School board will buy soccer fields

by Jazz Clark
For the grand price of $1, the Morgan County Board of Education bought the 9.92-acre soccer field property in order to facilitate federal grants.

The property, along U.S. 522 south of Berkeley Springs, was sold at a November 1 meeting of the Morgan County Commission after a unanimous vote by the commissioners.

The sale was at the guidance of West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center, so the school board may apply for a cleanup grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Officially notarized by County Clerk Debra Kesecker, the sales contract sets a closing date and title transfer for Thursday, November 15.

Whether the grant is received or not, the board cannot do anything with the land and the deed will transfer back to the commissioners at some point after a decision is made.

The draft of the grant application was to be discussed by the school board on Monday evening, November 5, and will be available on the county commission website, said Brownfields Project manager Luke Elser.
“We’re never going to sit idle,” Elser said. “Even while we wait to see whether our grant is approved, we’ll figure out if further funds can be found.”

School Board vice-president Aaron Close said last month that they had a nice turnout for the Parks & Recreation community meeting about possible uses for the soccer field property.

Those who attended were organized into groups that shared ideas about ways to use the land.

“The attitude now is what we can do with it,” Close said.

“It’s good that we’re moving forward,” said School Board president David Ambrose.