Matt Hamilton/Daily Citizen-NewsThis is a panoramic view of the property donated to Dalton Public Schools to be used as part of a proposed 60-plus-acre development that would be home to a new 6/7 grades school. The land is across the North Bypass from Dalton Middle School.

DALTON, Ga.— The Dalton Board of Education voted 5-0 Tuesday afternoon to accept a donation of 38.1 acres as part of a planned 60-plus-acre development for a new school for sixth and seventh grades, pending final approval after a bond referendum in November.

The land is across the North Bypass from Dalton Middle School, which would be converted into an eighth- and ninth-grade school. The new school, for approximately 1,200 students, would be built primarily to relieve overcrowding at Dalton High School and Dalton Middle, according to a resolution approved by the board.

“It is a wonderful location, and to me it is a win-win situation and an answer to a prayer,” board Chairman Rick Fromm said. “It is the cheapest and most useful property we could have asked for. We looked at a number of properties and this suits our needs perfectly.”

The land is being donated by Hammond Creek Capital, which also controls the other acreage that the school system would have to purchase for the school project. The school system is paying only realtors’ commissions on the donated land, which Interim Superintendent Don Amonett said would total $350,040 on the property that is valued at approximately $5 million.

Bill Blackwood with Kinard Realty said he has been working with school system officials on various land projects for the past four years. He said the deal is beneficial to the school system and the owners of the property.

“We have been on and off for quite a while trying to find a tract of land for the schools to be able to use,” Blackwood said. “We found the tract with the broker and the owners. We knew it was available, and it might behoove the owners to have a donation from a tax standpoint.”

The total amount of land in the parcel which is along Pleasant Grove Road from the North Bypass to South Brooker Drive is 98.84 acres, according to information on the Whitfield County tax assessor’s website. The remaining land the school system needs — approximately 25 acres, according to Fromm — would be purchased at a later date.

The land is part of a planned development that never materialized. According to articles from 2008, the Opus South Corp. envisioned a plan for retail and residential developments on 168 acres. Later statements by developers pegged the total acreage at nearly 250 acres, which included the land being donated. However, in 2009, Opus South filed for bankruptcy, and the project never got off the ground.

In 2015, Bryan Hair, who was identified as the principal owner of the Hammond Creek development, proposed to the Dalton City Council that the North Bypass that contained the Hammond Creek development be part of a Tax Allocation District (TAD). But some citizens told council members the TAD referendum had been proposed to voters as a way to focus on blight and redevelopment of existing properties and not for development of unimproved land. The council members said they wanted to make sure they had a TAD policy they were comfortable with before approving any TADs. Messages left for Hair were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

Money for the land acquisition and the new school would come from a proposed $50.65 million bond referendum that will be on the November ballot. Board members on Tuesday also voted unanimously to approve a resolution that states that the bond revenue would be used solely for the 6/7 school and not for new equipment or improvements at existing school buildings or facilities.

Amonett said the donation of the land allows school system officials to begin taking the next steps toward the new school with the anticipation that the bond referendum will be approved.

“It allows us to go ahead and begin working on the 6/7 school and people know where we intend to build it,” Amonett said. “We have looked at a variety of options in the past, and like Dr. Fromm said, this is a win-win for the system and the taxpayers.”