Greenland gives school buildings back to Winslow

WINSLOW -- Plans to clean up former school property can proceed now the Greenland School Board has transferred ownership to the city.

Community members plan to gather at the former high school -- the "rock" building -- for a cleanup on Saturday, said Jerry Bromley, president of the Winslow Community Center Association. A fall festival is set for Oct. 29 on the grounds to raise money for what supporters hope will be the Winslow Community Center.

"Everybody, without exception said, 'You're not going to be able to do this,'" Bromley said. "We've got it back."

The association has worked to achieve the dream since it was formed two years ago, said Tanya Farris, a spokeswoman for the group and the wife of association Vice President Gene Farris.

The hope is for the community center to be an anchor for drawing Winslow's more than 400 residents together, Farris said. The group has raised $6,000. While significant costs are expected, association members haven't determined an amount, she said.

The Greenland School Board first needed to settle legal questions on transferring ownership and to ensure outstanding bonds attached to the property remained tax free for investors, said Pat Anderson, Greenland School Board president.

"In my opinion, that property belongs to the community of Winslow," Anderson said. "I thought it was only right that they get it."

The issue has been ongoing through three superintendents of the Greenland District, said Debbie Crown, a Greenland School Board member from Winslow. The process was complicated because the schools are public property paid for with public money. District officials had to work with state officials to determine using the property as a school again was not feasible financially.

"We just took baby steps," Crown said. "We tried to make as much use of everything as we could. We tried to do everything we could to make the taxpayers of our district happy that we weren't disposing of anything we could find a use for as a school district."

Remaining sticking points were whether the state constitution allows the district to donate the property to a nonprofit organization and whether a change in ownership would impact tax-exempt bonds sold to investors, said Larry Ben, superintendent. State Sen. Uvalde Lindsey of Fayetteville sought an opinion from Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, with Rutledge releasing a favorable opinion in May.

The outstanding bonds, however, made donating the property to a nonprofit group difficult because of Internal Revenue Service regulations, Ben said. The simpler route was to transfer ownership to another governmental entity so the bonds would remain tax-exempt.

The School District worked with city officials to transfer ownership to the city instead of the nonprofit Winslow Community Center Association.

The School District will continue paying on the bonds, and the property deed gives the school district the right to regain ownership if the city ever decides to sell it, Ben said. The property must continue to be used for the benefit of the students and residents of Winslow.

The City Council gave its approval in June, and the Greenland School Board on Sept. 15 approved signing a warranty deed to convey five tracts of land making up the former Winslow School District property to the city, Ben said. The Washington County Circuit Clerk's office recorded the deed Sept. 22.

Winslow officials are focused on transferring utility bills from the School District to the city and acquiring insurance on the property, said Mayor Randy Jarnagan. The city plans to retain use of the former high school, where the county Agnes M. Stockburger Library is housed. The school wood shop will provide dry storage for a backhoe the city purchased a couple of months ago.

Buildings housing the school gymnasium, a cafeteria and auditorium, and the elementary school will be leased to the Winslow association in 2017, Jarnagan said.

"It's almost hard to believe it's finally happened," he said.

Greenland School District annexed the Winslow School District in 2004, following a law that required school districts to have a minimum enrollment of 350 students. Winslow High School closed for seventh through 12th grades in 2005, and Winslow Elementary School closed in 2007.

Greenland took on the former school district's debt, consisting of a 2002 bond and a 2003 bond, when the districts merged. The 2002 bond was paid off in March 2015, said Dan Lovelady, the district's financial adviser and vice president of First Security Beardsley in Little Rock.

The school buildings were used when the school districts merged but have deteriorated since then because of vandalism and theft, Bromley said. All the wiring has been taken out of the elementary school. Air-conditioners have been stolen.

The association has a step-by-step plan for the buildings, starting with the gymnasium, Bromley said.

"There's a lot of work to do," he said.

NW News on 10/03/2016