In a joint meeting held on January 2, 2025, the Twinsburg City Council and Board of Education met to discuss a potential land swap that could benefit both entities. The meeting focused on exploring the possibility of exchanging the Dodge School property for city-owned land between Ravenna and Chamberlain Roads.
The proposed land swap comes after a November 2024 school bond issue failed by approximately 400 votes. The school district is seeking to build a new PreK-6 school building, and this alternative location could address community concerns about traffic and other issues that may have contributed to the previous ballot measure’s defeat.
The Proposed Exchange
The city-owned property under consideration, located between Ravenna and Chamberlain Roads, spans approximately 25.5 acres. This land was originally purchased in the 1990s during Mayor Karabec’s administration with the intention of building a school, though those plans never materialized.
In exchange, the school district would transfer the Dodge School property, which encompasses roughly 28.5 acres, to the city. Under the proposed arrangement, the school district would retain approximately 9 acres of the Dodge property for athletic facilities, including the varsity baseball field and girls’ practice soccer field, along with necessary parking.
Key Points of Discussion
Several important aspects of the potential swap were discussed during the meeting:
- The school district must submit ballot measure paperwork by late January to meet May election deadlines
- The new proposal could reduce the bond issue by approximately $10 million compared to the previous plan
- The district would still receive about $15 million in reimbursement from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC)
- The school district would need to secure access to the proposed new school site, with discussions ongoing with a local church about potential ingress/egress options
- The city needs to evaluate whether the Dodge property would accommodate their service department needs
Next Steps
While both parties expressed interest in the concept, several steps need to be taken before moving forward:
- The city needs to assess specific space requirements for their service department
- Property appraisals need to be conducted
- Environmental studies need to be reviewed
- A formal purchase and sale agreement must be negotiated
City Council members indicated that while they support exploring the land swap, they need more detailed information before making a final decision. The school board emphasized that time is of essence due to OFCC requirements, but acknowledged that the land swap agreement doesn’t necessarily need to be finalized before placing the bond issue on the May ballot.
School board president Lea Travis, highlighted the importance of having unified support from both entities when presenting the plan to voters, suggesting that cooperation between the city and school district could help ensure the success of the May ballot measure.
The meeting concluded with Mayor Scaffide expressing optimism about finding a solution that would benefit both the city and school district, while acknowledging that more work needs to be done to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed land swap.
