Second group interested in old middle school; hearing set

   BR Development, LLC, has become the second company to submit an offer to the Monticello Community School District to purchase the old middle school building and property.

   The Monticello School Board held a closed session and special meeting not only to discuss the matter, but also to set a public hearing to consider that and another other offers that might emerge.

   After coming out of the 50-minute closed session, the board unanimously approved setting Monday, June 26, 6 p.m. as the date and time for a public hearing on the proposed purchase and sale.

   At the public hearing, offers from BR Development and Theisen’s could be discussed and considered. In addition, according to a resolution approved by the board Monday, “the board will consider any and all formal written offers received by the district in advance of the public hearing.”

   While Jaeger said he hopes a decision will be made that night, it’s also possible the board will table the issue.

   BR Development, which submitted its offer in late May, is the same company that bought and developed the Monticello’s Hy-Vee Dollar Fresh store property. The offer is for $50,000, and would include asbestos removal and demolition of the building within 12 months.

   MCSD Superintendent Brian Jaeger, and Doug Herman, attorney representing the district in this matter, said BR has not indicated what it might do with the property.

   “They are familiar with the site,” Herman said. “They don’t know exactly how they’d use it. Unlike Theisen’s, they’re very early in the game.”

   They also said Theisen’s, which originally submitted an offer in March, is still interested but would have to submit a new offer prior to the public hearing.

   A sale of the old middle school property to Theisen Real Estate, LLC seemed imminent when the board approved a resolution at its March 27 meeting to make the sale to the home, farm and auto store company, at a cost of $100,000, which would have put Theisen’s in charge of

asbestos removal and demotion of the building.

   But at the board’s April 24 meeting, Jaeger announced that Theisen’s had asked the school board to hold off on final approval, in order to take additional time for work through costs. The board tabled the measure that night.

   The BR Development offer came in late May.

   “Now that there’s another player, it will hopefully push them both to get their best offer to the school board before that meeting,” Herman said.

    “I don’t know what their motivation was to put it in right now. I’m sure glad they did, because we’d like to keep moving with this thing,” Jaeger said.

   “We just want to get to the point where we can do something good with that old middle school site. That’s really our goal, not just for the school district but for the community as well.”