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City awaits land transfer for school
Photo
Girard Mayor James Melfi at site of under construction Girard High School.
County commissioners must approve the land transfer.
GIRARD — Land has been cleared and plans to build the new high school here are on track, but the land on which it will sit is still not part of the city.
Should the land not be transferred to the city before construction begins on the new facility, the city could lose income tax revenue and construction permit fees.
Girard schools paid $200,000 for the privately owned 22.6 acres on Shannon Road, but the mostly wooded land is in Liberty Township.
Liberty trustees, Liberty school officials, Girard council and Girard school officials have all agreed on the land transfer. Girard Mayor James Melfi said the city is in favor of and anticipating the transfer.
“We signed the documents within minutes and sent them on their way. The situation is now with the school and county commissioners,” he said. “The city is looking to gain about $250,000 from the project.”
John Moliterno, city treasurer and member of the school board, said both sides are anxious to see the land transferred and working toward that end. He said minor technicalities are all that is holding up the transfer.
“The school board is anxious to see this happen as is the city,” he said. “We sent it to the county engineers and they needed some additional photos. We took the photos and sent those to them as well. The county engineer must sign off on this before it goes to commissioners.”
County Commissioner Frank Fuda said he has not discussed the matter at length with other commissioners but said he understands the city’s and township’s desire to see the land transferred. He said commissioners are simply waiting on all the required photos and documentation.
“We are just waiting for them to bring in the information that is needed,” he said. “I have not heard of any other problems with the request from the other commissioners.”
The commissioners’ next regular meeting will be Wednesday. The land transfer is not on the agenda for that meeting.
Under the terms of the agreement between the city and township, the land would be transferred to Girard for the nontaxable purpose of building a school.
Atty. Mark Finamore, representing the township, said should the land be used for any taxable purpose in the next 12 years, however, those tax dollars would be received by Liberty — not Girard.
Melfi said that though expedience would be appreciated, he does not see a problem in the request’s being granted at some point in time.
“I believe that as a matter of routine, commissioners will approve the transfer,” he said. “It’s a land grab for a school; I don’t anticipate any problems in the transfer.”
Moliterno said the city is not likely to lose any money in the deal. He said the schools will likely not be signing any contracts for construction until March, and he hopes the transfer will be complete by that time.
“From a timing standpoint, we are fine. We will not be starting this until spring. The city is not going to lose any money on this at all,” he said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com