School board picks its top choices for new Yarmouth high school location

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

The school board has chosen 20-plus acres of land on Forest Street as its top choice for the site of a new high school in Yarmouth.

The board will now have to wait to hear back from the Department of Education and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal to see whether the province agrees that this is the most suitable site.

The site is on the upper portion of Forest Street, in the area of the Wesleyan Church.

It is one of three possible locations that the Tri-County Regional School Board is putting forward for consideration. The board had six submissions to choose from following a call for land proposals put out to the public.

The board’s top choice is an amalgamation of two proposals it received.

One of the proposals was from the Town of Yarmouth, which has approximately 11 acres of land accessible from Forest Street. The property is serviced by public water, although not yet by sewer. In a letter to the school board from Yarmouth Mayor Charles Crosby, he notes the property adjoins another large lot owned by the town that could be developed for passive or active recreational space. The site is also close to the Broad Brook recreational complex that could prove beneficial to the school board. No rezoning of the land would be required.

The second proposal that the board is weaving into its top choice is one submitted by Roy Andrews, which includes approximately 11 acres of land located adjacent to the town’s property. The land is serviced by public sewer and water and has sidewalk access on Parade Street.

Steve Stoddart, the board’s director of operations, said his staff visited all of the potential site submissions it received. Of the Forest Street land, he noted the property is a good, flat, high site.

Those who submitted land proposals to the school board were also required to include a purchase price. Stoddart didn’t include those prices in his report to the school board Tuesday evening, noting that prices will be based on market value and they may be something that are further negotiated by the province. But he said the range of purchase prices submitted in the six proposals the board received ranged from $200,000 to $1 million. The size of the lots ranged from 11 acres to 58 acres.

The purchase price of the town’s land on Forest Street would be a tough bargain to beat since Mayor Crosby says the town is offering the land for one dollar.

Under the Education Act, the school board is required to submit three potential sites. The site it has listed as its second priority is approximately 13 acres of land located in the town between Meadowfields School on Prospect Street and the Nova Scotia Community College on Hibernia Street. The property is accessible from Pleasant Street or Herrington Avenue and is serviced by public sewer and water.

Its third choice is approximately 14 acres of land located on Southeast Street/Argyle Street and Haley Road. It is serviced by public sewer and water.

Proposed sites that didn’t make’s the board’s priority list included 58 acres of land located in the town with access from Pleasant Street. The land is not serviced by public sewer or water. A site containing 15 acres of land situated on Pleasant Street between Pleasant Street and Marsha Avenue also didn't make the cut, along with 20-plus acres of land located in the municipality on Ellis Road where there are no public sewer or water services there and the site is located on a non-paved road.

The school board faxed its priority list to the Department of Education on Wednesday morning.

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the sites, which, among other things, includes environmental assessments, traffic studies, safety studies, real estate costs and engineering studies.

The final site decision will be made by Education Minister Karen Casey. There is no guarantee the department will select the school board’s top priority, although the board is very pleased with the site it has placed at the top of its list.

On April 8, Casey announced a new $24.9-million high school for Yarmouth. Following the site selection and design work, the intention is for construction to start in 2009. The anticipated opening date is September 2011.