April 10th Land Acquisition Highlights | Vote Date: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 |
- 22.4 acres at 301 Route 32 South, adjacent to Lenape Elementary School. Price recently reduced.
- Property contains residential home, detached garage, barn, pool and pool house.
- Board plans to subdivide property following sale, divesting itself of home and outbuildings and retaining acreage adjacent to Lenape Elementary School. This sale will also require voter approval at a subsequent public vote.
- Acquisition will provide opportunity to expand current single entrance/exit into Lenape, enhancing emergency access.
- Acquisition will provide opportunity to expand athletic fields, currently at capacity due to district and community use.
- Acquisition will provide opportunity for additional parking, both for Lenape Elementary School and potential athletic fields.
- Acquisition will provide additional acreage for possible yet undetermined future expansion at the site. (NYS Education Department sets acreage per square foot requirements.)
- The district will conduct soil testing, including core drilling, to determine any potential chemical exposure risk that may be associated with the land’s former use as an apple orchard. The purchase will be canceled if the land is found unsuitable for use, if remediation is too costly, or if risk cannot be removed. If remediation is required, additional information will be disclosed on the extent of the risk and costs.
- Purchase price of full plot is $798,000. District will need to outlay full purchase price and subsequently realize partial return from sale of subdivision.
- Voters are being asked to fund the purchase from district’s Capital Reserve Fund. If approved, the purchase price will not impact the tax rate as those funds are already contained within the fund. After the purchase, the Fund will have a balance of approximately $400,000 for improvements to existing buildings.
- If approved and the district retains the property, then the plot is removed from the tax rolls. The current total tax assessed for the plot is $18,240. The final impact to the taxpayers would be the net assessed value on the acreage retained by the district after the subdivision. This net cost would then be spread across the district’s 6772 properties, however will be offset by recent growth on the tax rolls.
For additional questions, contact Assistant Superintendent for Business, Richard Linden at 845-256-4010.
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