Baldwin City USD 348 logo

The Baldwin City school board agreed Monday to first explore options of where it could move its district offices before starting any discussions to sell the two metal buildings on the 700 block of Chapel Street.

Baker University expressed interest last March in acquiring the office building and adjacent storage building. Baker also has an interest in the vacant square block east of Sixth Street and north of Chapel Street.

Superintendent Paul Dorathy told the board the discussion on the properties had been put on the back burner as the district considered it role in a proposed community center. He suggested it was time to reconsider the sale of the Chapel Street properties now that the community center discussion has been deferred until at least the summer of 2017.

Dorathy said he thought Baker was ready to make an offer on the properties if asked. However, board members agreed they weren’t at that point.

The board agreed with board member Ivan Huntoon that the starting point for any sale was for the district know where it would move the district offices, should they be sold. It was agreed that Dorathy would develop those options to bring back to the board.

Dorathy said those options could include renting space in the community. Baker had also broached in the past making space available for the district on campus and allowing the district to stay in the offices for a period of time past the sale, he said.

That would, however, assume the district would sell the offices to Baker, and board members indicated they had heard from the community that the district should open any sale to all offers through some kind of transparent bidding process. Board President Nick Harris said that was also the lesson learned from the sale two years ago of the closed Vinland Elementary School.

Board members also agreed that the sale of the vacant lot should be considered separately from the buildings. There was also general agreement there was no reason to retain the vacant lot, but it was agreed to get district activities director Gary Stevanus’ confirmation of that before putting it on the market.

Baker owns property to the south, east and west of the district offices, and the vacant lot is on its 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.

After a lengthy discussion, the board agreed to negotiate a district heating and air conditioning service contract with A & H Heating and Air Conditioning of Baldwin City. The decision was contrary to the recommendation of District Facilities Director Chuck James, who favored MMC Contractors of Kansas City, Mo. That recommendation was based on MMC’s lower annual contract price of $22,488 listed in its response to a district request for proposals. A & H proposed a contract price of $26,974.

Board members, however, expressed an interest in awarding the contract to a local company. That desire was made easier to support when A & H owner Bill Harmon said the company’s response was based on faulty information from the school district, and that he would resubmit a proposal 10 percent lower than MMC.

Although concerned that other contractors were not at the meeting to reply, the board agreed to reject all the proposals received and have district staff negotiate a contract with A & H at the reduced rate. That contract will be considered at special board meeting later this month.