Baldwin City USD 348 logo

It was revealed at Monday’s Baldwin City school board meeting that Baker University has made an offer for the district’s two Chapel Street properties the university covets.

The offer would involve no cash payments but would barter the district’s use of Baker’s stadium for six years in return for the district’s properties in the 700 block of Chapel Street and the vacant square block east of Sixth Street, between Baker and Chapel streets.

Baker owns property to the south, east and west of the district offices at 715 Chapel St., and the vacant city block is on the university’s northern boundary. Andy Jett, Baker vice president of strategic planning and academic resources, told the Journal-World in March the university was interested in the properties so that it could secure its northern boundary for future needs.

In a Dec. 6 letter to Baldwin Superintendent Paul Dorathy, Jett wrote that an independent appraisal of the two properties placed their value at $191,000.

Baker’s offer was that the university purchase the properties for that sum by providing the use of its stadium from the 2016-2017 school year through 2021-2022 as an offsetting value. The letter said the stadium-use value for 2016 would be $35,000. That yearly value would increase 2 percent a year to $38,642 in 2021.

The district paid $25,000 for the use of the stadium in the 2015-2016 school year for about 12 different events, Dorathy said.

Baker’s offer would allow the district to remain in the Chapel Street district office for 18 months rent-free, at which point the university would offer the district temporary office space at a different site for another 18 months if the district has not found a suitable space.

Board member Chad Christie said he was disappointed in the $191,000 that Baker offered.

“I’m not interested with that number, to be honest,” he said. “That’s nowhere near the value. I don’t care if it was appraised.”

Board member Sandy Chapman said she, too, found the offer low. She once again stated the district should be mindful of its experience in selling the old Vinland Elementary School, and it should and create some kind of open bidding process on the Chapel Street properties. The board sold that property through a sealed-bid process after learning that more parties were interested in the old school than the one prospective buyer who first approached the district.

The board will have more time to determine what kind of bidding process would be used as Dorathy continues to develop an exit plan, should the district office be sold.

As instructed by the board in November, Dorathy presented the board Monday a list of possible options for relocating the district offices. Those included building new offices, relocating to existing school district property, leasing space or buying existing office space. The superintendent was instructed to flesh out those options further while also exploring options to relocate the district maintenance shop behind the district offices on Chapel Street.