Brandon Twp.- School officials say a purchase agreement has been reached with the landowner of a 10-foot by-100 foot strip of land along Oakwood Road needed for a new Brandon Elementary School.
The $17 million school project, set to start in March, had stalled after the Oakwood property owner balked at selling the property to the district. Terms of the agreement released to The Citizen included the district paying $5,000 for the property and relocation of some trees located in the easement area.
‘We appreciate the landowner’s willingness to work with the district,? said Tom Miller, Brandon Schools superintendent.
‘With this agreement, we can now move forward with the project. When spring comes, we can start construction.?
The property owner could not be reached for comment.
The strip of land is needed, say school officials, to construct an acceleration lane for traffic when it exits north onto Oakwood Road from the new school. The mandate comes from the Road Commission for Oakland County, and is the result of a surveying error when Oakwood Road was first constructed that placed the road too far west. The road shift makes the easement land purchase necessary.
The school board voted 7-0 at the Dec. 11 school board meeting to approve the purchase of 23 acres along Oakwood Road just north of Leece Road for the construction of the new school. The purchase was contingent on an agreement to purchase the Oakwood Road easement from the resident, who had verbally agreed to sell the strip of land prior to the December school board meeting.
The property, valued at $500,000 and currently owned by the Tucker Investment Co. LLC, borders several township residents and was one of five locations selected by the district for the new elementary school, said Miller.
The school will enroll about 350 kindergarten through fourth grade students.
The building project will include a 65,000 square-foot building to replace the aging H.T. Burt Elementary School, a soccer field, softball diamond, playgrounds and natural areas, as outlined in the recent $73 million district bond extension OK’d by voters earlier this year.