By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
The East Troy Community Schools Board of Education delayed its decision the fate of Chester Byrnes building until Monday.
The board has been in discussion on three separate offers to purchase the building for months and had planned on making a decision at Monday night’s meeting, but district Business Manager Kathy Zwirgzdas said Tuesday morning, the board postponed the decision for a week and will have a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Feb. 26 to finalize their decision. The board will meet in closed session Monday, but if action is taken, the board will move into open session for that.
The board extended the timeline on the offers for Chester Byrnes at the Dec. 11 meeting, scheduling an update for the Jan. 22 board meeting with the final decision to be made at the Feb. 19 meeting.
The acceptance of any of the three offers the board is considering could save the School District about $250,000 in demolition costs, which were part of the facility needs referendum project that is nearing completion.
Zwirgzdas said all three offers come with pros and cons and the board members have been working to make the best decision for the community and the school district.
After the December meeting, the School Board released a statement saying those pros and cons included “the possibility of the property going on the tax roles vs. civic services vs. future assurance of the building being kept up.”
The board is under a tight timeline for the decision as the referendum money needed to demolish the building, should it be necessary, has to be spent this year.
