Prairie South School Division is slowly selling off surplus land within its boundaries that used to house old schools but now serves no purpose and is not used.
The division sent out letters in the spring to landowners asking if they were interested in purchasing excess land adjacent to — or on — their property, explained Ron Purdy, superintendent of business, during the September board meeting.
The division office received a response this summer, with the landowner offering to purchase two parcels — 1056118535 and 105610609 — totalling 1.6 hectares (four acres) in the Rural Municipality of Craik, he continued.
“They offered us $2,800 (in total), which is actually a fairly decent offer compared to what we sometimes get,” Purdy said, adding there are between 20 and 25 surplus parcels scattered throughout the division that administration wants to sell.
“I think that’s a great price,” agreed trustee Crystal Froese.
Trustees then voted to approve the sale of the two parcels for $2,800.
Prairie South School Division has sold 87 unused rural parcels since its amalgamation in 2006. The last excess land sale that trustees approved was in June when they voted to sell five parcels of land totalling 4.016 hectares (10.04 acres) for $860. An offer of $10 for one acre offended several trustees at the time, who said the “low-ball” price was unacceptable.
Those parcels were in the RM of Craik, RM of Poplar Valley, RM of Hart Butte and RM of Wood River.
The next PSSD board meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 4.
