October 4, 2004 ITEM#
4d
Item
Title: Property Acquisition for Special/Optional
School
Specific Action Requested:
The Board of Commissioners approve the property acquisition for a Special/Optional
School.
Item Summary:
On
November 7, 2000, Wake County voters approved a bond referendum for $500
million of general obligation bonds for school construction as the primary
funding source for the $550 million Plan 2000 phase of the long-range school
building program. $6,279,915 was included
for a special/optional middle school and $17,770,865 was included for land
purchases. To
date, $13,560,066 has been spent to acquire school sites, leaving a balance of
$4,210,799.
According
to Section 115C-426 of the North Carolina General Statutes, the Wake County
Board of Commissioners is responsible for approving the purchase of property by
the Wake County Public School System. At their August 17, 2004, meeting the
Wake County Board of Education approved a resolution to purchase approximately
7.7 acres of land known as the Hedingham Oaks Office Complex, 4700 New Bern
Avenue in Raleigh. The site includes two buildings, one of which is 32,560
square feet and will be renovated to house the special/optional school. The
other building is 9,254 square feet and the plans for this building include
assessment space for audiology, speech impairments, and learning disabilities.
These assessment functions are currently divided between the Noble Road
facility and the Harriet B. Webster facility on Atlantic Avenue. If future expansion of the school is needed,
this building would be used for that purpose.
The
total purchase price is $3.2 million and the property was appraised for $4.75
million. WCPSS staff estimate the allocation of the purchase price to be $770,000
for land and $2,430,000 for improvements. This allocation of 24% of the
purchase price for land is only slightly higher than the Wake County Revenue
Department’s allocation of 20% for land for the same property. The land portion
would be paid from the land acquisition funds in Plan 2000, with the balance
paid from the funds designated for the special/optional school.
The
renovation costs of $1.9 million for this school are to be funded from Plan
2000, and the facility is scheduled to open in the fall of 2005. The smaller
building would only have minor work, such as painting and new carpet and there
is not currently an estimate of this cost. This building would open for
assessment services by the second quarter of 2005.
The Board of
Commissioners received this request as a report at its September 20, 2004, meeting.
At that time, the Board had no questions that were unanswered, so this item has
been placed on the consent agenda.
Attachments:
2.
Location map of the proposed site
3.
Resolution