By Brian L. Gray

The city and school district have moved into a joint powers agreement with the future sale of the former junior high school.

The school board approved the agreement at its regular board meeting on Monday, and the city approved it the following evening.

As part of the sale of the former junior high, a committee will be organized that will look at requests by potential owners for what their intended plans will be with the building.

The committee will go through a two-step process. It will first accept all buyers interested in the building, and then those that are approved will be asked to draft a request for qualifications. The committee will then determine which potential buyer is the most appropriate, and pass that information along to both the school board and city commission.

“This way we will not have eliminated anybody, as anyone has the ability to have us look at their qualifications,” Superintendent Wilfred Volesky said. “This option is better than a simple sale of putting it on the market.”

Following the approval, the city expanded its urban renewal zones to cover the area the junior high is located, in order to allow for a reduced market rate.

“This expansion will also allow us to provide improvements to residential areas as well in the future,” City Administrator Jim Neubauer said.

The action met with resistance on Tuesday, as Mandan resident Wayne Papke asked how this plan financially benefits the city. He pointed out that, according to the Century Code, for an urban renewal to take place the location impacted must be a blighted or slum area.

“We’re talking about a lot of houses that are considered blighted or slums in the community,” he said.

City Attorney Malcolm Brown said the language in the Century Code was not as simple as that, and allowed for joint power agreements to take place, despite whether the area was in need of reconstruction or not.

Mayor Tim Helbling added that a future sale would be a fiscal benefit to Mandan, as it beat the alternative of dormancy. If a serious developer takes over, he said, money will be invested into both the building and into the community.

“The worst thing is if it would turn into a warehouse. In Minot, there’s an old school that was purchased by an individual. It became neglected, and half the building fell down. I don’t want to see this school turn into that,” Helbling said.

A public hearing will take place at the city commission’s next meeting on Tuesday, March 16, about the urban renewal expansion.

The school district, in an effort to benefit potential buyers of the former junior high, turned to the city to consider a joint powers agreement, as the city has the legal authority to lower the market rates on buildings by way of urban renewal and renaissance zoning.

If all goes as planned, the final recommendation of a potential buyer could be turned into the school and city by early August.