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What is the school board up to? The school board has long said that they have three criteria for the selection of a school site:
The Grener property, on Cosgray Rd, met all the criteria and was purchased by the school system in 2003. However, a campaign was mounted to stop the high school from being built there, with the primary argument being that it would create an intolerable traffic situation in that area of the community. I think this was a red herring, and that the real goal was that development interests wanted the high school west of Alton-Darby Rd because it would break down the barriers to developing the land they already own in Brown Twp. By the way, the City of Hilliard has already drawn up a development plan for the Grener property which will result in many new homes in this highly desirable area. Because it is already annexed into Hilliard, development can begin as soon as the School Board sells the property to a developer. I wonder how much traffic this will generate?? It's the third criterion -- availability of water/sewer service -- which is of concern with the Walker Rd site they have picked. You see, it is almost a mile to the closest connection point to the municipal water/sewer system (at the corner of Alton-Darby Rd and Pinefield Drive). It seems like it would be pretty expensive to run water all the way to the Walker Rd site, and that sites closer to the edge of development would be better. For example, the Anderson Farm on the southwest corner of Roberts and Alton-Darby, or the Sugar property on the northeast corner of Renner and Alton-Darby (which has been for sale for years). There are also large parcels of land south of I-70, such as the COBA/Select Sires land at the northeast corner of Feder and Alton-Darby. Another thing: Don't you think that if you were going to buy a piece of property for $2.5 million, and that water/sewer service was required, you would get a signed agreement from whomever is supposed to provide that water before you closed on the property? I would like to know who the parties are to such an agreement, assuming it exists. Update May 31, 2006: I have just picked up a copy of the signed Agreement for Purchase and Sale of Real Property describing the terms of the deal between the school board and the Emmelhainz family. Some of the important terms and conditions are:
So, this answers my question above -- the school board has built the agreement so that they don't actually have to pay anything other than a $10,000 deposit to hold the property for one year at the $25,000/acre price. This is a prudent approach. However, the agreement allows the Buyer (the school board) to waive any contingency and proceed to closing no matter what. They will hopefully not proceed to Closing with the water/sewer matter left unresolved! UPDATE Nov 28, 2006: According to the County Auditor's website, ownership of the Emmelhainz property has passed to the School District, meaning they are satisfied that there are no further barriers to construction which cannot be overcome. The two big issues are EPA approval and provisioning of water/sewer service from Columbus. How have these issues been resolved? So what's up? My theory is that the school board (or someone manipulating the school board) has formed an undisclosed alliance with Homewood homes that will benefit both of those parties to the detriment of the whole Hilliard community. Take a look at this map (click to enlarge):
Notice that the property that the School Board intends to purchase (the Ruby Emmelhainz farm), is separated from Alton-Darby Rd by only one property owner: Homewood Homes. Directly across Alton-Darby Rd from the Homewood property is the location of the dual elementary schools, Darby Creek Elementary and Alton Darby Elementary. The land west of Alton-Darby Rd, north of Roberts Rd, and generally east of Walker Rd is within the zone which can be annexed into Hilliard and receive water/sewer services from the City of Columbus. This area is specified in the water service agreement between Hilliard and Columbus signed in 1990 and amended in 1995. However, there was an important clause added to the 1995 amendment, stating that both Columbus and Hilliard acknowledge that there is insufficient infrastructure to support development in the area west of Alton-Darby Rd, and that Columbus has no plans to extend the infrastructure into that area. However, the School Board believes that Columbus has agreed to extend water and sewer to the Emmelhainz site, even though as of March 14, 2006, the Columbus City Council has not passed an ordinance authorizing that construction (per the office of Columbus City Council member Patsy Thomas, who oversees Public Utilities). It is quite interesting that the cost estimates the school officials used for construction of this sewer connection includes the possibility of building the sewer large enough to support residential development. What happens next may be dictated by the success of the Big Darby Accord. The current Accord plan allows for the high school to be placed on the Emmelhainz land yet restricts the Homewood property from development. If we want to throttle development and give our schools a chance to grow at a reasonable and affordable pace -- at the same rate as commercial development -- we need the Big Darby Accord to work. Who are we going to let dictate Hilliard policy: those of us who live in this community, or the residential developers?
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