(Seguin) — The Seguin ISD will have to wait a few more days before it can take initial steps toward potentially locking down the land for a future third middle school campus. The land in question is a 42-acre tract adjacent to the Irma Lewis Seguin Outdoor Learning Center located on the city’s northeast side.
Although they are very interested in the potential of this property, Seguin ISD Superintendent Matthew Gutierrez says the board felt the language as presented in the agenda item did not fully establish the district’s intention to determine the best decision.
“Nothing changes as far as our interest in looking at that property as a possibility for a third middle school. I think what the board is wanting us to do is change the resolution language when we come back to really outline the district doing our due diligence on the study of the property. As you all heard, there was some public commentary on that property and with every reason but what we do once we have that opportunity to make an offer on a property then we go into the part where we work with our architect and engineers to look at the soil, to look at the water, to look at the easement and so that’s what this resolution would have afforded us to do but I think what the board is wanting us to come back with is really outlining what some of that due diligence would look like,” said Gutierrez.
Prior to the board’s action, the school board heard from several members of the community and residents in that area who felt that the property was not the best place for a school. They cited issues with the property being in a flood plain as well as in Randolph’s fly zone, which according to most of them, is a deafening experience and potentially harmful to students.
If approved, the agenda item would have delegated authority to the superintendent to negotiate and execute the necessary documents to effectuate the property purchase. Included in this process would have been a period in which the district could have conducted the necessary tests and investigations to determine whether any public concerns about purchasing the property were valid.
Convincing trustees to wait until the language can be changed was School Board Member Joshua Bright. Bright says the idea was simply to provide the public with a better understanding of how a deal if reached, was made.
“Like when you are buying a house, right? This is the same process. You make an offer which we have to make an offer and then you go through an inspection period and I think that in the resolution, that needs to say that – that part of the process — is we are going to make an offer, yes and then during the period of inspection, we will do all of our due diligence to do all the tests and everything like that and really I think that’s what we really need to put in the resolution itself – maybe explain it a little bit more for the public,” said Bright.
However, Gutierrez says holding off on the vote comes with some risks.
“It does cause concern because right now, properties are not on the market for a very long time especially this much property and we encountered some challenges back when we started to look at the property for McQueeney. We’d identify a property. We would want to come to the board to discuss it and within a matter of days, it was not available anymore. The other challenge was finding a property within our budget. We asked our community for $1 million and the properties that we were finding were $3 million, $4 million, $5 million. We were very fortunate to find a plot of land for McQueeney Elementary School within that budget or close to that budget and so our concern right now is we went out to voters and asked for $2 million – that the price of the land, the cost of the land is going to continue to increase. Our hope is that we can find a property in the coming months that we can secure. Although, we do not need that third middle school right now or not even in the next few years, we want to be proactive and secure that property and so our hope is that we don’t encounter as many challenges as we did with securing land for McQueeney Elementary,” said Gutierrez.
As for the issues raised by the community, Gutierrez says none of them were a surprise. He says once the district gets around to giving him the go-ahead to pursue a deal, then a 60-day inspection period will go into effect, and the district will be one step closer to determining the district’s future.
“These weren’t surprises. These are all issues that we had discussed before with the easement, with the floodplain, with the fact that you have the base right there and the planes that fly over. Those were things that we had discussed already and had talked through with our attorneys. There wasn’t anything up to this point that had caused an alarm or a significant concern to make us want to not come to the board for authorization to pursue this property further. So, none of what was shared was a surprise,” said Gutierrez.
According to the district, the property’s location was popular because it sits adjacent to the SOLC. As reported earlier, the Seguin ISD is in the process of also purchasing the outdoor learning center with hopes of building its future Ag Center at the site.
District officials say to keep with its timeline and not lose out on the deal, they’ll have to return for another vote as soon as possible.