By Jeff Werner; BucksLocalNews.com Editor

Horsham-based housing developer Toll Brothers now owns the 134-acre Melsky property in Upper Makefield and Newtown townships.

On Jan. 29, the Council Rock School District completed the sale of the property for $8.2 million, including extension fees. Toll plans on building housing on a portion of the property.

The Melsky property was purchased by Council Rock School District on June 30, 1988 for $3.35 million. The parcel of land is comprised of 134.36 acres, bounded by Stoopville Road and located in both Newtown Township and Upper Makefield Township.

The land was acquired by the district as the site for a new high school and middle school. Shortly after that purchase, the land became the subject of litigation and it became nearly impossible for the district to follow through on plans to build schools on this property.

In June of 2007, Council Rock agreed to sell this property to Toll and Leo Holt. This agreement of sale was the final link in the approvals for the Washington Crossing National Cemetery. The final purchase price for the land was $7.9 million dollars, consisting of $900,000 by Leo Holt for 40 acres of land with easements for open space, and $7 million for the remaining acreage by Toll.

The Agreement of Sale provided for fees to be paid to the school district to delay the initial settlement date. Those fees increased the final purchase price to $8.2 million..

The district received the funds through a wire transfer near the close of business on Jan. 29. Those funds will be held in an interest bearing account while the Council Rock Board of School Directors and the Administrative team work to determine how best to use these funds for district and the community.

The closing came a week after the school board voted 7-2 to authorize board president Bernadette Heenan to sign the settlement documents with Tolll.

“This district has an asset that it has not been able to do anything with. Now we’ve been presented with the golden ticket,” said board member Patricia Sexton. “This is a great deal for Council Rock. We are selling an asset. We are going to take the money we get from it and we’re going to find a way to turn it into gold for this community.”

Board member Dr. Paul Anagnostakos voted against the settlement, contending it will cost the district in the long run.

“I don’t believe all the housing is going to help the taxpayer in any way, shape or form,” he said. “It’s going to end up costing us more money in the long run. I am very concerned about the housing, the district and the burden on the district and the taxpayers.”

Both Anagnostakos and board member Richard Abramson, Esq., who also voted against the settlement, raised concern over the future use of the 40-acre Holt property.

Because the land has not been subdivided, the 40-acre parcel the district intended to sell to Leo Holt in a separate settlement agreement could not be effectuated. So instead of selling the land to Holt and Toll in two separate transactions, the board had to transfer the entire acreage to Toll with the understanding that when the land is subdivided, 40 acres would go to Holt.

“The question was how to effectuate the sale without the subdivision,” said Superintendent Mark Klein. “It was decided by all three parties that the best thing to do would be to convey to Toll, but only after Toll and Holt had worked out an agreement where Holt would get the property after it was subdivided by Toll.

“For me, the ultimate disposition and decision was can we convey 134 acres for $7.9 million and the answer was yes,” said Klein.

It is anticipated that the Holt land would be preserved as protected open space when two conservation easements are placed on the property. To date, the easements have not been granted by Upper Makefield Township.

Because those easements are not in place, Abramson and Anagnostakos worried that once the land is out of the district’s control, Toll could buy all the land from Holt and the entire tract could be developed.

Abramson said the devil is in the details. He said by approving the settlement the district would give up its rights to control the outcome of the Holt property, which the district believed would be preserved open space.

“Could they acquire the property and do something else than what's intended?” Anagnostakos asked the district’s special counsel, John Donaghy.

“I’m not going to tell you that it’s not a possibility,” said Donaghy. “Once the district settles, you have no more control over it.”

As part of the district’s original agreement of sale, the district anticipated the Holt property as remaining open space while the remainder of the land, owned by Toll, would be developed into housing.

Superintendent Klein said he believes Upper Makefield will eventually grant the easements.

“Those conservation easements are in the hands of Upper Makefield and I have every belief and every confidence that they will grant those conservation easements, which will not only put those 45 acres in conservation easement, but another 30 acres on land that Holt already owns so there will be 70 acres of open space left of that property. I know that’s important to our board and to the community.”

The settlement is good news financially for the district, said Klein. The question now becomes how will it be used.

“It has to be part of a conversation we have about this year’s budget – how much we’re going to use and in what way," he said.

Klein said he would not advocate using all, or even half of it, to fund the upcoming budget “because it’s a one time attribute that goes into the budget. You’ll have to make it up in revenue at some point. But it will be an opportunity for us to mitigate issues in certain areas and to create a final budget that will look better than what it looks like right now.”