The Barrow County Board of Education spent most of its time Tuesday discussing what to do if Lanier Tech pulls out of a proposed joint project between the board, the Barrow County Board of Commissioners and the technical college to build an educational facility/multi-use complex on land owned by the county at the intersection of Highways 316 and 53.
A meeting between the BOE and BOC is slated for Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. to further discuss what has become a complex issue for all the governments involved.
Project plans have been in the works since 2005 when $5 million in SPLOST 3 funds were allocated for construction of a multi-use building/ performing arts center to be shared by the school system and county.
The board of education was to put $1.5 million into the project in return for ownership of the 10 acres of land the center would be built on. At the time, the land was valued at $75,000 per acre.
The board of commissioners’ $3.5 million share in the joint project was to be used for building construction. The $5 million price tag placed on completing the project was based on the $6 million cost of Oconee County’s cultural arts center, a joint project between that county and school system. But a wrench was thrown in the works on October 19 when Lanier Tech officials said the school was considering another location on Hwy. 316 near the Georgia Club The BOE agreed that Lanier Tech’s continued interest during the past two years in expanding its campus onto county-owned land adjoining the Hwy. 316 and Hwy. 53 location had pushed project plans grow from the original 10 acre, $5 million project to the current $15-$16 million project. The board also agreed that “somewhere along the way,” 20 acres became the land size and the idea of a career academy got thrown into the mix ”We’re dead in the water (in terms of a definitive project plan) until we know what Lanier Tech’s going to do,” BOE member Bill Bramlett said.
BOE member Lynn Stevens agreed.
“The perfect thing would be for Lanier Tech, us and the county to do what we had planned,” she said.
Superintendent Wanda Creel said she spoke with Ron Jackson, commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia, about the project.
“They will not be able to have an answer for us (about Lanier Tech’s decision) before mid-January,” she said.
Given that, chairman Mike Still said he felt the board “needs to commit to some land somewhere, in order to move forward and increase chances of outside support.”
Bramlett proposed finding a $15,000 per acre “sewer ready, full utility property somewhere else…How can we justify paying $75,000 per acre when we can build what we need to build on $15,000 an acre land?” he asked. “That’s $1.2 million more we have to put into the facility (the difference between $75,000 and $15,000 per acre on a 20 site.) It may be more fiscally prudent to go off site.”
“We told the citizens we were going to build a performing arts center (with SPLOST 3 funds), Bailey said. “I think that’s what we owe them, even if we have to go back to the original $5 million plan.”
But BOE member Larry Ballard had another view.
“A career academy will probably better suit our students’ needs than a performing arts center,” he said.
More discussion followed about the benefits of continuing to court Lanier Tech’s involvement versus the practicality of moving forward with a scaled down, but potentially do-able plan more similar to the original $5 million project.
“Whether it’s a Yugo or a Cadillac, the money’s not there to finish the project,” BOE member Mitch Churchill said, referring to building a career center and a multi-purpose building/performing arts center without Lanier Tech involvement.
“We do have a commitment to a partnership with our county.”
Still and Creel agreed to talk with BOC chairman Danny Yearwood to let him know the school system is still interested in working with the county on a joint project and the Hwy. 316 and Hwy. 53 location is preferred if it is financially feasible, should Lanier Tech decide to locate elsewhere.
