By Crystal Hayduk
The Chelsea School District Board of Education is considering selling some of the district’s property to the Michigan medical group, IHA.
With all board members in attendance at Monday evening’s meeting at North Creek Elementary School, Jason Harris, IHA’s vice-president of planning and development, presented information about IHA and their needs, purchase proposal, plans, and timeline.
IHA was founded in 1994 as a multispecialty medical group; the group merged with Trinity Health and St. Joseph Mercy Health System in 2010. (More information about IHA is available here.)
According to Harris, IHA is “out of space to meet the needs of the [Chelsea] community.” They propose building a two-story, 30,000 square foot medical center at the corner of U.S. 12 and Freer Road to house primary care, specialties, and after-hours care.
IHA is offering $1 million to purchase 3.9 acres of the school district’s land, develop a 28,000-square-foot lot with 68 parking spaces, and repair the 9v9 soccer field at the high school.
Harris said that IHA plans to make the area around their building walkable by constructing paths. It is estimated that the building would be completed in 2020.
Harris ended his presentation by promoting the benefits to the community, listing access to more services with a “one-stop shop for health care,” bringing new providers and staff to the area, and IHA’s “long-term commitment to the community.”
Board members had a number of questions. Laura Bush asked for clarification of the hours and type of care available. Harris said that it is after-hours and not an urgent care. The facility would be open until 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
Superintendent Julie Helber said that local residents often utilize the emergency room at St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea rather than drive to Ann Arbor to be seen after 5 p.m., which increases health care costs; increased access to non-emergent care could significantly reduce costs to employers and individuals.
Board member Shawn Quilter expressed concerns about the traffic impact, especially during rush hour, as well as increased lighting since it is near a residential area. Harris and Helber agreed that moving forward with this project is contingent upon the City of Chelsea approving rezoning the area for this intended use.
“We’ve built in residential areas before,” said Harris.
The board learned about the proposed high school technology purchase in a presentation by technology staff and high school teachers, led by Jason Morris. With a technology review cycle of five years, Chelsea High School is due to update equipment.
The team made their recommendation following an in-depth exploration of the options, which included surveys of students, staff, and parents; visits to other school districts, attendance at the MACUL ’18 technology conference, and other research.
The team recommends iPads with keyboard cases for students. The keyboards are not wireless and can be attached to the iPad for typing; however, students who prefer to type directly on the virtual keyboard may do so. Screen protectors will be used with the keyboard cases. Morris said that newer iPads have more power, memory, app options, and improved management tools.
Scott Wooster, director of technology, said that once the statewide bid for devices is released, he will determine the cost of the upgrade. It is expected that the board will be able to vote on the purchase at their next meeting.
North Creek Principal Luman Strong showed the board the school’s new MakerSpace in the media center. “MakerSpace is a place for students to perform the four Cs (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity) of the Graduate Learner Profile,” he said.
Joe Tinsley, the district’s technology integration coordinator, reviewed some of the materials and equipment in the MakerSpace, which included a Lego wall, KEVA planks, and items that teach students coding and allow interaction with the digital world, such as Osmo and Blue-Bots.
“This is a ‘doing’ area,” said Tinsley. “Kids learn to make stuff by making stuff.”
He said that allowing students to problem solve by experimentation and creativity teaches them determination and grit.
In other board news:
Helber congratulated board member Tammy Lehman for receiving an Award of Merit from the Michigan Association of School Boards.
The board commended the following coaches who are retiring: Brad Bush (football), Laura Cleveland (volleyball), and Don Wright (hockey). Bush will continue as the district’s athletic director. They also commended Mark Moundros (boys’ basketball) who will be marrying and moving to Florida.
The board also commended Band Director Rick Catherman for his renewal of national board certification and Jessica DeLand, seventh grade ELA teacher, who was recently awarded the Michigan Association of Middle School Educators (MAMSE) Runner Up “Educator of the Year.”
Upcoming dates:
The next school board meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on April 23 at the Washington Street Education Center.
The school board will meet for a work session on May 14. Their regular May board meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on May 21 at the Washington Street Education Center.
They should consider using the part of the fairground property and leave the field at the school for use as soccer and athletic fields.
1. Nice summary. Thank you. 2. Traffic is horrible at that corner already. That has to be addressed.
If the Sale Goes Through, What does the School
Intend on doing with the Million Dollars? They Rent
The Pierce Lake School out as well as the old High School Auditorium and
Last I Heard the Middle School Cafteria . Can they Explain where all this
Money Goes that they all Ready Get. That Corner is Extremely Busy already. Plus the East side of Freer there talking about a Huge Residential Project. Not sure that Intersection will be able to Handle all That.
Both of my children enjoyed playing soccer on this field. Already this spring kids are over there playing. How sad that a school district is taking this away. I don’t understand why IHA needs to be smack dab in the middle of the city? I thought the hope was to re-open Pierce Lake if we get another sub-division??? I like IHA and would like to see exactly what are proposing in Chelsea but would like it a bit farther out.
30,000 sq feet, is not a small office building. IHA has a large specialty clinic on Jackson Ave.
This potential project does not add to Chelsea. If IHA and Trinity Health and St. Joseph Health System belive this is needed, then they should be looking at the current hospital grounds.
I wonder if IHA has considered the old UAW hall that has since been converted? Once the lot is complete the parking would be ample downtown, as well it would ready be in an area suited for the time requested.
I’d rather see use of an existing building, instead of building “another” building.
I think the athletic fields should be left alone. That corner is busy enough, the fields are well used by the community, if/when the school there reopens it will be nice to have all of the fields, there are a lot of folks who live across from the fields and probably would rather look at fields than an office building, and the fields make for a very nice entrance to the city. There has to be another spot where a medical building can be located, either on other city land or on land not owned by the city.
Green space and large fields for sports are very minimal in Chelsea. I would hate to see it sold without a replacement plan for open fields for recreation. The land is contiguous to much of the school district land and that can be very important if the school needs future expansion. I know Pierce is empty right now but Chelsea will grow and it sounds like it could be in the next 3-5 years. I know the district can always use more money but 1 million is not that much in the districts financial picture. The money could go quickly leaving the school with continued financial needs in the future and the community with less options for green space.