At its regular meeting on Sept. 14, the MFL MarMac School Board voted unanimously to demolish all but the smaller hoop building on the former Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG) property.
The school district acquired the property in February, and at the time, Clayton County Recycling offered to demolish existing buildings and remove the materials at no cost to the district. The board held off on demolition, however, as it evaluated how the property—and potentially the structures on it—might fit into facilities plans.
Superintendent Tim Dugger pressed the board on making a decision last week, citing Clayton County Recycling’s generous offer and the timeline necessary to complete the work.
School board member Danielle Schlake, who is a CCR employee, said demo will take roughly two weeks.
“The first week would be taking the buildings down. All the material will get hauled out right away. Nothing will be sitting in piles as an eyesore,” she said. “The second week would basically be the crushing of the concrete—getting another company in there to do that. Then basically leveling it, or leaving it how we would like it.”
Completing the work yet this fall would be ideal, she added.
Before the board approved the demo, Schlake asked members to consider the donation.
“We don’t have to pay for the demo, the labor. Even the concrete crushing itself is estimated between $30,000 and $40,000,” she stressed. “But business aside, as a board member, we’ve put this off enough months. I think we need to make a decision. We need to remember we’re basically getting a clean slate.”
Dugger said asbestos removal has been completed. All that’s left is removing salvageable items from the buildings. A school-organized online auction is planned.
“We’re going to try to do it ourselves. The cost of online auctions is very expensive, and we would not make enough to even pay the fee,” he told the board.
According to Dugger, among the items remaining in the buildings are fans, lights, shelving and other fixtures.
Also at last week’s meeting, the board approved a 10-year lease agreement with Head Start, with rent at $1,000 per month to use a classroom in the elementary addition. A 10-year lease agreement was approved with the Bridges School, too, supporting a Keystone AEA-administered program that replaces the now-closed Crossroads Academy.
Additionally, the board approved Michelle Mulholland as a high school paraprofessional and Ryan Pomerening and Kade McElwaine as volunteer coaches for high school football. Resignations were accepted for Linda Brainard as a cook, Marley Hundt as an elementary paraprofessional and Casey Evanson as a high school paraprofessional.
