|
Home builders and school officials celebrated their new partnership Thursday in a noontime ceremony in front of the Old Merced County Courthouse, symbolically signing the pact which could lead to construction of new schools here. Merced Union High School District trustees ratified an agreement Wednesday night with the county's Building Industry Association which will see new homeowners pay $3.06 per square foot, four times the amount previously collected. Guy Maxwell, president of the building industry group, lauded the new agreement in the half-hour ceremony below the courthouse steps. More than two-dozen people attended the event. "It's the end of a very long journey. A lot of people worked hard to make this happen. I love our new relationship. This is a win-win situation for the betterment of Merced County," Maxwell said.
FORT VALLEY - The Peach County Board of Education approved laying the groundwork for the future sale of $9.5 million in bonds backed by the special purpose local option sales tax approved by voters in September 2005. School Superintendent Tommy Daniel said Friday he will come back to the board in the near future with the final price and terms of the sale for board approval. The bonds will finance construction of two new elementary schools, improvements at Peach County High and other projects, Daniel said. The bond sales had been held up by a lawsuit earlier this year challenging the validation of such an action. The lawsuit was dropped in August. Bill Camp of Knox Wall, which is handling the bonds for the school board, made a presentation at Thursday's meeting outlining the projected monthly income over five years from the additional penny sales tax.
|
