School officials secure grant to cleanup Asa Wood

For nearly two years, Libby Public School District administrators have struggled to redevelop the defunct Asa Wood Elementary School due to the high cost of mitigating toxic building materials on the property.

Financial salvation arrived this week in the form of a $388,000 grant from the EPA.

“In my mind, a clean building is worth a lot more to all us in this district,” said Superintendent Ron Goodman after announcing the funding during a May 10 school board meeting.

Libby Public Schools was among 151 applicants across the country selected by the EPA to receive dollars from a total of 154 grants. The funding, offered through the agency’s Brownfields Program, totals $66.5 million this year, according to an EPA press release.

With the grant in hand, the district can begin sprucing up the former elementary school for interested buyers. Leading up to the district’s application for the grant last October, inspectors found 13 building materials that tested positive for asbestos and another six that were assumed to contain asbestos.

The inspection revealed significant amounts of lead-based paint on the inside and outside of the structure and confirmed that four thermostats in the building contained mercury.

As part of the Brownfields Program, the district will have to contribute funds to help clean Asa Wood. In a May 13 follow up interview, Goodman said he was unsure exactly how much the district would be responsible for. Last October, consultants who coordinated with school officials to apply for the grant said the district would have to pony up 20 percent of the funds, or $77,600. This cost-share could be divvied up between cash and in-kind labor. Goodman said the district is hoping to secure another grant to clean up an underground storage tank that will not be covered by the Brownfields Program.

“EPA is pleased to support Libby School District 4 in their efforts to clean up and redevelop the historic Asa Wood Elementary School,” said Mark A. Smith, EPA Region 8 director of the Land Chemicals and Redevelopment Division, in the statement from the agency.

County Commissioner Mark Peck (D-1) also praised the grant in the release calling it a “true win-win” for the school district, the city and the county.

After learning the district had received the EPA funding, board members voted May 10 to partner with United Country Real Estate to market Asa Wood across the nation.

The approved agreement with United Country offers a 3 percent commission to both the lister and seller of the property, according to Goodman. In negotiations over the agreement, Goodman said school officials were careful to ensure that a single agent could not represent both the buyer and seller.

“It's just too easy to have a conflict of interest,” he said.

The contract still allows for two agents with United Country to separately represent the buyer and seller.

Following the board’s stamp of approval, Asa Wood was set to hit the market within a matter of days, according to Goodman. Buyers who wish to take advantage of the EPA’s grant, however, will have to wait until the district can complete the cleanup before moving into the property.

Only local government entities and nonprofit organizations are eligible for Brownfields funds which means the district would have to hold on to Asa Wood until the completion of restoration work in October of next year.

Despite the extended timeframe, there is an incentive for putting down money before the cleanup is finished. Goodman said a buyer who enters into a long-term agreement with the district could access $30,000 through the EPA grant for architectural and planning work this fall. School officials also would require buyers to put down around $50,000 in earnest money for the property.

Leslie Forster, district clerk, said the proceeds of the sale would go into the district’s building fund. With schools facing a backlog of maintenance projects, Goodman said the infusion of dollars would prove immediately handy.

Questions remain as to whether the district will be able to keep their kitchen on the Asa Wood property after selling the lot. The transition of ownership could disrupt other groups that use Asa Wood, including the Libby Food Pantry, Libby Area Community Garden and Girl Scouts. Goodman said the extended timeframe of the EPA grant would help the district iron out these details.

“Those are all parts of the equation,” he said. “It would be really nice if we were able to get a win-win-win-win out of it.”

A previous plan by American Covenant Senior Housing Foundation to convert Asa Wood into an assisted living facility lost favor with school board members in January. While the foundation previously suggested using the existing building for the facility, the organization later changed tack, proposing instead to raze Asa Wood and erect a new structure in its place.

The plan would have saddled the district with most, if not all, of the costs associated with cleaning the lot. At the time, Goodman said the project would leave the district with little to no return on the sale of the property.