School board members seek to get best ‘bang for our buck’ in new central office

By Sarah Campbell

scampbell@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education will meet Feb. 6 to discuss how to move forward with plans for a central office.

“We’re going to get in there and weigh all the options,” Chairman Dr. Jim Emerson said. “We’re going to do our due diligence and try to spend taxpayers’ money wisely.

“Certainly, we want every bit of bang for our buck we can get.”

The board’s bid for a downtown administrative building financed through a lease-purchase agreement with private developer Bryan Barwick got shot down by the Rowan County Board of Commissioners during a special meeting Wednesday, failing to gain majority support.

But board members approved Commissioner Jon Barber’s motion to allow the district to spend up to $6 million on a central office facility.

“It’s not what we wanted, but we’ll do the very best we can to find an adequate facility,” school board member Bryce Beard said. “We’ll be working in the public’s best interest to get as much out of their compromise on the money.”

Superintendent Dr. Judy Grissom said the decision will help the school board determine what to do next.

“Although the decision from the county commissioners to allow the schools to borrow up to $6 million for a new central office is not what the school board requested, it does give us the parameters to continue this process,” she said in a statement.

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Beard said although the commissioners’ decision leaves the location of the central office in the hands of the school board, the spending cap is frustrating.

“I found it interesting that they agreed that it was our decision and that we needed to find a solution after 23 years and then they chose to tell us what we could do anyway,” he said. “They told us how much of our money we could spend.”

School board member Kay Wright Norman said it’s important for people to realize commissioners aren’t giving the district the $6 million.

“This $6 million they are talking about is not a gift. That is a loan,” she said. “I personally do not understand why the project we requested was so difficult for them to approve, except it wasn’t their idea.

“That’s a concern to me because it means our board loses its autonomy when we have to beg another board for money.”

But school board member Mike Caskey called the $6 million appropriation “pretty generous.”

“I think we can find something for those dollars that’s going to fit our needs,” he said.

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Building a 62,000-square-foot building through Barwick would cost the district a total of about $9.4 million with interest.

Emerson has said the project might not be out of the picture if donations come in to fill the funding gap.

“We know that we have a great deal of community support and that we have the support of the city of Salisbury and the merchants in that area,” he said. “We’ve already had a sizable donation from the Robertson (Family) Foundation to help support us.”

The foundation pledged $250,000 in support of a downtown central office Monday. That money will be used for furnishing and fixtures.

But Emerson said before the district raises any money, he wants to make sure commissioners won’t renege on the $6 million.

Beard said it would be “great” if donations came in to help pay for the central office, but he doesn’t want to solicit funds.

“I’m not for going out and asking people to give us money,” he said. “But if they would like to do that, the school system would be very appreciative.”

Barwick, the developer, said it’s feasible the project could move forward with donations.

“I think it’s pretty commonplace to fill the gap, you have to raise some type of equity for a project — private, public, whatever it may be,” he said. “I do believe there are probably sources out there that would be interested in providing the money to close the gap and allowing the project to go on.”

Norman said she has “no problem” with donations, but the commissioners’ decision to cap the cost makes moving forward with the project more difficult.

“My concern is that we are being placed in a position again where we have to start worrying about how we are going to pay for this,” she said.

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Emerson said a variety of options for a central office are on the table now, including the one made by Post Publishing Co. on Tuesday.

The offer involves three adjacent buildings in the 100 block of South Main Street. They total 49,000 square feet.

The company, which owns the Salisbury Post, is offering to sell the buildings for $1.2 million. It would cost an estimated $2.8 million to upfit the space for the school system’s use, according to the company’s estimates.

“We’re going to consider it,” Emerson said. “I’ve already asked (Assistant Superintendent) Gene Miller to line up someone to give us a tour.”

The Post property was first brought to the school system’s attention several years ago but had not been discussed recently by the school board.

Norman said the buildings are “not well suited” for the district’s needs.

Parking and the cost of renovations are a concern to Emerson. He said an engineering and architectural study would have to be done on the buildings before the board could really consider the property.

“If we were to buy that building and get in there and find out its structurally unsound, that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.

Caskey said he’s interested in looking at the former MI Window and Doors location at 1735 Heilig Road.

“It’s already got 150,000 square feet,” he said. “Most of it’s warehouse, but it’s empty so we could go into the building and do whatever we want.”

Another feature of the $3.5 million building Caskey pointed out was the 150 paved parking spaces.

Emerson said he prefers a downtown office because of its convenient location.

“Salisbury is the center of all other local government and the central office should have a prominent position in this community to show folks that we value public education,” he said.

But Emerson said the board is free to consider other options.

“It will be a board decision, not an Emerson decision,” he said.

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Emerson said the commissioners’ decision will at least get the ball rolling on a facility to consolidate the district’s five administrative offices.

“Now that we have a $6 million figure, that is going to give us some latitude on how to deal with this issue,” he said.

Grissom said she hopes to see the hard work of school officials and board members pay off in near future with a safe environment for employees.

“We still have a long way to go, but the vision is on our horizon,” she said in a statement. “It is clear that education is important to many in our county.”

The school board will meet at 5 p.m. Feb. 6 at the district’s Long Street Administrative office in East Spencer.

Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683. Twitter: twitter.com/posteducation

Facebook: facebook.com/Sarah.SalisburyPost