School district seeks to explore further options for Lucerne property

On July 19, the Hot Springs County School Board received updates on the Lucerne property from Business Manager Chauncy Johnson, who acknowledged the district has been discussing this issue for nearly a year.

“We sent a letter, through certified mail, to the only heir we could find who would have first right of refusal for that piece of land, in the event the board would decide to sell it,” Johnson said. “We’ve not gotten anything back through the mail service that indicates that person has signed for that letter.”

If the board does decide to sell the property, Johnson recommended that public notice be published in the Casper Star-Tribune, “where the only known heirs have lived,” so they would still have “an option, if anybody came forward, to offer the sales amount it came to before it was sold. We would have to put that in a clause, with the sale of the property.”

Johnson reiterated, “We’ve attempted everything we can, to try to reach out to anybody who would be involved, and haven’t gotten any response.”

Board Chair Sherman Skelton asked Johnson if he’d heard “any more on the easement request, or with the adjacent property owner moving forward with that easement.” Johnson replied that he had not, although he added Diane Winter “was in contact with the individual looking for that easement, but we haven’t seen anything come into our offices, either the superintendent’s or mine, with any official recommendation or plan as to how to go about that.”

Johnson added, “My guess is, that’s still up in the air. I will follow up and see exactly where that’s at.”

Board Treasurer Nichole Weyer asked if “there’s any other use for that property for the school district, or if the school district really wants to sell it.” Johnson replied, “We’ve had conversations about that property, and what it could be used for,” with the suggestions including “adequate” affordable housing for teachers.

“We’d have to install more septic systems,” said Johnson, who acknowledged the existing on-site systems, even as he anticipated that further examinations would reveal those “most likely” would need to be removed and replaced with the district’s own infrastructure.

“Then, we would have to maintain those systems, which is possible,” Johnson added, even as he noted that he and Superintendent Dustin Hunt agreed a better option would be a “land swap (or) trade,” to acquire property in town more suited for teacherages.

“We’re going to need to do everything we can to recruit high-quality teachers with the talent that we need to move our mission forward,” Johnson said.

On the plus side, Johnson reported an “initial green light” for federal funds to construct teacher housing, to help alleviate that shortage, although Hunt noted those funds would need to be committed by September of 2024, “so that discussion will have to happen relatively quickly.”

Hunt then recommended the school district building committee meet to “discuss our options,” and requested Skelton’s “expertise about availability” to help explore those options, even as Skelton countered that “‘expertise’ may be overstating it by a fair amount.”

Skelton asked Johnson about the extent to which the school district had discussed with the city the possibility of variances that could allow such housing on otherwise suitable city properties, but Johnson conceded, “We haven’t gotten that far.”

According to Johnson, options the district has begun to consider include the district subleasing rental properties in town to teachers, although that also has yet to be discussed with the city.

Johnson shared with the board that the Lucerne property appraised at $60,000.

Board Trustee Clay Van Antwerp suggested the property could also be used by 4-H or the Future Farmers of America, while Skelton relayed having heard of teacherages at smaller nearby school districts, leading Johnson to agree the Hot Springs County School District has potential partners it can “rely on to not have to recreate the wheel, on how we would go about teacherages, because they’re experiencing it and have gone through it.”

The board gave its consensus for Johnson and Hunt to explore all the options available for the Lucerne property, which they will present to the board in turn.