Decatur City Schools officials hope to take over the city’s near-empty Business Incubator building on Fourth Avenue Southeast.

Superintendent Sam Houston said Friday that school officials had pitched a proposal to lease the entire facility from the city. That would include taking on utility and maintenance expenses, which cost the city $1,691 last month.

Houston said the school system hopes to use the building to consolidate and expand its career-technical programs at Decatur and Austin high schools. Doing so, he said, would reduce student travel time and enable more students to participate in the programs.

Currently, some of the classes, like the automotive-technology class at Austin High, have waiting lists because the school system doesn’t have the facilities or class time available to accept everyone. Houston said the system also hopes to expand the program’s curriculum, adding classes geared toward the work-force needs of local industries.

Awaiting reply

As of Friday, he said, he was still waiting for a reply from the city.

“I know they wanted to do some research and make sure what options were available in terms of coming to an agreement with the school system,” he said. “As of now, we have not heard anything formally from the city, so we’re hopeful that we can continue to pursue this option.”

On Monday, Mayor Don Stanford said city leaders had not followed up on the proposal, but he said it sounded like a good idea, especially because the incubator’s occupancy is at its lowest level ever.

According to the incubator’s administrator, Bobbie Carden, the facility was hosting four businesses as of Friday, one of which already has plans to leave. Finding home for businesses

Stanford said the city could find alternative facilities for the remaining businesses if city officials decide to accept the school system’s proposal.

During a City Council work session, Stanford told council members the move would help reduce education drop-out rates in Decatur.

“They’re really interested in doing this, and it would be up to the council to work out what we want to do as far as letting them have it or some kind of lease or rent,” he said.

As of Friday, officials had not proposed a duration for the proposed agreement or how much, if anything, it would cost the school system.

If an agreement is reached, Houston said, the facility will not be open by the next school year.

“You’ve got to move some pretty heavy equipment in order to set up some of those programs,” he said. “Also, we would have to hire additional teachers, and we would have to work with the state to incorporate the new curriculum.”

The city moved its business incubator to the current facility on Fourth Avenue Southeast in 2001 at a cost of $953,513, including renovations. To pay the expense, city officials used funds acquired when they sold the old facility on Bank Street.

They also borrowed money from the city’s general fund, paying it back with rent money from incubator tenants.

According to Chief Financial Officer Gail Busbey, $26,817 of that general-fund loan is left to be repaid.

Funding

The business incubator started with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, so any rent paid by the school system would go toward other HUD projects.

Former and present incubator tenants contacted by The Daily on Friday said the facility has been mostly inactive for years.

Former tenant DeWayne Wheaton moved his business, MASH Inc., to a new location last month. He blamed the incubator’s decline on the previous city administration’s failure to replace former Director Jim Gregory, who left in 2005.

“After Jim left, there wasn’t really anyone marketing, so there hasn’t been much activity,” Wheaton said.

Also, the previous City Council failed to appoint replacement members to the incubator’s seven-member board of directors.

Too few to meet

Currently, only two members, Charles Kirby and Terry Smith, remain — too few to hold a meeting.

Carden, who has worked with the incubator for 16 years, said she was disappointed the previous administration did not do more with the incubator.

“For three years, the council just let it sit,” she said.

Despite the school system’s proposal, District 3 Councilman Gary Hammon said he will stick with plans to reinstate the incubator board. Even without the building, he said, the entity could still offer support to start-up businesses, possibly including rental assistance.

“I think it can serve a purpose, especially in these economic times,” he said.

Hammon said he has asked several people if they would be interested in serving on the board, but all have turned him down.