The Greene County supervisors on Feb. 21 approved the 28E agreement between the county and the Greene County Community Schools for construction of the career academy. The county will provide $5 million for construction of the building. The building will be owned by the school district. If the building quits functioning as a career academy before 10 years have passed since its opening, the school will reimburse construction costs back to the county on a prorated basis.
The supervisors have discussed the 28E agreement several times since county attorney Thomas Laehn began drafting it, but the discussion about approving it took 45 minutes.
Supervisor Mick Burkett of Grand Junction came to Thursday’s meeting with questions about portions of the career academy that would also be used by Greene County High School students. He said constituents asked him to raise issue with kitchen space and woodshop space that would be shared.
Laehn explained that the agreement includes language that requires splitting expenses between the school and the county for shared spaces. The school is required to separate those expenses and submit receipts to the county for expenses “exclusively contributable to the career academy.”
The question of shared spaces was explained several different ways, with board members Dawn Rudolph, Pete Bardole and John Muir stating their understanding and Burkett continuing to ask.
Finally, the vote to approve the 28E agreement was taken. Muir, Bardole and Rudolph voted in favor of the motion to approve it. Burkett abstained from the vote. He was asked why he abstained rather than voting “no.” “I don’t agree with the way this has been handled,” he answered.
Supervisor Tom Contner was not at the meeting.
The Greene County Schools board will vote on the agreement at its March 13 meeting.
