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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Board wants to Condemn More Property. Remember last condemnation? What happened to swap?

On Monday, July 29, 2013, Board of Education Agenda:
Resolved, That the Board of Education authorizes initiation of condemnation proceedings to acquire Pulte Home Corporation’s interest in the parcel adjacent to the current William H. Farquhar Middle School site because the land is needed for the modernization of William H. Farquhar Middle School under Option Two, approved by the Board of Education on September 13, 2011, and the site’s owner and Montgomery County Public Schools have been unable to reach agreement with Pulte Home Corporation to convey its interest in the property...
Now, let's recall the last time the BOE went to court to condemn a property. What happened?  The BOE had to pay MORE than they had offered for the land. So, the BOE got the land, but at a huge cost to taxpayers!

Now, the BOE wants the Pulte property.  They have apparently made an offer and Pulte has said no.  So the Superintendent wants the BOE to go to court again! (Pulte is smart to say no. The land was set aside as part of open space for a housing development under construction.)

Remember also that the BOE had said they could just "swap" the Pulte property for the Farquhar property.  That was back when the BOE had been told that the Pulte property had already been transferred to Park and Planning.

Remember this bad information from MCPS staff?  The BOE used this bad information to make their decision.

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2011/09/fact-check-board-got-fact-or-fiction.html

The BOE got bad information from MCPS staff, made a bad decision, and now the BOE is going to go to court.  Who is paying for the wrong information, bad decisions and litigation?  You are.

13 comments:

  1. Condemnation wasn't even contemplated when the BOE approved the Feasibility Study. Who needs good information when you'll do what you want anyway.

    Keep in mind a "swap" isn't required when the owner of both parcels is the same!

    http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/agenda/2011-12/2011-0913/7.0%20Farquhar%20Recommendation.pdf

    "Resolved, That the relocation of students to the Tilden Holding Center and construction of the replacement facility at the location of the current building, identified as Option Four in the feasibility study, is the back-up plan if the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning
    Commission does not support the land
    swap option; and be it further"



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  2. Nice to wait until Park and Planning was on recess.

    I'm sure they'll have staff there to discuss the yet to be published policy on the release of the Rural Open Space Easements.

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  3. The best part is they hid it on the consent agenda!! Song wont even have to discuss his "mistakes".. Not that he'd admit a mistake anyway.

    Too bad the County Council is asleep at the wheel and let's the BOE do whatever they want with tax dollars. Keep in mind that there are no approved state funds for this project!!

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  4. Anonymous, that's ok, the council will just raise your taxes. It is not just the BOE who takes a pass, the voters are asleep at the wheel too. The council just discussed, on July 16th, ways to go around the charter property tax limits --just use a 'special taxing district!' I don't recall anyone from the 1 million population of the county being concerned. Of course, the council had this discussion in a separate room, and did not stream or tape the discussion. It was 'Item 1' that day, if anyone is interested.

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  5. Best part is that the County will be suing itself!! Forest Conservation and the Rural Open Space Easements are property interests and the condemnation must be brought against all parties with a property interest.

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  6. Is Starr going to call into the meeting?

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  7. According to a document filed with Park and Planning on 13th, the condemnation has been filed. No record in the registry of the Circuit Court though.

    They have also filed, finally, for review by the State Clearinghouse. If you need a case study in inaccuracies, misrepresentations and half truths, it is worth a read..

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  8. What is MCPS misrepresenting?

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  9. Zoning, use of a pump station, existing use restrictions, etc..

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  10. Anonymous, these misrepresentations don't matter in Montgomery County, unless someone is willing to sue. Or lives in Potomac. Not sure how long you've lived in the county, but that's how it works.

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  11. The site was not accepted by MDP and is currently not eligible for State funds since it is located outside a Priority Funding Area.

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