New Philadelphia board moves forward on land purchase for new schools

The New Philadelphia Board of Education has moved forward with the purchase of a 77-acre tract of land on state Route 39 east of New Philadelphia for the construction of new schools.

At a special meeting Feb. 17, the board, by a 4-1 vote, agreed to purchase the tract, known as the Leggett farm. Board member Kelly Ricklic cast the lone no vote.

The school district will pay $35,714 per acre for the property, for a total cost of $2.75 million. The sale is contingent upon passage of a 1.5% income tax by the voters May 5 to pay for construction of the buildings.

The agreement also is contingent on the property being annexed into the city and the seller, Ridge Valley LLC, providing an easement for water and sewer to extend to the property. The current owners of the land would retain the mineral rights.

Before the vote, Ricklic said that he supports construction of new schools for the district. However, he said he thought that $35,714 an acre was too much to pay without the mineral rights being attached.

He also shared a map with board members provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The map shows the presence of deep mines on the property, including a mine opening and a vertical mine opening located on the southern edge of the property near Ridge Road NE.

He also cited a survey conducted by the Natural Resources Conservation Service that suggested the soil may not be suitable for building without expending a large sum of money.

Board member Andrew Zimmerman spoke in support of the purchase.

“Many of the sites people keep proposing, Howden Buffalo, Kent State, the mall (New Towne Mall), aren’t for sale or have other issues or limitations, so we’re very limited in what we can do,” he said. “I know this location is not downtown, but it’s close enough and the land is big enough that we can build all that our kids need now and in the future.”

The property is located east of the city between Pleasant Valley Road and Tabor Ridge Road on the south side of Route 39. It was the longtime home of G. Ray and Grace Leggett and has been owned by the family for more than 120 years. The property is now owned by their heirs.

New Philadelphia City Schools has gone to the voters four times in recent years with a bond issue to build new schools, but residents have rejected it each time.

If approved by voters in May, the income tax would raise about $7.2 million per year on earned income by district residents. Senior citizens would not have to pay the tax.

New Philadelphia is slated to receive $80 million from the state to help pay for the project. The district would be responsible for the remaining $89 million. The total cost of the project is $169.56 million.

The board also met with Randy Lucas, superintendent of the East Central Ohio Educational Service Center in New Philadelphia. Lucas will help the board hire a new superintendent.

The current superintendent, Amy Wentworth, will be leaving the district this summer to take a new job as superintendent of the Indian Valley School District. She will replace her husband, Ira Wentworth, in that position.

Lucas outlined the services he will provide to the board during the search.

He noted that the candidate pool has been more “challenging” recently. He assisted Dover City Schools several years ago in finding a new superintendent. Around 34 people applied for the job. The ESC recently posted for Martins Ferry and only got four candidates for the superintendent’s job. Eight people applied for the Indian Valley job.

“I’m not seeing as many people interested in these positions as there used to be,” he told board members.