Charles Crane/MDN Minot Public Schools Superintendent Scott Faul, at left, and board member Scott Louser, at right, listen as board member Bill Irmen discusses the potential sale of district property near Erik Ramstad Middle School.

The Minot Public School Board discussed the potential sale of real estate adjacent to Erik Ramstad Middle School at their meeting Thursday evening.

Superintendent Scott Faul said district representatives had held an information meeting with a land developer to explore options for a portion of the district’s property south of Ramstad.

“We found out there isn’t a lot of land within the city limits to have developments, so we’re sitting on some property that could be developed. Homes could be built. We could gain enrollment and such on this land,” Faul said.

Faul said the process would begin with an appraisal that would be presented at the next board meeting in December, at which the board could deliberate on whether to move forward. Faul said the district does incur costs maintaining the property, which carries liability issues from individuals trespassing on it. Faul indicated the developer would need the property to be dirt ready by March to fit his timeline.

“We also had a meeting scheduled with the city manager, and there might be some incentives for development we want to know more about, especially in regard to time frame,” Faul said.

The real estate in question consists of lots in the Northern Idlewild Properties from 10th Street Northwest to 14th Street Northwest between 35th Avenue Northwest and 32nd Avenue Northwest. Faul said these portions of the 70 acres the district owns in the area are being targeted for potential sale and development due to having the appropriate infrastructure in place. The remainder of the property “was in pretty tough shape,” according to Faul, and is not being considered for sale or development at this time.

“The block just straight east of Ramstad, that might be something the district would want to hold onto for an elementary school. The lot next to that you can’t build on because it’s in the flight zone, but that could be developed into playgrounds or fields or that kind of thing. There’s a lot of land up there,” Faul said. “It’s 70 acres, and some of it is worth more than others.”

Board member Scott Louser acknowledged that while there is a need for single family homes in the Minot community, he felt the long term value of the land could outweigh the short term cash infusion selling it would provide.

“One of my thoughts going forward with this is that I hope we as a board don’t make a decision to sell what may be now or in the future a valuable asset, just to get ourselves out of a budget crisis that was created,” Louser said. “That’s a one time snapshot and I don’t want to sell land to cover a deficit and then have the same issue two years later.”

Board member Bill Irmen inquired as to the timing of the Sentinel missile program at Minot Air Force Base as it would put a premium on housing, Faul clarified the majority of the work on the project isn’t expected to come online until 2030.