School Attorney OK With Offer

FARMINGTON BOARD SEEKS TO SELL LAND

FARMINGTON — There is no conflict of interest with a former school board member submitting an offer to purchase Farmington school land that is for sale, according to attorney Charles Harwell.

Harwell represents Farmington School District as its school attorney.

Bryan Law, school superintendent, sought Harwell’s advice when the district received an offer from former board member Bleaux Barnes with MadSky Construction to purchase about 27 acres located next to Williams Elementary School. In August, Farmington School Board voted to try to sell the land. Barnes resigned his board position in July.

“The fact that it is from a former board member, I told Bryan, it would pass legal muster,” Harwell said Thursday. Harwell is a partner with Cypert, Crouch, Clark & Harwell law firm in Springdale.

MadSky, represented by Barnes and Ronnie Davidson, submitted an initial offer Sept. 18. The firm is proposing to purchase the land to develop a single-family housing subdivision. Board members had some concerns about parts of the offer and asked for clarification. MadSky then turned in an amended offer.

In a special meeting Oct. 5, the Farmington School Board voted 3-1 to give a counter offer to the buyer. Board member Wade Cash, who joined the board in September, voted against the counter offer. President Jeff Oxford, vice president Travis Warren and board member Amy Hill voted in favor of the counter offer. Member Doug Williams was absent.

In its counter, Farmington is asking for $22,000 per acre for 27.38 acres for a total selling price of $602,360. The board also requested an 8-foot privacy fence around the north and east boundaries of the school property and that the fence

be erected at the beginning of the project. Other conditions are the property cannot be used for multi- family housing and houses must exceed 1,550 square feet of heated space.

Cash’s objections were that he thought the school should hold onto the land to make sure it needed to sell it. The school might need the land in the future and once the new high school is built, the land next to Williams will be the district’s only large undeveloped piece of property, Cash said.

“The bottom line is that with the land you have lots of options,” Cash said in an email Monday. “But without it, the district’s options become more limited for school programs and facilities that need space.”

In addition to holding onto the property, Cash’s other concerns were that the board was considering selling the land to a former board member. Monday, he said he is concerned about a conflict of interest and perception out in the community.

“I just don’t think it should have gotten this far on our side,” Cash said. “Mr. Barnes is not doing anything wrong but there are too many complicating factors. If it would have been anybody else, it would have been better.”

He told board members that people in the community have expressed concerns about selling land to a former school board member. Another concern, he said, is that of those voting on the offer, three current board members served with Barnes on the school board and Barnes conducts busi- ness with one of the board members.

“Everyone I talk to says this is not going to look good,” Cash said at the Oct. 5 board meeting.

The state does not have specific procedures to follow when selling land, but Harwell said he recommends several steps. He said a district should have the land appraised and measure any offers against the appraised value. The school wants to know it is receiving good value for the land to protect the interests of the taxpayer, he said.

“I think some of it is just common sense and taking care of business,” Harwell added.

In Farmington’s case, the school had the property appraised two years ago when Barnes and another board, member Doug Williams, expressed an interest in purchasing the land. This appraisal, conducted by Stringfellow Associates of Farmington, gave the land an appraised market value of $450,000 or $22,300 per acre for 20 acres. Barnes and Williams did not follow through on their idea.

Stringfellow was asked to appraise the land a second time in August, but Stringfellow indicated a second appraisal was not needed because market conditions had not changed enough in two years.

Harwell said the school board’s counter offer falls within the appraised value of the land.

He also did not see a problem with board members who previously served with Barnes voting on the offer to purchase the land.

“To me, that’s just a red herring,” Harwell said. “I don’t see how that creates any kind of conflict. It just doesn’t seem logical to me.”

Barnes on Thursday said his offer is not a conflict of interest. He said his firm has reviewed the verbal counter from the school board and planned to reply to it with a written document.

“There’s not a conflict with me vacating that school board and the timing of this,” Barnes said. “I came on the same way as I exited.”

Barnes was appointed to the board to fill a vacancy and then was elected to the office. He resigned his position mid-term.

One reason he resigned, he said, was that he found he could help the district in more ways by not being on the board.

He noted that his firm initially offered $525,000 and this was increased to $538,560 in the amended offer.

“I don’t know how many were standing behind us with a similar offer,” Barnes said. “We feel like we’re helping the district.”

Farmington is going to grow and needs housing in a certain price range to meet that growth, Barnes said.

“I want to help that district. I’m going to continue to help those children in that district,” he said. Both of Barnes’ children have already graduated from Farmington High School.

MadSky’s proposed drawing shows a development with 73 single family lots. Barnes’ said the drawing is very preliminary but he is looking at houses that would have about 1,685 square feet and sell in the range of $178,000 to $210,000.

The firm has completed 18 developments and has three developments under construction right now. Its typical yield for developments is about 3½ houses per acre, he said.

“This is what we do for a living,” Barnes said. “It doesn’t have to be us because we have plenty to do.”

But he noted the land next to Williams Elementary School is an area set up for growth and set up for development.

Barnes said he and Doug Williams are in business together on several properties but that Williams is not involved in his offer to purchase land from the school or his plans to develop the land.

In previous board meetings, Law has said selling the land next to Williams Elementary School would help jump start Farmington in planning for Phase 3 of a new high school campus. Phase 3 is a new football stadium with a track around the field. The facility would include locker rooms, bleachers and a press box. Board members have been impressed with Pea Ridge’s stadium, which also has an indoor practice facility.

The Arkansas Education Department does not provide state money for athletic facilities, so 100 percent of the costs of Phase 3 will be Farmington’s responsibility. Law is looking for ways to pay for Phase 3 and some of his options have included selling the land at Williams, a small millage increase and restructuring debt service. Even then, Farmington would be short of the $8 million needed if it replicates Pea Ridge’s facilities.

Law has said he wants to build Phase 3 with as little impact on the taxpayer as possible.