At a special called meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the Coffee County Board of Education voted to give the Douglas-Coffee County Economic Development Authority a two-year option to sell four tracts of land on school system property for $1.6 million. The EDA paid the school board $1,000 for the option.
The property, which includes just about everything on the southwest corner of Peterson Avenue and the bypass except the old high school, the central office, and of course the new Hardee’s that is currently under construction, comprises about eight total acres. The school system is not discussing demolishing the old high school or the central office. The board decided to option the land to the EDA because the school system no longer has a need to develop the property for educational purposes.
If, at the end of two years, the EDA has not sold the property, the school board can buy the property back for the same price. Also, if the property is indeed sold to another party, it must be developed within a 12-month period; the new owners cannot buy the land and then sit on it for a prolonged period of time.
“The school board and the superintendent determined that because the property wasn’t going to be developed for educational purposes, it was in the best interests of our school system, community, and the taxpayers of Coffee County that we enter into this agreement with the EDA,” stated board chairman Bryan Preston.