Published: February 08, 2006 03:29 pm      

BOE purchases 25 acres on Brownlee Rd

Land will be used for new Jackson Elementary School

It’s no secret that Butts County’s population is growing, and that the first people to feel the impact is the Board of Education. Last year, the Board purchased over 20 acres off Stark Road to build a new elementary school to replace North Mulberry Elementary School. And this week, the Board entered into a contract for 25 acres off Brownlee Road to eventually replace Jackson Elementary School.

The land was purchased by the City of Jackson during a called meeting of the City Council on December 27, and the amount of the contract between the Board and the City is $556,250, or $22,250 per acre.

“We bought 13.75 acres at the meeting,” said Jackson Mayor Charlie Brown on Tuesday. “It includes a lot of frontage on Brownlee Road, but we are not interested in road frontage. It adjoins the 217 acres we bought last year to potentially use as spray fields for treated wastewater. So we’re not concerned about road frontage, but the school board is.”

“We talked with two or three property owners trying to match our needs with a location for a new school,” School Superintendent Dr. Alan White told the Board during Monday night’s meeting. “But I think we have found that with the City of Jackson.”

Dr. White noted that a final survey must be completed and the Georgia Department of Education must approve the site before the Board actually purchases the land. Based on the Stark Road site, he said that process could take three to four months.

“But the land is rather flat, and has great road frontage and visibility for buses and cars,” he said. “This 25 acres will serves our purpose well.”

According to Mayor Brown, the Board has not yet settled on exactly which 25 acres it will purchase for the city. But, the Board will reimburse the city for 100 percent of the purchase cost for the 13.75-acre tract. The land is currently not in the city.

The purchase of the property will be funded from available Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds. The SPLOST for education collects a one-percent sales tax on all goods sold in Butts County for use in building or renovating school facilities or for purchasing new school equipment. The Board identified a new location for Jackson Elementary School as one of its projects for the next round of SPLOST collections. A vote on continuing SPLOST collections for educational purposes is scheduled for March 21.

BOE Chairman Ernest Battle wanted to make sure the contract is not binding in case the land does not suit the Board’s needs for a school. Dr. White said if the land does not work for a school, the Board will not purchase it. Boardmember Larry Morgan made a motion to enter into the contract. Boardmember Clifford Marshall seconded the motion, and a unanimous vote recorded in favor.