White County Board of Education finalized a land transfer that has been nearly 50 years in the making.
Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said the board approved plats for volunteer fire departments at BonDeCroft, Cassville, and Central View to officially deed the land to the county. Dronebarger said the transfer was about 50 years in the making.
“The county commissioners had decided, I guess, at that time that this land would be… once the fire halls were built on school property, that that land would then be deeded to the county for the purposes of having a countywide fire department.”
Dronebarger said the move fulfills a resolution originally passed by the board in August 1979.
Finance Director Chad Markham said his research into the “annals of history” uncovered the original 1979 agreement between the school board and the county commission. Markham said the intent of the original resolution was for the property to be deeded back to the county once the fire stations were completed, but the paperwork was never finalized.
“It appears, based on my research, is the buildings were completed, obviously, and then they just didn’t follow through and deed those off from the school board property,” Markham said. “It’s a better situation long term to have that in somebody beside the Board of Education’s name, in my opinion.”
The land transfer includes 1.08 acres at BonDeCroft, which includes an existing helipad, and approximately a half-acre at both the Cassville and Central View locations. Markham said the function of the properties will not change, but the transfer cleans up the paperwork and allows the county to better seek grants for fire services.
“We’re not in the fire business and we’re obviously just carrying out what was intended back in ’79,” Board Chairman Bob Young said. “We’d be executing a resolution of agreement that was agreed to that was almost 50 years ago by doing this, and that’s what was intent at the time, so we would be closing that loop now.”
The newly elected board members, Jerry Kelsey, Shandell Thorpe, and Brian Liner, will take their seats at the next meeting. The board is scheduled to meet again on September 10.
