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Wysox Elementary School might be sold
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BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN
STAFF WRITER
TOWANDA — The Towanda Area School District has received some good news about the Wysox Elementary School, which it has been trying to sell, the school district’s business manager said on Monday.
Until now, the school district has been blocked from selling the property, because a reverter clause written into the deed requires the school building to be used “for public school purposes” only.
The Piollet family had donated the land on which the building sits to the school district in 1922, and unless all 17 descendants of the Piollet family waive the reverter clause, the building cannot be sold, Towanda school officials have said.
At Monday’s Towanda School Board meeting, board Vice President Tony Ventello reported that the descendants of the Piollet had recently communicated through their attorney to the school district’s attorney on the matter.
“It’s positive,” Ventello said of the communication. “It seems like they (the descendants) want to work with us to dispose of the property.”
Doreen Secor, business manager for the school district, noted that the school district has received “nothing formal” yet as far as a communication from the descendants of the Piollet family.
However, she said that Fred Smith, the attorney working for the school district on the disposal of the school, expects to receive within 30 days a “written proposal” from the descendants’ attorney regarding the disposal of the school.
“We will have to wait and see what the proposal is,” Secor said.
The school building is currently in poor condition, and the building has become a liability issue for the school district, school officials have said.
Currently, all of the Towanda School District’s students are housed on a three-school campus in Towanda. However, the school district is continuing to use the Wysox Elementary School building for storage.
Mulberry Street School
In a related matter, Secor reported that the school district has received updated appraisals for the Mulberry Street Elementary School in Towanda, which the school district is also trying to dispose of.
In 2004, Frank Bertrand and Bob Benjamin, both of the Towanda/Wysox area, had appraised the Mulberry Street School for $180,000 and $165,000, Secor said.
The updated appraisals, which were done by the same people, were for $160,000 and $115,000, she said.
Those appraisals will help the school board decide how to dispose of the school building, she said.
Under state code, the school district has three options if it chooses to sell the Mulberry Street School.
It could have a public auction, it could solicit sealed bids or it could dispose of it through a private sale, Secor said.
The school board also has discussed renting out the building.
School Board member Evelyn Sherburne said she has been to a number of building auctions, and found that buildings were selling for less than they were worth.
But board member Pete Alesky recalled an auction in Montrose where a bidding war took place at an auction, which drove up the price of a residential property to an unusually high level.
“You never know at auctions,” he said. “Sometimes they are good, and sometimes they are bad,” he said.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
Until now, the school district has been blocked from selling the property, because a reverter clause written into the deed requires the school building to be used “for public school purposes” only.
The Piollet family had donated the land on which the building sits to the school district in 1922, and unless all 17 descendants of the Piollet family waive the reverter clause, the building cannot be sold, Towanda school officials have said.
At Monday’s Towanda School Board meeting, board Vice President Tony Ventello reported that the descendants of the Piollet had recently communicated through their attorney to the school district’s attorney on the matter.
“It’s positive,” Ventello said of the communication. “It seems like they (the descendants) want to work with us to dispose of the property.”
Doreen Secor, business manager for the school district, noted that the school district has received “nothing formal” yet as far as a communication from the descendants of the Piollet family.
However, she said that Fred Smith, the attorney working for the school district on the disposal of the school, expects to receive within 30 days a “written proposal” from the descendants’ attorney regarding the disposal of the school.
“We will have to wait and see what the proposal is,” Secor said.
The school building is currently in poor condition, and the building has become a liability issue for the school district, school officials have said.
Currently, all of the Towanda School District’s students are housed on a three-school campus in Towanda. However, the school district is continuing to use the Wysox Elementary School building for storage.
Mulberry Street School
In a related matter, Secor reported that the school district has received updated appraisals for the Mulberry Street Elementary School in Towanda, which the school district is also trying to dispose of.
In 2004, Frank Bertrand and Bob Benjamin, both of the Towanda/Wysox area, had appraised the Mulberry Street School for $180,000 and $165,000, Secor said.
The updated appraisals, which were done by the same people, were for $160,000 and $115,000, she said.
Those appraisals will help the school board decide how to dispose of the school building, she said.
Under state code, the school district has three options if it chooses to sell the Mulberry Street School.
It could have a public auction, it could solicit sealed bids or it could dispose of it through a private sale, Secor said.
The school board also has discussed renting out the building.
School Board member Evelyn Sherburne said she has been to a number of building auctions, and found that buildings were selling for less than they were worth.
But board member Pete Alesky recalled an auction in Montrose where a bidding war took place at an auction, which drove up the price of a residential property to an unusually high level.
“You never know at auctions,” he said. “Sometimes they are good, and sometimes they are bad,” he said.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
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C wrote on Jan 13, 2009 11:20 AM: