Madison Board of Education to offer $1,275,000 for Browns Ferry land

These students attend Liberty Middle School.(CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Madison Board of Education will offer $1,275,000 for 17.5 acres on Browns Ferry Road.

Formerly a cotton field, the property is located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Wall Triana and Browns Ferry Road. Smart Living LLC owns the property, which has appraised value of $1,330,000.

In its capital plan, the board already had allocated $1.5 million to purchase land for a new school in eastern Madison.

Frank Nola Jr. with Nola|Van Peursem Architects confirmed that an “800-member elementary school” and its needed auxiliary parcels will fit in the space. The proposed site and Mill Creek Elementary School’s property are similar in usable size. Mill Creek has 32 acres, but much land is in a floodway.

Closing could happen as early as July 22 but no later than Sept. 5, board attorney Woody Sanderson said. Conditions for closing will include drainage, easements and roadway reconstruction on Wall Triana.

“If we are able to put a new elementary school on the east side of town, it will keep the east side of town vibrant and growing,” superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler said. “An apple rots from the inside out.”

Fowler is not recommending to decommission an elementary school but did comment that West Madison Elementary School has under-capacity population, outdated construction with small classrooms and an aging infrastructure.

Currently, the Madison district does not have funding to build a new school, but “in the last three major constructions in Madison, we didn’t have the money to build,” Fowler said.

Fowler opposes building a school in incorporated Madison that lies in Limestone County. “We’re not receiving the millage from Madison residents in Limestone County and are currently in litigation to receive that money,” Fowler said. Sales tax revenue is another issue.

“If a person lives in Madison, let their taxes support schools in Madison,” Fowler said.

In other business, the board switched accounting firms for audits from Mercer and Associates of Huntsville to Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC of Birmingham. CRI “can provide a fair audit and share best practices from high-performing school systems,” board member Dr. Terri Johnson said.

The board approved a bid for 70-inch interactive flat-panel displays for Bob Jones High School from Encore Technology for $593,082.50.

In end-of-year recognition, elementary principals introduced award-winning students in the state science fair and contests for poster design, fashion and writing.

Ray White and Dr. Terri Johnson were re-elected as board president and vice-president, respectively.