DATE: Tuesday, November 25, 1997            TAG: 9711250738

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   55 lines

BOARD VOTES TO PUT DOWN $20,000 ON BUXTON LAND FOR SCHOOL SYSTEM

The Dare County Board of Commissioners Monday night unanimously approved $20,000 for a down payment and environmental impact study on a 27-acre tract of land for the Dare County Board of Education.

The school district wants the land for future construction.

The property, located near N.C. Highway 12, in Buxton, is being offered to the school board by a Richmond, Va. physician, Charles Blair. Under Blair's proposal, some 19 acres would be given to the school system as a gift, the remainder purchased by the district for no more than $550,000.

Final sale of the property is contingent on a number of factors, including access to N.C. Highway 12, and meeting state and federal permitting requirements. The tract, near the Buxton Woods maritime forest, is under the purview of the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission. The proposal could also come under federal scrutiny because of its impact on wetlands.

And, the Southern Environmental Law Center, (SELC), a Chapel Hill-based environmental group, is also concerned because the property is in the Buxton Woods Special Environmental District. Despite the county governing board's action Monday, the threat of possible litigation by the SELC or a state or federal agency weighed heavy on commissioners' minds.

Board of Commissioners Chairman Geneva Perry said that while she understands the need for additional land for new school construction, she has some concerns.

``I still feel we need another school on Hatteras Island,'' Perry said. ``I am supportive of the purchase of property, but I am concerned that they find the right piece of property. That is, property that is efficient in terms of site preparation, and permits and a piece of property that won't be held up in litigation.''

The school board plans to meet with concerned agencies and groups, in an effort to reach a memorandum of understanding on the property, in an effort to stave off legal action.

Perry had asked Board of Education Chairman Fletcher Willey to consider a joint committee, made up of members of both boards along with two citizens, to review the suitability of at least three other sites.

Willey, however, said the school board had already evaluated those other tracts.

The County Board of Commissioners will have a second opportunity to review the land deal, as well as any agreements reached by the school district and concerned groups. The property owners have set an April 15, 1998, deadline to wrap up the sale.

The school district's most recent foray into property acquisition on Hatteras resulted in a lawsuit between the school district and two Washington, D.C.-area property owners.

In April 1996, a Dare County jury ordered that the school district pay $475,000 to Elpis Sakaria of Bletsville, Md., and Jack and Lillian Hillman of Chevy Chase, Md. for six soundfront lots on Hatteras Island.

The district wanted land owned by the Hillman and Sakaria families for the construction of new athletic fields.

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