Site for new Le Mars Elementary School

The Le Mars Board of Education has agreed to a land exchange involving this 30-acre site at the south end of Central Ave. along 18th St. S.W. This land, pictured Tuesday, June 10, will be the new elementary school building location. Dogwood Properties LLC, a local developer, proposed a land exchange with school district to include the district-owned 17-acre property located at 11th St. S.W. and 6th Ave. S.W. Photo by Peggy Senzarino

LE MARS — At a special meeting Tuesday, June 24, the Le Mars Community School District Board of Education approved two items in connection with the construction of a new elementary school.

The board received the report on the sealed bids for the General Obligation School Bonds, Series 2025, from Mike Gillespie of Piper Sandler, which assists school districts on bond issue financing.

Gillespie said the district received six bids for the bond sale, which was a good number.

The winning bid was submitted by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a true interest rate of 4.3249 percent. The other five bids had true interest rates which ranged from 4.3847 percent to 4.4788 percent.

The bond is scheduled to be repaid over a 20-year period.

Gillespie explained the district will need to pass several resolutions at its July 14 meeting. The money will be available to the school district on Aug. 5.

Board members Aaron Tolzin, Zach Davis, Kyle Plathe, Jill Feuerhelm, Lorraine DeJong and Mackenzie Lang approved a resolution directing the sale of 2025 Series General Obligation Bonds for a purchase price of $40,820,239. Board member Zach Lancaster did not attend.

In November 2024, voters in the Le Mars Community School District gave their approval to authorize the district to issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $49,970,000 to build, furnish and equip a new district-wide elementary building and improve the site.

The board also approved the real estate exchange agreement between the district and Dogwood Properties LLC.

The exchange involves the district-owned 17 acre property at 11th Street Southwest and Sixth Avenue Southwest and approximately 30 acres of land at the south end of Central Avenue along 18t Street Southwest.

The land is slated to be the home of the district’s new elementary school.

The board had unanimously approved the land exchange at its June 9 meeting.

The June 24 meeting involved updated language to the land exchange agreement with Dogwood Properties.

Superintendent Dr. Steve Webner explained the updates to the board.

The parties agree that the school district will convey the district property to Dogwood on the closing date by general warranty deed and Dogwood will convey the Dogwood property to the district on the closing date by general warranty deed.

The value of the district property as determined by appraisal is $1,900,000. The value of the Dogwood Property, as determined by appraisal, is $200,000.

In addition to conveying the Dogwood Property to the district, Dogwood Property has agreed to pay the district the amount of $560,000, which equates to 80 percent of the difference in the appraised value of the Dogwood Property and the appraised value of the district property.

As reported in the June 10 Le Mars Sentinel, the new location for the elementary school will alleviate some of the issues expressed by community members as far as traffic congestion and being in close proximity to semi-industrial operations.

The district is working with ISG Inc., an architecture, engineering, environmental and planning company, on the planning and design process.

The planning and design continues between ISG, the core planning team, community members and leaders and staff of the Le Mars Community School District.

Webner later explained the function of the core planning committee and the work it has been doing.

“The core planning committee was a group made up of LCSD staff members, community members, city leaders, and parents. The group met three times this past spring and summer. Their role was to provide ISG with input into the design of the elementary building and grounds,” he said.

“ Additionally, we are performing what is called ‘Visioning Labs.’ This is a time for every elementary employee to provide their input into the design of the elementary building and grounds. Visioning labs took place this past spring and there will be another set of meetings at the end of July. The Core Planning Committee and staff Visioning Labs are driving the design of the new elementary with great ideas and insight for ISG to design a top-notch elementary facility,” Webner said.

Webner added the property will need to be annexed into the city of Le Mars.

“If the city decides to extend Central Avenue, there will be access points to the school from Central and 18th Street,” he said.

The new elementary building will replace the three elementary schools in the district. Franklin and Clark were constructed in 1939 and have had additions to the original structures. Kluckhohn opened in 1971 and has had one addition.