City and School Corporation at odds over 10 acre Parklands sale

Nancy Habig’s dissatisfaction at the city’s offer to sell the school corporation 10 acres of The Parklands was insinuated as much as it was outright stated during a special meeting held at the Jasper City Hall last night.

Habig, president of the Greater Jasper Consolidated School Board, spoke to the Jasper Redevelopment Commission and Jasper Common Council during the special meeting held Wednesday evening to discuss the proposed sale of 10 acres to the school corporation. “We (the school corporation) are still interested in 15 acres,” she said.

Habig presented a rendering to the two bodies to clarify the border of the proposed area and its relationship to the cart path the city has developed as a nature walk. “I am hesitant to show you because I don’t want you to cut back anymore,” she said before handing the members of the two bodies copies of a map showing the property and cart path. About 400 yards of cart path are on the proposed property.

Andy Seger, a member of the redevelopment commission, stated that in the private meetings held between the school corporation and city representatives, the city compromised on just about everything except for the 10 acre limit to be sold to the school. “Based on the CityVision drawings we have seen and the layout, we just didn’t feel we could go anymore on the property,” he said. “Everything else was in the spirit of how can we work together and find a middle ground.”

Bernie Vogler, a member of the Jasper School Board and the Jasper Redevelopment Commission, stated the school board was agreeable to the terms and conditions as they were presented except for the 10 acres. “The board was under the impression early on that we would get more than the 10 acres that was offered,” Vogler said. “That was expressed last night (during an executive meeting held by the school board) and there was disappointment about it.”

Vogler acknowledge the city and school corporation both have to look out for their own best interests but explained they have to consider the interests of the community as well.

“The cooperation between the city, the parks department and the school corporation has always been top notch,” Vogler said, “and it’s a good thing for the tax payers and we certainly want that to continue. We want to arrive at some mutual agreement in the spirit to improve the entire community.”

School board member Greg Eckerle told the two city bodies that with the initiatives to attract more people to the area and the recent job announcements, the school will continue to become more crowded. “We are landlocked (at Fifth and Tenth Street schools), they are old buildings and there probably be some expansion needs in the future. It’s a real dilemma for us,” he said. “I don’t want the same thing to happen at the high school. That is the critical issue for me. I feel it is part of my duty to look down the road years and years and years as to what might happen.”

He pointed out that when Fifth and Tenth Street schools were planned, the board at the time didn’t know how landlocked the schools would be. He asked the city to consider how critical the additional five acres will be for the future of the school compared to the park. “The extra five acres for the school is really kind of a last best chance to ensure that high school can grow where it is at.” Eckerle said. “I would appreciate any consideration you could give to giving us more than 10 acres.”

Redevelopment commission president John Bell pointed out he was hesitant to sell more than the 10 acres without the school corporation having a plan for its use. “I struggle with that extra five (acres) without really knowing why that is needed,” he said.

Bell told the school board members attending that the school could take out a ball field or tennis court to expand. “Six years down the road; 12 years down the road when the school absolutely needs one, two, five acres, we can talk about it when that occurs,” Bell said.

Bell also pointed out the school corporation owns about seven acres of woodland adjacent to the practice ball fields, next to the acreage the school corporation wants to purchase. Habig and Eckerle both explained a creek running through the seven acres adversely impacted its development for school use.

According to Mayor Terry Seitz, the sale of 10 acres to the school corporation is a responsible position to take by the common council and redevelopment commission.  He acknowledged the school corporation expressed interest in 10 to 15 acres of the property while the city was moving forward with purchasing the property.

The school and city as well as private entities were all approached by the country club owners when it was announce the Jasper Country Club was closing in 2012. The school and city were both interested in the property but came to an agreement to allow the city to negotiate for the property rather than the two parties working against each other.

“It started at 10 when we each went to our boards with the proposal,” he said referring to the original agreement between the school corporation and the city. “We gave room to talk about 10 to 15 (acres) depending on what the use was but there was no specific use identified. We felt that 10 was the best we could do and it was still within the scope of what we originally thought we could represent.”

The city sent the following stipulations in their proposal to the school corporation.

• The city will sell the property outright rather than allow the school to have a ten-year option to purchase.
• The city will not sell more than 10 acres due to the plan for The Parklands. The city maintains that any more than 10 acres will significantly impact the plan that has been developed by CityVisions.
• The city will not have any use restrictions attached to the sale of the property, meaning the school corporation can use the land for whatever purpose they deem fit.
• The city agreed to develop parking completely separate from the area proposed to be sold to the school corp.
• The city will maintain the cart path and property as long as the city retains use of the property. The city will propose and interlocal usage agreement for the approximately 400 yards of cart path that goes through the 10 acres. The city will maintain that area in the same manner as the rest of The Parklands until the city develops a different path.
• City will provide liability coverage for the portion of The Parklands the cart path is on.

The school corporation will consider the proposal at their regular meeting Monday at 7 p.m.