CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – With construction of a new north Clarksville elementary school on the horizon, land has finally been acquired to move forward. However, building the school will require relocating about 25 households in a mobile home park that overlaps with the site.

The 16.74-acre site off of Fort Campbell Boulevard is just south of Wallace Boulevard on the west side of Clarksville Regional Airport, and it includes about 7 acres occupied by tenants of the Belleglade Mobile Home Community.

The owners of the land are offering to buy the mobile homes or help relocate them to another section of the community. Residents received the notice in recent weeks and were given about a week to make a decision.

Sale for school 2 years in making

In January 2022, the Joint Ad Hoc Land Acquisition Committee began work to analyze needs, research available properties, and conduct feasibility studies for a new elementary. Over a year later, in August 2023, the JLAC presented its findings to the Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board and Montgomery County Commission.

The following month, the County Commission approved a proposal to purchase land for next elementary school.

By November, site evaluations for the property and due diligence steps were concluded, and on Dec. 14, negotiations with the seller, Iron Horse Belleglade, concluded for the sale agreement.

After the new year rolled in, the parties closed on a $5.9 million sale:

• For the 9.61-acre unoccupied portion, CMCSS and the county agreed to pay $295,000 per acre for a total of $2.8 million.
• For the 7.13-acre occupied portion, CMCSS agreed to pay more, at $435,000 per acre (a $140,000 per acre difference), paying $3.1 million.

With those additional funds, the agreement states that Belleglade will ensure that all mobile homes, underpinnings and personal property of the seller and the seller’s tenants are removed from the site. The agreement states that all mobile homes and related infrastructure should be removed no later than June 15.

Belleglade is now working on moving and relocating tenants and has supplied unique offers to each of them. Residents who own their homes have two options, according to an offer letter obtained by Clarksville Now:

• Option 1: Relocate the home within Belleglade, with rent waived while the home is in transition. Also, move any storage sheds or buildings and provide any new front or rear decks.
• Option 2: Belleglade will purchase the home at a fixed price, depending on the home’s value.

The offer letter included a confidentiality clause: If the matter is discussed outside of the household, the offer would be null and void. This would mean that the burden of relocating or selling the home would fall entirely on the resident, despite that additional taxpayer money is being expended to assist in the relocation of residents.

Belleglade responds

IHI Belleglade told Clarksville Now that most of the land being purchased is vacant and had been set aside for future development.

Belleglade anticipates that most of the affected residents will relocate within Belleglade at minimal cost and minimal disruption. Management is in discussions with each resident to help with relocation, and the discussions are based on each resident’s specific circumstances, desires, wants and needs.

“The discussions with each resident are confidential and will not be discussed or disclosed out of respect for each resident’s privacy,” Belleglade said. “Residents that are not relocated within the community, for whatever reason, will be assisted with their relocation elsewhere.

“Management of the community is taking great care to ensure the residents receive appropriate assistance, that their homes are relocated quickly, and that the disruption to each resident is minimal.”

Do residents have to move?

Generally, a mobile home is owned by the resident, but the land belongs to someone else. The resident typically leases the land that the home sits on. However, the tenant does have rights under a lease agreement.

Rosemary Calcese, owner and attorney of Calcese Law, told Clarksville Now that existing lease agreements remain in effect.

“A lease runs with the land; it does not terminate upon conveyance to another party,” Calcese said. “The tenants have the right to remain on the property, notwithstanding any lease violations or other legal matters disturbing the lease.”

She advises that the tenants retain legal representation to understand better the terms of the offer letters and their current lease agreements.

CMCSS responds and next steps

“The School Board is not in a position to negotiate for additional property they were not authorized to purchase,” Norm Brumblay, CMCSS Chief Operations Officer, wrote in response to an email from a concerned resident. “While we recognize the complexity of this situation, we have no direct involvement between the seller and their mobile home residents.”

Brumblay mentioned that the negotiated price for the occupied portion included additional money to relocate the residents, and that the matter is now between Belleglade and its residents.

“This was not an eminent domain transaction,” Anthony Johnson, CMCSS spokesman, told Clarksville Now. “The Ad Hoc Joint Land Acquisition Committee, comprised of leaders from Montgomery County Government, Clarksville-Montgomery County Regional Planning Commission, and CMCSS, have spent around two years identifying available properties in Montgomery County for the 26th elementary school. … The committee recommended the purchase of this property from an interested seller.”

To ensure the timely opening of Elementary School #26 in August 2026, CMCSS plans to present a design resolution for School Board review in February and County Commission review in March. The new construction is projected to cost approximately $54.5 million, with a target bid date of November 2024.