School board discusses property
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 11, 2015 1:46 PM
The Wayne County Public Schools system does not need to be in the real estate business and should divest itself as soon as possible of any property that it no longer has any use for, school board member Arnold Flowers said.
Flowers made his comments recently as the board was wrapping up a special session called to discuss new IRS regulation.
"We need to be making arrangements to offer that property to the county," he said. "By statute I believe that we have to offer it to the county."
Flowers said the system does not need the added liability of property, including buildings, which are not being used.
"I would like for us to investigate properties that we have like that," he said.
Flowers offered the old Seven Springs school property as an example.
That approximately 10-acre site was sold some 20 years ago for about $35,000, he said.
"That property has since had a restaurant and club built on it," he said. "A beautiful home has been built on it. A whole lot of ad valorem taxes are being paid on that property back into the county. If we still owned it, none of that would be happening.
"I don't feel like we should own property that we don't have any use for anymore. So I would like for us to spend some time looking at that."
After the meeting, Flowers indicated that his comments had been prompted by a closed-door session.
However, he said it has been an issue of concern for him since his times as a Wayne County commissioner.
Flowers said he had been an advocate of the county selling property as well.
For example, the county owns the old landfill site in the northern part of the county, he said. Part of it is tillable farmland, he said.
"When it is on the county's books, it is not on the ad valorem books," he said. "(The school, board) owns some property -- I don't know all what it is. The Southern Academy property in Mount Olive, that is still owned by the schools. We are leasing that for some other groups down there.
"But I am sure, I don't know what the numbers are, that we are still having to insure it. If we own it, we have liability for it."
Flower said he understands that state law first requires the school board to offer any property to the county.
"Then hopefully it would go to some other use, like be sold for private use," he said. "Then it would come back on the tax books."
Flowers said he is not sure of the amount of property owned by the school board.
Along with the liability of owning property or buildings, there is the cost of upkeep, he said.
Flowers said he had visited the old Southern Academy, which appeared to be in disrepair. Buildings just go down over time, he said.
The property, now called the Carver Cultural Center, is leased to Mount Olive and is used by the town, the Carver High School Alumni and Friends Association and A Lot of Direction, Love and Affection.
The town has received a a $450,000 Division of Community Assistance grant, through the Community Development Block Grant program, for HVAC and plumbing and roofing work for two classroom buildings, kitchen, cafeteria, gym, media center and Carver Alumni headquarters.
Flower, 62, said he has had a real estate license since he was 20 so that the "thinks in that vein."
"If I own property that is a liability to own, then I going to try to get shed of it," he said.
Flowers said he is a member of the board's Facilities Committee where there has been some discussion in regards to what the system will do with the property that it does not use or have any plans to use.
"In my career, land management is what we do," he said. "If you have things you need to look after them. Sometimes looking after them means to get rid of them."
However, when talking about schools, the heritage and all of the people who went there play into the discussions, he added.