The Greene County School Board voted at their meeting in May, to sell the Rippey School property to the City of Rippey.

Superintendent Tim Christensen says the district sold the property to the City for $1.  The property was transferred from the East Greene School District to the Greene County School District after East Greene reorganized with Jefferson-Scranton last summer.  The three-story portion was torn down last fall and all that remains is the Wisecup Memorial Gym and the district will be the only entity using the facility.

Christensen says the district will be using the gym for a few years, but they wanted to get the agreement solidified now instead waiting a few years.

“The City of Rippey had some foresight, looking at it from the standpoint that you hope that in five, ten, fifteen years, whatever it is, that you got a great relationship and you would do it at that point in time.  But, we’ve got a great relationship right now, so let’s just get the deal done is what they kind of approached us with.”

Christensen notes that the other parts of the agreement are that the district and the City will split the cost of property taxes of $2,373.  The district would be responsible for plowing snow in the winter and the City would be responsible for mowing the property.  The district also agreed to repair the roof of the gym for $15,000 and put metal siding on the west side of the building for $11,000.  Both projects are slated to be done this summer with Voter-Approved Physical Plant and Equipment Levy funds.