News Roundup – City to sell open space lot/Schools get new phones

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, December 13, 2006

City to sell open space lot

The City Council tonight will consider allowing the sale of 2.3 acres of property purchased with open space funds.

The lot is part of a 49 acre Baker Hill Road parcel commonly known as the “Peters property” the city purchase in 2004 using open space levy funds. The separate lot was intended at purchase time to be resold to recover a portion of the cost for the Peters property.

The Open Space Commission is recommending that the city retain a real estate agent to sell the property through a multiple listing service. The sale price will be based on a professional appraisal, according to city staff.

The property’s sale is expected to add “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to the city’s dwindling open space account, according to Open Space Commission chair Andy Maron.

The commission expects more funds next year, with over $2 million listed in the city’s 2007 preliminary budget for new open space purchases.

An additional $206,000 was included in the preliminary budget to fund improvements to existing open space land. This could include trail maintenance and new trail construction, as well as other amenities.

The preliminary budget is scheduled for final approval at tonight’s council meeting, which starts at 7 p.m.

-Tristan Baurick

Schools get new phones

Be prepared for dead air if you call the school district in the coming weeks.

Beginning next week, crews will begin the transition to a new phone system. Callers to the district can expect interruptions in service throughout the winter break, with the worst disruptions expected on Dec. 18 and 19.

The overhaul – part of a plethora of technology improvements being implemented across the district – is expected to drastically improve phone service at Bainbridge schools.

Additionally, the voice mail system will be unavailable from Dec. 16 until the first of the year, while it’s being replaced. Staff will reconfigure their voice messages when they return on Jan. 2.

Given the replacement schedule, officials suggest that calls to any district number be held between Dec. 16 and Jan. 2.

If community members have any questions, they are asked to call the district’s community relations department at 780-1398 by Dec. 15.