County for the district's former bus garage at 229 Front Street (auditor parcel 260903.225B), conditioned on the county's acceptance into a Brownfield remediation program and a resulting No Further Action (NFA) finding, the board heard.

Staff told trustees the parcel has documented subsurface contamination related to an old fuel tank and that the district has pursued a sale since 2019. Clermont County has submitted a conditional offer to accept the property and lead cleanup through county-managed land bank Brownfield dollars; the county would pay the district $25,000 and complete related paperwork and contingencies if the project is accepted into the program.

Staff presented an all-in remediation estimate of about $376,000 and said the district has insurance-consortium funds in the range of $125,000 to $140,000 that could reduce the district's net liability to roughly $100,000 to $115,000. "By doing this and proposing this with the county, we are saving the taxpayers approximately $250,000," the staff member said, urging the board to authorize the district to enter the agreement so the county can meet a filing deadline in the first week of June (S3 said the deadline is likely June 4 or 5).

The staff member explained that an NFA finding would free the district of further liability upon sale; county plans discussed for the remediated site include a community parking lot consistent with flood-plain constraints. The remediation estimate in the materials references multiple rounds of in-situ injections and monitoring (the presenter noted the estimate shows about 12 rounds), and staff said cleanup costs have risen since initial discussions earlier in the year.

Before the vote board members asked how the $25,000 would be handled; staff said the payment would be treated as proceeds from a real-property sale and could be deposited into the district's general fund for general-fund expenses. The board then voted in favor of a motion to enter the purchase agreement; roll-call votes recorded affirmative responses from members present.

The motion authorizes staff to finalize the purchase agreement so Clermont County can submit its Brownfield application before the county's stated deadline. Staff said they will follow up with additional detail at the regular June board meeting on the status of the county application and any program acceptance.