Following an extensive executive session Wednesday evening, the Levelland ISD Board of Trustees approved a resolution that will begin the process to attempt to sell the Carver building.
LISD Superintendent Becky McCutchen explained that the building was constructed in 1950 and that it is currently vacant and being used for storage.
“It is in need of a new roof, it costs us money to keep the utilities on in addition to maintenance,” explained McCutchen. “We have an interested individual who is looking to lease or buy it, but there is an extensive amount of steps we have to go through to sell the building.”
McCutchen added that the selling the building requires a bid process and even though there is an interested party, that individual may decide to change their mind at some point of time in the future. She emphasized that the Carver Building will remain under Levelland ISD throughout the process and if no buyer is found the building will remain under the care of the district.
“What the board did was approve the resolution to begin the process to sell the building,” said McCutchen. “There is a long list of steps and that includes the group meeting and setting a formal timeline. That includes how long we will be advertising, how long we will take bids, when bids will be open, what meeting bids will be accepted and contract negotiations follow suit.”
The board received a large report on the current situation of property tax evaluations from the Hockley County Appraisal District and Laurie Marquez.
As the appraisal district conducts property value studies, if they are not within a five percent variance within the guidelines the Texas Comptroller says they should be the property value study is found to be invalid. In turn, that affects school funding.
Marquez attended the meeting to explain the steps that they are planning to take to remedy the invalid findings. The district is estimated to lose $700,000 in funding for the current school year. Budget amendments are expected to be needed in the coming months to accommodate the loss.
The board brought back the calendar that was originally accepted at the board meeting at the last meeting. It was only brought back as the originally adopted calendar had Thanksgiving flagged on the wrong day.
The group also approved the Legal Retainer Services with nearly no changes from the past retainer and heard a quick update on the campus improvement plan as well as the financial reports.
McCutchen did report Armco has gone through the roof at the Intermediate School and they are 90% done with the work. They are awaiting a few pieces of flashing to finish the project. She also reported that the recent snow has caused a few leaks to repair but nothing of great significance. She also reported that engineers with the district’s insurance provider will be in town on or about the 27th of February looking at hail damage claims.
McCutchen reported that the Facilities Committee is currently being retained for future research and planning. The current discussion is that the committee will likely meet once a month for a while but likely will be moved to quarterly meetings.