Fairfield Twp., city schools working on 32-acre land deal for possible expansion

Fairfield Twp. and its Community Improvement Corporation are working on a deal to sell 32 acres of undeveloped land to Fairfield City Schools to plan for the future.

The township board of trustees on Wednesday transferred 32 acres of on Gilmore Road to its CIC.

“While the district has no immediate plans for building another school building, I can confirm that the schools are in negotiations with Township officials to purchase land,” said Michael Berding, school board president.

 

Superintendent Billy Smith plans to present information about the proposed purchase to the school board at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 5.

“I am eager to see the presentation,” Berding said. “As you may know, large parcels of real estate are difficult to acquire in our growing community, and this purchase would help the schools if the need to expand should ever arise.”

Fairfield Twp. Trustee President Shannon Hartkemeyer said this is “potentially an outstanding win-win” for the township and school district.

“This is a great chance for Fairfield City Schools to expand their footprint into this area,” she said. “I believe this is an area they have considered in the past for building a school.”

The land is part of the Gilmore Road corridor where the township just opened a new fire station, and the new StoryPoint rehabilitation facility is nearing completion.

Construction on a new roundabout at Gilmore and Hamilton-Mason Road, designed to address anticipated traffic increases.

The township owns nearly 50 acres of undeveloped land along the corridor.

“This is another whole the vision for Fairfield,” Hartkemeyer said. “It’s not just setting up for today but setting us up for the future.

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