Council OKs $5M For High School Land
July 25, 2018
Closing On Property Expected By Aug. 22
By LAINE GRIFFIN
Daily News-Record 7/25/18
HARRISONBURG — As expected, City Council unanimously voted to spend $5 million to buy land for a second city high school at Tuesday’s meeting.
Council voted 5-0 on July 10 to buy the 60-acre parcel from James Madison University, but the panel was required to hold a second vote for the decision to become final.
Tuesday’s vote passed 4-0, with Councilman George Hirschmann absent. Voting for the purchase were Mayor Deanna Reed and Councilmen Richard Baugh, Chris Jones and Ted Byrd.
The approval reiterated council’s belief that a second high school is needed to address the overcrowding at Harrisonburg High School.
HHS opened in 2005 with a capacity for 1,360 students but has about 1,800 enrolled now.
The property, between Interstate 81 and South Main Street in the southern part of Harrisonburg, can be accessed through South Main and Stone Spring Road. It’s adjacent to the Harrisonburg Public Utilities and Public Works departments off Beery Road to the north.
With the final vote completed, the closing on the property is expected to be on Aug. 22, according to Reed. The purchase price doesn’t include the estimated $25,000 in closing costs.
“Once we close out on the property, things will calm down for a bit because the school isn’t opening until the year 2023,” Deputy City Manager Ande Banks said.
Banks noted that the property will be transferred over to the Harrisonburg School Board, although he didn’t know when those details would be worked out.
“We have focused so much on the financial part of buying this property that it will be awhile before architects and engineers are brought in,” he said.
The issue of building a second high school has been a topic for more than two years. Although many opponents have said the cost will affect their taxes too much, supporters of the project have made it clear that the city could not afford to wait.
In January, at the School Board’s request, a divided council voted 3-2 to fund the estimated $76 million facility. Although council approved the funding, the majority agreed to push the start of the project to have the school open in 2023 instead of 2021, as the division had wanted.
Baugh, Byrd and Hirschmann, in voting to delay the opening date, argued doing so would give the city a little more breathing space financially as it takes on big-ticket budget items, including an estimated $21.5 million water line Harrisonburg is planning to build by 2020.
By LAINE GRIFFIN
Daily News-Record 7/25/18
HARRISONBURG — As expected, City Council unanimously voted to spend $5 million to buy land for a second city high school at Tuesday’s meeting.
Council voted 5-0 on July 10 to buy the 60-acre parcel from James Madison University, but the panel was required to hold a second vote for the decision to become final.
Tuesday’s vote passed 4-0, with Councilman George Hirschmann absent. Voting for the purchase were Mayor Deanna Reed and Councilmen Richard Baugh, Chris Jones and Ted Byrd.
The approval reiterated council’s belief that a second high school is needed to address the overcrowding at Harrisonburg High School.
HHS opened in 2005 with a capacity for 1,360 students but has about 1,800 enrolled now.
The property, between Interstate 81 and South Main Street in the southern part of Harrisonburg, can be accessed through South Main and Stone Spring Road. It’s adjacent to the Harrisonburg Public Utilities and Public Works departments off Beery Road to the north.
With the final vote completed, the closing on the property is expected to be on Aug. 22, according to Reed. The purchase price doesn’t include the estimated $25,000 in closing costs.
“Once we close out on the property, things will calm down for a bit because the school isn’t opening until the year 2023,” Deputy City Manager Ande Banks said.
Banks noted that the property will be transferred over to the Harrisonburg School Board, although he didn’t know when those details would be worked out.
“We have focused so much on the financial part of buying this property that it will be awhile before architects and engineers are brought in,” he said.
The issue of building a second high school has been a topic for more than two years. Although many opponents have said the cost will affect their taxes too much, supporters of the project have made it clear that the city could not afford to wait.
In January, at the School Board’s request, a divided council voted 3-2 to fund the estimated $76 million facility. Although council approved the funding, the majority agreed to push the start of the project to have the school open in 2023 instead of 2021, as the division had wanted.
Baugh, Byrd and Hirschmann, in voting to delay the opening date, argued doing so would give the city a little more breathing space financially as it takes on big-ticket budget items, including an estimated $21.5 million water line Harrisonburg is planning to build by 2020.
