CARIBOU, Maine — Councilors have unanimously accepted the removal of a clause that would have allowed the city to take back land they transferred to the school system to build a $45 million pre-kindergarten through grade eight facility.
Removing the clause was required to continue with the project, according to city officials.
“When the city and school district began negotiations for the new school, they were doing deed research and found that there is a deed restriction saying when the city initially gave [RSU 39 the properties], the school would have to give it back to the city if they stopped using it for educational purposes,” Caribou City Manager Dennis Marker explained during a public hearing Monday night.
But officials with RSU 39 and the Maine Department of Education told city officials that they “need a completely clean bill on the property in order to move forward with the new school.”
“As their intention is obviously to continue using [the land] for educational purposes,” Marker said, “they have asked us to release that provision.”
Of the eight land transfers approved by municipal and school officials for the project last year, the clause specifically affects lots located in and around Teague Park, where the new school is set to be built. The RSU OK’d transferring some of its properties so the city can create a new park across the street after the school project in completed in early 2020.
Monday’s public hearing on the reversion clause lasted all of two minutes, after which the councilors unanimously approved removing it
