The new Lincoln Park Middle School moves another step forward with approval for the final three property purchases Monday night by the Duluth
School Board.
The board voted 5-2 to approve the purchases. Members Art Johnston and Gary Glass voted no.
A controversial portion of the Red Plan, the school is the subject of a lawsuit and had at least one landowner holdout.
"Everything is moving forward, but this really completed the desired connection," said Kerry Leider, building services director for the district.
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The three Vernon Street properties will allow the building of the main access road to the school, which will be a separate drive from West Third Street.
Last October, Vernon Street resident David Gaskell, who owns five lots, said he wouldn't sell his property at the appraised price. On Monday, his home was one of the final three up for approval to buy.
He told the News Tribune last fall he had spent several years pouring more than $100,000 into his home to make it handicap-accessible for himself following a spinal injury. He said what the district would pay him wouldn't allow him the same type of home somewhere else, and he wouldn't move unless he could move into a similar home.
Gaskell didn't return calls Monday, but board member Tom Kasper said he voted to approve the purchase because he was confident Gaskell's needs had been met.
The approval to purchase the three properties Monday night brings the total to 11 houses for the school, along with land parcels, including private property and $500,000 in state tax-forfeited land. Leider said two of the homes purchased will be resold once the project is complete. The district chose that route instead of buying only land for the road because it made for an easier process, Leider said. That way, new owners will know how their property will be configured before they buy.
Leider said the access road will have the least impact on the neighborhood. The alternative was using existing city streets. He said the city Planning Commission and the City Council still need to approve the vacation of some streets and dedications of alleys, and both were dependent on Monday's property purchase approval.
A lawsuit against the city and the district was filed in the spring. The lawsuit, filed by three Duluth residents, alleges that the project's effect on the environment wasn't adequately reviewed.
Before moving into closed session to discuss both the pending litigation and properties Monday night, Johnston argued to make the discussion public.
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"I think it's shameful that this board is hiring and spending a lot of money instead of doing an environmental impact statement (for the Lincoln Park Middle School site)," he said.
The board approved about $32.5 million in bids for the school in June. The district has spent $1.37 million of its $2.2 million property budget for the project, not including the cost of what was approved Monday or one piece of land yet to be closed on. The school, at a total cost of about $45.3 million, is expected to be complete for the 2012-13 school year.
