The Critic

Issue date: 3/12/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Sam Monroe The college is currently working on closing out a deal that would make it the owner of piece of property that was part of the original Vail estate.

Lyndon State College is looking to expand its borders as it closes out a deal for a piece of property on McGoff Hill Road.

Currently, the school is still looking to close out a deal with the owners of the property, but Wayne Hamilton, dean of administration, was confident the deal would be done within two weeks.

"There are still a few contingencies within the contract that are being worked out," Hamilton said, in reference to why the property is still in the process of being closed on.

The property includes 10 acres of open, level field, an old dilapidated barn and a white house that can be seen sitting back from the road.

Of particular interest to LSC is the level terrain of the land.

"A lot of the terrain on campus is hilly," said Hamilton, "and with limited access to utilities, it gets expensive to build."

"The McGoff Hill property is probably more level than any other site on campus," says Hamilton.

With 1000 feet of road frontage and access to utility poles, Hamilton felt the property was the best site the school considered for making an offer on. However, because closing negotiations were still under way, Hamilton declined to comment about the amount of money LSC is paying for the property.

Peabody and Smith's real estate has listed on their website, an asking price of $365,000 for the property.

For students who are concerned about the impact on their tuition for the purchase of the property, they needn't worry.

"Because of enrollment numbers this year, we have sufficient funds in our operating budget to make the purchase without any future debt service," said Hamilton.

In terms of future projects for the property, Hamilton says nothing is in the works in terms of developing the land, but future projects will be evaluated on what the college feels will benefit the most from its use. However, before any construction begins, LSC must acquire the proper permits and, if necessary, Act 250 could come into play. Act 250, as stated by the vermont.gov website, say, "The Act 250 program provides a public, quasi-judicial process for reviewing and managing the environmental, social and fiscal consequences of major subdivisions and developments in Vermont."

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