Prior Lake-Savage school board reviews draft purchase agreement for elementary school land

Prior Lake American

During the regular meeting on Monday, the Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board reviewed a draft agreement for the purchase of land for the construction of a new elementary school.

The district will purchase more than 17 acres of land from Prior Lake Aggregates for more than $1 million at $60,000 per acre, under the draft agreement.

The construction of the elementary school was included in the $109.3 million referendum approved by voters in November 2017, as well as a new building for the Bridges Area Learning Center and additions to Prior Lake High School and six other schools.

Prior Lake Aggregates had agreed in a non-binding letter approved by the school board in March 2015 to sell the acreage to the district for a new elementary school, but the letter expired in December 2015 and a new letter was not drafted.

The district’s communications director, Kristi Mussman, said in December 2017 the company told the district it would honor the purchase price stated in the original letter of $60,000 per acre.

“The purchase price per acre is the same as it has always been,” Assistant Superintendent Jeff Holmberg said.

Though the district was originally planning to begin construction on the school this year and have it set to open in 2019, the estimated opening is now 2020.

The company is mining $6 million worth of materials from the site before the district is able to take over the land. The closing date for the land is May 2019, according to the draft agreement.

Prior Lake Aggregates is also required to reclaim and fill the mining area to the district’s specifications. The compaction will be tested by Braun Intertec, an environment consulting and testing firm.

“Our legal counsel has been great, their legal counsel has been great in going back and forth,” Holmberg said.

The purchase agreement will go back before the board on Aug. 27 for a study session with a portion of the meeting made public to approve the agreement.

“It seems easy as (Holmberg) is walking through this presentation, but this presentation represents hours and hours and hours of people’s time,” Superintendent Teri Staloch said.