Local Of_cials Tour Possible School Sites

Meadowmont, a development off N.C. 54, is the proposed site for the school. It will be the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City Schools' ninth elementary school.

"We had a Long-Range Facilities Task Force that thought about what our school needs to be," said Board of Education member Teresa Williams.

Meadowmont is the preferred site being considered. The development, a 435-acre mixed-use site, will include new homes, apartments and a wellness center.

"It's not (a site) that we need to purchase," Williams said. "It obviously became a favorable site."

The elementary school would be built on 22 acres of land in the Meadowmont community. The school board must commit to building the new school by 2002 and the new school must be completed by 2007.

But Meadowmont is not the only site the school board is considering for the new school.

"We have been asked by the (Orange) County commissioners to consider other sites," Elizabeth Carter, a school board member, said.

The school board and county officials also toured the Eubanks Road site Tuesday. But officials said they have a number of concerns with the Eubanks site."The site on Eubanks has no utilities," said Steve Scroggs, assistant superintendent of the school system.

Scroggs said that in addition to utilities, the road in front of the Eubanks site would have to be widened to include a turn lane.

But the board has some concerns with Meadowmont as well. About half of the school will be located in Durham County and the other half in Orange County.

Superintendent Neil Pedersen said he is confident this issue will not be a problem.

"We have special legislation approved that allows us to encroach into Durham County," Pedersen said.

Carter said the board hopes to create a design different from other schools in the area.

"My hope is that we will use another (model)," Carter said. "Not just the exact model but certain pieces."

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