School board moves forward with sale
PLAINS – The Plains School Board moved forward with the sale of the Wildhorse School property at last week’s meeting.
In a unanimous vote, the board moved to accept the offer on the property from Ordelheide Dental Inc., an offer totaling $425,000.
Prior to last week’s school board meeting, the Plains School Board of Trustees agreed with the recommendation of the Wildhorse Property Selling Committee to accept the offer from Ordelheide Dental, with the stipulation Ordelheide Dental provide a letter of credit, validating the company had the financing to cover the purchase of the property, by the school board’s next regular meeting on Monday, March 16.
During last week’s meeting the school board yielded on this requirement after Ordelheide Dental offered to make weekly payments as earnest money to confirm the contract of sale.
Ordelheide Dental will pay $2,000 a week in earnest money until the initial date of closing on the property, currently scheduled for July 13.
Dr. Andrew Ordelheide, co-owner of Ordelheide Dental Inc., was confident he would soon receive proof of financing for the contract but noted in the unlikely event the deal fell through, his company would still have made a donation to the district through the weekly payments in earnest money.
“We would be making a donation to the school district in either case, even if we couldn’t get financing, it seems like a win win,” Ordelheide said.
The offer from Ordelheide Dental was not the only offer on the elementary school property, with an offer also coming from Town Pump.
Town Pump offered $300,000 or $10,000 more than a competing over for the property on Railroad Avenue.
During the session on Friday, March 6, members of the school’s board of trustees felt the plan submitted by Ordelheide Inc. to use the elementary school’s former site for health and education for residents throughout Sanders County, presented a very strong future usage of the property in downtown Plains.
At the start of last week’s meeting, Plains School Superintendent Thom Chisholm announced the school district would donate portions of the elementary school’s playground equipment to the Wildhorse Sports Association.
The WSA, opened the Amundson Sports Complex off of Old Airport rd. in Plains, last June, and is currently in the midst of ongoing projects to build new baseball fields and secure a grant for a walking path at the site of the complex.
“It is really a nice effort out there, it looks really good, so if we could put some playground equipment out there I think that would be a cool addition,” Chisholm said.