Land sale negotiations nearing an agreement
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. » The president of the Shenendehowa Central School District Board of Education said last week negotiations on the sale of a 34-acre, district- owned parcel are going well and a November public referendum is a possibility.
Committees from the school board and the Town of Clifton Park have met at last three times to discuss the sale of the vacant parcel between Moe Road and Maxwell Drive in Clifton Park. The last meeting was in the middle of July.
The Board of Education met in executive session at 5 p.m. Aug. 1 to discuss the latest details of the negotiations, specifically, what the board sees as the value of the land and the value of a number of intangibles being discussed.
In an expanded discussion after the meeting Board of Education president Bill Casey said the negotiations were going well and he was optimistic the two sides will soon finalize a figure suitable to both sides and the Shen community.
“What you look for in a process like this is a will to move forward and we have absolute confidence both sides are doing this. It’s just a matter of what the components will be,” he said. “Both sides are looking at their fiduciary responsibilities. I feel we all want to get there sooner rather than later.”
The negotiations between the two sides are the result of a public vote in April that rejected a Board of Education decision to sell the land to development company BBL for $2.05 million. At the time, the Town of Clifton Park submitted an offer of $1 million cash with value ad- ons such as improving the athletic fields behind Shatekon Elementary School which is adjacent to the parcel.
“Some of the ad- ons don’t add value to the district but they add value to the use of the property which is by our residents and students,” Casey said. “The communications and conversations back and forth have been very cordial and timely.”
Clifton Park Supervisor Philip Barrett also described the discussions as progressing well.
“Our talks have moved in a positive direction,” he said. “I continue to be cautiously optimistic an agreement can be reached in the near future. We made our position clear and they have certainly provided the point of view of the school district. At this point we’re very close.”
As a way of clearing up any misconceptions, Barrett said the town has no thought of buying the land and clearing it for playing fields. However, he has been interested in forming a partnership with the district over the maintenance and use of the athletic fields behind Shatekon Elementary School for a while.
“Over a year ago the town board expressed a desire to pursue a possible partnership on those playing fields,” he said. “It seemed to make sense to us to at least pursue the possibility of the school and town partnering to develop that area into quality playing fields. I think that value-add part will probably end up being part of a separate conversation.”
Barrett said if the town buys the 34 acres there should be a continuing conversation about how to best utilize the two properties because they can complement each other nicely for the community’s benefit.
“I think that’s part of the value added discussion now and should be a subject of a long term point of discussion between the town and the school,” he said.
Casey said a possible date for a public referendum on selling the parcel could come in mid-November. That would mean the two sides would have to finalize negotiations by early October and have a Board of Education vote in the affirmative shortly thereafter. Then, as required by state Education Department law, there would be a 45 day notice period.
“I really think we’ll have a date that’s much sooner,” Casey said. “I understand the public wants to resolve this. I’m hearing from them to just get it done and we want to do it in a way where we go out to a public referendum and we can say we did the best we could and I believe the town wants to say the same thing. There’s a recognition on both sides that we’re serving the same public and I think that’ll help us get it done.”