A concerned citizen spoke against the Albert Lea school board accepting a possible donation of land Monday evening.

Hugh O’Byrne, of Albert Lea, spoke to the school board to tell them he thought there were too many liabilities with accepting the donation of about 15 acres from The Nature Conservancy.

“I’m here with doubts about the land and its use,” O’Byrne said.

He said if the school district were to accept the land that he thought the land would be used inappropriately and that neighboring property owners would be susceptible to liability if there were accidents. He said he was concerned that the land would not be monitored enough by the school district and that vandalism has, and could again, take place.

Superintendent Mike Funk spoke to say that it wasn’t the district’s intent to monitor the land and that it’s not being monitored by anyone right now in the hands of The Nature Conservancy.

Community Education Director Chris Chalmers thanked O’Byrne for speaking about his concerns, and said it’s not the district’s intent to let students abuse the land. He said it would basically only be used for the teaching of Leave No Trace principles and to teach small groups of students how to respect the land. He went on to recommend that the board approve the donation of the land.

Lori Volz, the district’s director of finance and operations, said she checked with the insurance company and accepting the land would have very little effect on the district’s payments. She also said the area would be covered like any school-owned land would be.

Board members then spoke up about their concerns and what they would like to see before approving the donation. Vice chairman Mark Ciota said he wants dollar amounts that show why using the land will be cheaper than doing the same programs at Helmer-Myre State Park, and he’d like to make sure adjacent property owners are aware of the possible donation. Member Jill Marin said she doesn’t think the donation is the best fit for the district as it presents too many safety concerns for students. Member Bill Leland said it’s hard to tell if the district accepting the land would increase inappropriate use, but that he thinks it would be reduced.

The Nature Conservancy is looking to focus on preserving larger pieces of land and said it is working to find way to gift smaller pieces of land, like the 15-acre tract west of Highway 13 a few miles south of Interstate 90.

Scott Hanna, the Community Education environmental program coordinator, said there’s many benefits to the land if it’s donated. He hopes to use it to teach people and children how to understand and respect the environment.

The land was deeded to The Nature Conservancy in 1973 as the Paul N. Nelson and G. Myrtle Nelson Wildlife Sanctuary. The deed includes a clause that the land should be made available to organizations interested in nature studies and observations and that if it’s no longer used for that purpose it should revert back to Paul Nelson or his descendants.

 

In other action the board:

• Heard from Chairwoman Linda Laurie about the possibility of having a student school board member. Laurie said other district’s have had success having a student on the board to help give student body perspectives to the board. The student would have no voting power and would have to attend all meetings. The board will vote on the issue in the near future.

• Heard from Activities Director John Double about booster clubs, their benefits and drawbacks and their effect on the district. He said it’s something he’ll continue to look at and will address the board if changes may need to be made.

• Heard from Funk about updates around the district. Funk said soon Albert Lea High School will have electronically-locked doors on the main entrance. Currently the entrance is staffed, and soon the inner doors of the entrance way would be locked until someone from the main office buzzed visitors in. It would not be locked before school when students use the entrance. Funk said if it’s successful it may be considered for other buildings in the district that have similar security issues.

• Made the 5 p.m. Feb. 6 workshop into a special school board meeting to be able to approve bids for the heating, air conditioning and ventilation projects at Brookside Education Center and Hawthorne Elementary School that will happen this summer.