Sell Criglersville property?

The Madison County Board of Supervisors is revisiting the idea of selling the former Criglersville Elementary School.

Supervisor Doris Lackey initiated the conversation at the Feb. 14 regular monthly supervisors meeting.

Lackey said, “The building continues to deteriorate. We have a lot of trouble as I understand it with vandalism. It’s just kind of rotting away there. It seems to me we really need to do something to stop this from continuing. And I would strongly suggest that we put the property on the market and that we sell it.”

In June 2009, Madison County officials passed up a firm’s proposal to purchase the former school property. The board at that time unanimously declined the $167,000 offer put forth by Washington, D.C.-based historic restoration and preservation company, The Craftsmen Group Inc. The group initially made an offer in August 2007 following the supervisors’ consideration and eventual denial of a proposal to sell the 5.7-acre property along Old Blue Ridge Turnpike (Route 670) to a neighboring church for $100,000. Even though they considered selling the property to the church for $100,000, it had been assessed at $509,100 in 2004. The supervisors rejected the offer in response to citizens’ outcry regarding the proposed sale.

A more recent reassessment, released in 2007, put the property’s total assessed value at $854,000, according to previously published reports.

First, the supervisors want to meet with Susan Apel, the director of Criglersville School Matters, a community group that has taken on the school’s future as its task.

“I would like to hear from them before we take any action,” Supervisor Jerry Butler said. “They’ve done an awful lot of work.”

In May 2011, supervisors gave their nod of approval to have a field representative from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and an architect inspect the 1949 Criglersville Elementary School’s main two-story brick building. In a phone interview with The Eagle last week, Apel said that did happen last year and it was determined the building was in “good shape.”

Apel said there are a lot of pros for the county to keep the building and not sell it.

She said her group has been thinking of ideas for it potential use that would benefit the county. She said the ideas that they came up with include vocational training programs, office space, a culinary program, a small engine program or even a place for a community theater group to put on shows.

“The building has a lot of historical value. Most people want to see it be used for something productive to the county,” Apel said. “I think the county right now thinks they are going to get a big amount of money for this property but they are not looking at it from a community perspective.”

She added, “I don’t think selling it is the answer. I think there would be a lot of backlash.”

There is a wide range of responses from the supervisors of what should be done to the building and property, which also includes two vacant homes and two playgrounds and an athletic field. The playgrounds and athletic field have been the focus of several recent volunteer fix-ups and are still regularly used by the public, including this past Saturday, when several Nethers-area families were practicing and playing baseball there.

Lackey said a Madison County Realtor should be chosen to sell the property.

“If we don’t sell it in six months, let’s auction it,” Lackey said.

Supervisor Weakley agreed with Lackey.

“Everything has an expiration. It’s time to move along with it. I’d like to see it marketed a little better,” Weakley said.

Butler disagreed. “I am not for selling any county property.”

Supervisor Pete Elliott said he would put thought into selling the main school building but he would not be in favor of selling the piece of property close to the Robinson River in case the northern part of Madison County would need water in the future.

“Who knows someday down the road 10 years or 20 years, we may need some water for the Criglersville area and the county would have a right of way to that water,” Elliott said.

Butler agreed with not giving up the land that fronts the Robinson River, because it could be officially designed as a park. (Some residents who regularly use its athletic field and two playgrounds already consider it an “unofficial” park.)

Madison County E 911 Director Robert “Radar” Finks suggested the property was large enough to install a cell tower for that area of the county. 

Currently, the building is used by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office to train its deputies, Butler said.

The supervisors did not take action on the issue, but did decide to invite Apel to their workshop set for 2 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Madison fire hall.

Butler said the main building was evaluated under the capital improvement program. The main 1,400 square-foot building needed to be brought up to code by installing a stair railing up to the second floor, the septic system needed to be identified and the propane tank needs to be tested, according to Butler.

(Madison County Eagle Editor Don Richeson contributed to this story.)

In other matters at its Feb. 14 regular meeting, the Madison County Board of Supervisors:

>> Decided in a 3-2 vote to approve a resolution to move forward toward a capital improvement plan. The resolution said they would move forward borrowing sufficient money to fund certain critical projects in the county’s capital improvement plan and possible refinancing of existing county debt. The resolution said that the board of supervisors and the school board would identify the specific project at their joint meeting 7 p.m. Feb. 29 and that the identified projects be approved by the board at or before their regular meeting in April. Butler and Elliott voted against it.

>> Unanimously approved a $150,000 supplemental appropriation for Comprehensive Services Act because of an increased need foster care children. The eligible children rose from 11 to 25, said Valerie Ward, director of the Madison County Department of Social Services. The money will be taken from operational contingency fund, sometimes called “the rainy day fund.”   

>> Decided to send another letter to the Commonwealth Transportation Board about Shotwell Hollow Road (Route 611) from County Attorney V.R “Shack” Shackelford III. They previously sent a letter to the CTB in October 2011 to be put on its January agenda but have been “ignored,” officials say. The letter states that the unpaved Syria-Etlan public right of way should be treated as part of the six-year project that is under the control of the board of supervisors and that no more money should be spent on the road. They are asking for the CTB to respond within 30 days. VDOT Culpeper District Residency Maintenance Manager David Cubbage attended the meeting and said that there are no plans to do maintenance on the road, but if someone complained about it, it was in their system and they would fix the problem. 

>> Decided in a 3-2 vote to move the Madison County Zoning Administration and Department of Building Permits and Inspections offices back to the original location of the County Administration Center. The reason for the move is to make it easier for the zoning officials to look up records on the spot and give better customer service. Elliott and Butler voted against it.

>> Discussed a $35,000 proposal from Stonewall Technologies Incorporated, a sister organization of Blue Ridge Appraisals, to scan documents for the Madison County Zoning Administration and Department of Building Permits and Inspections offices. Currently they have records on the computer from 2001 to present day, but do not have the records that date back to 1949 on the computer.

>> Decided to advertise for vacancies on the Madison County Parks and Recreation Authority and College Advisory Board.

>> Listened to citizen Mary Moore of Haywood discuss a potential “meet and greet” for dogs that are with the Madison County Animal Shelter. She proposed a fenced in area near the shelter for people to meet and play with adoptable dogs. Supervisors asked Transfer Station Manager Mark Ford to ask the Department of Environmental Quality if she could use land close to the transfer station for this purpose. They said they would discuss it at the next workshop set for 2 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Madison fire hall.