newsandsentinel.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
April 27, 2024
Chad Conley
The Wood County Board of Education recently purchased 31.23 acres of land in Washington, W.Va. This property was purchased to build the new Lubeck Elementary School. This purchase was an extremely irresponsible financial decision by the Wood County Board of Education. The price for this piece of property was $755,000. You would think with such a large purchase and price tag, the Wood County Board of Education would have at the very least had an appraisal done to make sure they are paying a fair price for the property.
I submitted a FOIA to the Wood County BOE and requested a copy of the appraisal. The BOE responded to the FOIA and said they did not have an appraisal done prior to the purchase. As part of the FOIA, I also requested information regarding the existing infrastructure on this piece of property. I asked the board to provide me with what utilities are currently in the property, and the estimated cost to have these utilities installed if they did not currently exist.
The property does not have sanitary sewer. The BOE will need to obtain a gravity sewer system by extending the main line from the Lubeck PSD to the site. Water is available on site, but it has insufficient flow and pressure and will need line extensions and other modifications. Electric service is currently available to the site but will require minor modifications from the utility provider in order to assist in electrical load balancing on the existing infrastructure. Mon Power is unsure of the final associated cost but has stated that it would be minor and would be offset by the yearly revenue produced by the new Lubeck Elementary Schools’ usages. The total cost to install or upgrade the existing utilities is estimated at $663,000. This is on top of the $755,000 they have already spent on the property they didn’t get an appraisal on. Before the Wood County BOE even breaks ground on this new school, they will have spent nearly $1.5 million of your taxpayer money.
MOVCAC Side Note: Please Read
Does Your School’s Board of Education realize the effect that new levies or bonds have on you and your community?
