Deal is off between schools and county

NORWALK — The deal is off. The proposed land swap between the Norwalk City Schools and the Huron County Commissioners has been scrapped, according to assistant prosecutor Randal L. Strickler. "It's off and that's all I can say," Strickler said following Tuesday morning's commissioners meeting. "Everything that was done was in executive session." Commissioner Terry Boose brought up the deal during Tuesday's meeting. "I think we owe it to the taxpayers, whether in the school district or in general ... we are no longer moving in that direction," Boose said. "I thought we were moving in the right direction. We paid for an appraisal to get done. We moved through. We had discussions with the school. "There was never an official agreement — that was supposed the next step. Get everything in writing and move forward from there. I thought they were really good meetings. Both sides said 'what do we need to do to make this happen.' I was under the impression that we were waiting for an agreement. "Mr. Brady, I think, went to an executive meeting (school board) ... and the project was stopped." Who killed the deal? "Not by me," Boose said. "And I am not saying it was them if you can get my drift. I am all for the swap and am all for moving forward. But at this time, as I understand, that's not happening." It was full steam ahead for the schools following the Aug. 16 board meeting when the board gave the OK for Superintendent Brad Cooley to make a real estate exchange/deal with the commissioners. The land involved is across from Norwalk High School. The hope is to build a new elementary school on the property. Here is the official statement from board president Lisa Wick: "I move to authorize the Superintendent and/or Treasurer to enter into an agreement with the Huron County Commissioners to purchase 12 acres of land and to exchange approximately 10 acres of real estate on Shady Lane Drive for the purpose of constructing a new elementary school. An anonymous donor will supply the funds to purchase the new property." That is one of the first steps in that project. There is about 52 acres of land across the street on Shady Lane Drive. The school owns about 20 acres, but is land-locked by the county, which owns about 10 acres to the east (next to the license bureau) and about 22 acres to the west. The county and school will swap 10 acres, according to the proposal, then purchase the remaining 12 acres to the west. That would give the county 20 acres next to the license bureau, and the schools 32 acres to the west. "Securing acreage is what you need to do to get to the next step of building a school," Cooley said at the time. "A lot of steps have to be addressed along the way. This is a good step." It, obviously, was not good enough. Cooley on Tuesday talked about the situation. "It's frustrating with one of the county commissioners," he said. "He (Brady) said it was a done deal and he changed his mind. I had met with the county commissioners twice. Harry Brady came to one of our meetings (Aug. 2) and looked all eight of us in the eyes and said he was a man of his word. "A significant amount of time went by and said commissioner changed his mind. With only three members one (Skip) was removed because his property butts up to the land and it is a conflict. Terry Boose is supportive of this. Harry Brady has since changed his mind. With a 1-1 vote that process will not go forward. "President (Lisa) Wick and I met with Harry. He brought his assistant prosecutor (Strickler) with him and about all we got is he changed his mind. Discouraging working with people sometimes. A handshake and word used to mean something. Here it is not the case. "He has to let us know what changed his mind." Can the project still go forward without the land swap? "We have 20 acres," Cooley said. "We have enough and when it is time to build that will still be the location. It would keep us from doing some of the things we want to like moving the bus garage out there. The school can still happen on 20 acres."