Walton High School has the land it needs to bring softball and tennis back to campus.
The Cobb County School District officially purchased about 5 acres of land near Walton High School for $2.6 million during a board meeting on Thursday. Following executive session, the board voted 6-1 on two recommendations by board member Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters in east Cobb.
Jaha Howard of south Cobb cast the lone dissenting vote on both of Davis’ recommendations.
In a Facebook post shared after the meeting, Howard cited “fiscal concerns” for his votes against the land purchases.
The school system plans to construct tennis and softball facilities on the land, returning those sports to an expanded Walton campus, school officials said last November. Those teams relocated practices and competition to Terrell Mill Park when the district began a reconstruction and expansion of the high school in 2015.
There is no current timeline for the construction of new athletic facilities.
The newly acquired parcels include a 3.5-acre lot at 1483 Pine Road for $2 million and a 1.2 acres at 3753 Providence Road for $650,000. The county’s special purpose local option sales tax for education will fund the $2.65 million in land acquisition costs, as well as inspection fees, closing costs and any further construction costs.
Marc Smith, the district’s chief technology and operations officer, initially announced the district’s intent to purchase the land during the July board meeting.
The two properties, located south of the high school’s current campus, are adjacent to 15.3 acres on Pine Road the district purchased for $3 million last November.
Records from the county tax assessor’s office show the property at 1483 Pine Road was owned by Harold and Joan Estes, and a three-bedroom home built in 1964 sits on the land. Records show the property at 3753 Providence Road was owned by Maudelle Gilbert Gibson, and includes a three-bedroom home built in 1976.
Cobb appraised values for 1483 Pine Road is $553,900 and for 3753 Providence Rd is $283,660. How can the Board of Education justify spending 3 TIMES the appraised value of these properties? And how much will it cost to clear and develop the athletic facilities? I guess the they think they're buying votes in the upcoming elections (NOT).
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Taxpayers have spent enough money on Walton High School.
Walton will always get what it wants. Walton parents have the money and can give the campaign donations to get what they want. Just how it is.
Cobb appraised values for 1483 Pine Road is $553,900 and for 3753 Providence Rd is $283,660. How can the Board of Education justify spending 3 TIMES the appraised value of these properties? And how much will it cost to clear and develop the athletic facilities? I guess the they think they're buying votes in the upcoming elections (NOT).
I believe the previous property owners took advantage of the county's school district.
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Remember the human. Show other commenters the respect they deserve as human beings. If you wouldn't say it in a crowded room full of people you don't know, don't say it here. Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.