Adams County Technical Institute is hoping to move forward with a property purchase near New Oxford, but the Gettysburg Area School District’s Board of Directors wants it to explore other options.
A motion to sign a resolution agreeing to a purchase of property at 6298 York Road for $1.7 million and a $200,000 donation to the ACTI Undesignated Endowment failed with a 3-4 vote during Monday’s meeting. Business Manager Belinda Wallen said GASD’s commitment to the purchase would be $427,000.
Ryan Kerney, Tim Seigman, and Al Moyer supported the motion. Kathleen Pratt, Donna Harrison, David Sites, and Michael Dickerson opposed it.
Moyer began the conversation by asking GASD’s ACTI representative, Tim Seigman, whether the school had explored purchasing HACC’s campus on Old Harrisburg Road, which is going to market.
Seigman said HACC is in a major floodplain, which could damage the “hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment” that the school owns. He also said HACC wants to lease back some of the building from the new owner, which would reduce ACTI’s footprint.
Sites said ACTI’s building costs are estimated to be $70-75 million. He suspects inflation will bring that number closer to $100 million by the time the project is complete. HACC is on the market for under $10 million.
Sites proposed combining HACC’s 100,000-square-foot property with the adjacent property the district already owns that houses Vida Charter School. GASD has rejected several offers from VIDA to purchase the building. He also believes that a proper stormwater management plan would alleviate flooding concerns.
Prior to his vote, Moyer clarified he was supporting the land purchase not because he opposed the HACC property proposal but because land is an asset the school could sell if it decided to go in a different direction.
New Committee Proposed
Earlier in the meeting, Sites proposed forming a committee that would analyze the district’s finances. Earlier this month, the board raised taxes 3.5% and he fears that trend will continue if overhead is not reduced.
“It’s hard to imagine that you can do less taxation without trying to find the other side of the balance,” he said.
Sites stressed he does not want to reduce educational opportunities or activities.
Moyer, who was chairing the meeting in the absence of President Alice Broadway, said the board will further discuss Sites’ proposal in August.
