Hinton school board takes land purchase offer off the table

When it comes to obtaining land to build a new elementary school, it's back to the beginning for the Hinton Community School Board.

Board members Monday rejected a counteroffer from property owners Kevin and Annette Held for the purchase of 24 acres around the existing Hinton Community School building.

"By rejecting their counteroffer, which was an offer to buy with an addendum of terms and conditions, we have rejected all previous offers on the 24 acres," said Robert Held, Hinton School Board president.

School board members Monday also reaffirmed their decision to continue using eminent domain to obtain about 8 acres adjacent to the existing school building for a new elementary.

"We all regret that we got to this point," said member Ed Vondrak.

The addendum in the Helds' counteroffer included requests that the school district pay for items like installing a chain link fence along the south property line and a privacy fence.

Those items plus additional requests by the Helds would have increased the cost to the school district to about $600,000 from the district's original $580,000 offer for the 24 acres, Robert Held said.

Annette Held told the Daily Sentinel Tuesday morning she was not aware of the board's decision and did not wish to comment.

Last month board members accepted a counteroffer to buy the 8 acres adjacent to the existing school and 16 to the west from the Helds for $580,000 without the add-ons.

That came after the Helds did not accept the school district's offer to purchase the 8 acres for $235,000 with a flat $5,000 to help relocate the cattle operation.

Rejecting the Helds' current counteroffer and moving forward with eminent domain passed with separate 4-1 votes with board member Randy Riediger voting no.

From the start Riediger has been against the use of eminent domain and said that is still his opinion.

Vondrak, Robert Held and board members Steve Eddy and Lynette Blanchard all agreed they didn't have any choice except to move forward with eminent domain to obtain the land.

"We have not had any progress since early this spring," Robert Held said.

He pointed out the school district has been discussing building a new elementary school and competitive gymnasium for 12 years and "working in earnest over three years."

For every offer the school district has made to Kevin and Annette Held they have made a counteroffer, and that could go on for years without ever reaching an agreement, Vondrak said.

"I don't think anything we do at this point is going to matter," he said.

The only offer remaining on the table is the $235,000 from the school district to purchase the 8 acres adjacent to the school building, Robert Held said.

The next step in obtaining the land through eminent domain is taking the case to court.

Even during the court process, negotiations can continue with property owners who can still accept the school district's final offer for the 8 acres, Robert Held said.

"All of us feel regret, but at the same time we haven't gotten anywhere," he said of negotiations with the Held family.

As part of preparing to build a new elementary and possibly a competitive gymnasium, Monday board members also set Sept. 8 as the date for a public vote for the issuance of $5.9 million in general obligation bonds to help pay for construction costs.