A report to look at possible school site acquisitions by the city, with St. Peter Catholic School being at the top of the list, is going before council Tuesday night.

The School Site Land Acquisition Community Working Group determined that four schools that are closed or soon to be closed would be worth reviewing. They are St. Peter and St. Patrick Catholic schools and First Avenue and Frontenac public schools.

St. Peter Catholic school has been prioritized because of its proximity to Ron Lavallee Park, which it could expand into high recreational use with the basketball courts and possible affordable single-family homes.

The main goal of the working group is to balance private and public interests within neighbourhoods and throughout the city in the short and long term.

By evaluating the cost of the property, future uses and other alternative factors, the group is looking to ensure transparency while making sure to have all the pertinent information on all the properties to make an informed recommendation.

Possible uses for the properties can include housing, community/social services, recreational, parks and culture.

The School Site Land Acquisition Community Working Group, formed in February of this year, met a number of times and reviewed the school properties for potential future disposal within the city, based on information received from the Limestone District School Board and the Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board.

First Avenue Public was identified as a good prospect for housing development or community services, but deemed not a high priority for public acquisition, after consultation with a number of community agencies.

Frontenac Public’s only potential was identified for off-street park/municipal use but will most likely not be put on the market as a number of different education and community program use the facilities.

St. Patrick Catholic was identified as having a number of issues, such as the steep grade at the rear of the property and no off-street parking. The only municipal use identified was potential off-street parking.

The detailed cost of the properties was not available, but the working group was given an estimated value of between $2 million to $2.5 million.

Also, there is no Parkland/Natural Land Reserve Fund and the Cash-In-Lieu of Parkland Fund money available as it has already been committed to other projects by city council.

According to the report, ‘Under the Education Act, the municipality is one of multiple agencies, governments and organizations that have the ability to acquire a former school property prior to it going to the private market. The City has received notification of the disposal of one of the four school properties and has limited time to respond prior to the property being sold on the private market. Staff will report in closed session with a recommendation on the potential acquisition of the school property.’

Council will be asked to review the potential purchase recommendations, including appraised values, in a closed session as each former school property becomes available.

jmckay@postmedia.com

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