The former West Elkton School will be auctioned off by the Preble Shawnee Local Schools at a sale next month.
Eddie Mowen Jr. | The Register-Herald
CAMDEN — The former West Elkton School property will finally go up for public auction next month, with stipulations on how the property can be used.
During his report at the Preble Shawnee Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10, Superintendent Todd Bowling updated the board on the process of getting to the point of being ready to advertise the sale, and officials approved both the resolution approving the sale and a legal advertisement for it.
“The first hold up was, we could not find a living family member who deeded the property to us so we could make sure we could change the deed to make it housing development,” Bowling reported. “Once we went through that process and got that settled in court and went through all the regulations that we needed to follow, nobody came forward. So the property was turned over to us any way we wanted. We then went through the process where it’s divided into three strips. There’s a strip that goes out of the front along (Ohio) 503, there’s a strip that goes up along the side, and then there’s the main property of the school.”
“I met with West Elkton Council and asked them if they had any interest in purchasing it, and that was for $1, and they had no interest and did not want to take it over,” he continued. ““We had to check to see if there were any surrounding schools that were charter schools or anything like that. There is none in our area, so we do not have to offer to them first. So we are now to an auction, and so the resolutions there tonight are just the start of giving us permission to post it in the paper, but then there will be another one at next month’s meeting to come back and give the official okay to sell and move forward.”
The resolution authorizing the auction describes the property and the stipulations which will made to the sale.
The resolution notes, “Whereas, the Board of Education of the Preble Shawnee Local School District is the owner of approximately 6.616 acres of real property located at 11751 S. Main Street, West Elkton, Ohio, being Preble County Auditor Tax Parcel Numbers C10002001000003-000 and C10-002001000004-000 (the “Property”) for sale at public auction in the manner prescribed by Ohio Revised Code, now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board that:
“Section 1. It is found and determined that the Property, which exceeds $10,000 in value, is no longer needed for school purposes. “Section 2. The Board has determined that no start-up community, STEM or boarding schools are located within the territory of the School District and therefore it is not necessary to first offer the Property to such schools pursuant to O.R.C. §3313.413(B).
“Section 3. The Property shall be presented for sale at public auction in the manner prescribed by O.R.C. §3313.41 after giving at least thirty (30) days’ notice of the sale by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the School District, in accordance with O.R.C. §3313.41.
“Section 4. The sale of the Property shall be made on the following terms and conditions and such other terms and conditions as the Board may subsequently impose prior to conducting the auction: a. The auction will be conducted beginning at 10 a.m. (registration beginning at 9:30 a.m.) on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, and will be held at the location of the property if weather permits. In case of rain, the auction will be held at the Board’s Administrative Offices at 5495 Somers Gratis Road, Camden, Ohio 45311; b. The auction shall be subject to a minimum opening bid of $25,000; c. immediately upon conclusion of the auction, the high bidder is to pay a deposit of $2,500.00; d. The high bid is subject to Board approval and the Board has the right to reject any and all bids; e. If the Board approves the high bid, closing and possession of the property by the high bidder (the “Buyer”) shall occur on a date mutually agreed upon between the Board and Buyer; f. Buyer shall be responsible for any and all fees related to its purchase of the property, including but not limited to, any due diligence of the property, and all title, survey, recording, lot split and governmental fees; g. The property shall be sold on an ‘as is, where is’ basis, with no representations or warranties of any kind given by the Board.”
The resolution goes on to note, “The following items and uses shall be prohibited on the property and such restrictions shall run with the land: 1) mobile homes; 2) scrap, junk or salvage yards; and 3) parking and/or storage of unused vehicles, whether such vehicles are operable or inoperable.”
Also during the meeting, Superintendent Bowling updated the board on the “House Bill 99” training for staff to be armed with a firearm. “It was difficult to set up during the summer because it was an out of state training, and the early Ohio ones were in June — and we weren’t ready yet because we didn’t have our staff identified. So they contacted me today. They’re trying to set up training, somewhere nearby. So as I get more information, we hope to have that happening in the next 30 days,” Bowling said.
Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.
