A recommendation authorizing purchase of 7.36 acres on the southeast corner of Louisiana Highway 1077 and Magee Road at a cost of $100,000 was approved unanimously at the regular meeting of the St. Tammany Parish School Board Thursday night.

The land would allow construction of a two-story elementary school at some point in the future. The area is connected to Goodbee Square Phase 2 and across the street from another development already underway.

The 1,280 home 286-acre community is scheduled to break ground July 2010 and the Goodbee area is considered by many developers to be the next major growth area. Future market value of the property has been estimated as high as $666,000 when the subdivision is completely built out. Long-range goal purchases such as this have been made possible by the current low construction costs of other projects coming in under budget.

The board also unanimously approved the use of a construction surplus of $18 million from current 2008 bond issue financed projects to finance Henry Mayfield Elementary, the remaining 2004 bond issue project.

After Hurricane Katrina, construction costs rose to unprecedented levels. Although many projects funded by the 2004 bonds were completed, Mayfield Elementary was put on hold due to budgetary constraints. The budget surplus will help pay for the construction of the school.

The board also unanimously accepted the low bid submitted by McMath Construction, Inc. for the renovation and administration building additions at Mandeville High School. The bid was $3,069,200 and was the lowest bid of 16. The highest bid was for $4,010,000.

The winning bid was almost a million dollars under the $4,400,000 estimate.

The board also unanimously passed a resolution providing for the incurring of debt and the issuing of $5 million of QSCB revenue bonds, Series 2009, of the Parish School Board of the Parish of St. Tammany, State of Louisiana.