Dear Port Jervis CSD Community:
The Port Jervis City School District Board of Education voted at a special meeting held on November 3 to terminate the contract to purchase the Joyland property on Hamilton Street. Here is the link to the board resolution.
Why did we vote to terminate the contract? The contract called for all due diligence on the part of the buyer to be completed by November 11, 2025. Our engineers recommended a Phase II environmental study that couldn’t be completed within that time frame. A Phase II study, at a cost of approximately $100,000, involves drilling many holes in the ground to examine the soil looking for any contamination. We didn’t think it was prudent to purchase the land without knowing the results of the Phase II study.
Why did we have a special meeting? In order to get our $50,000 deposit back, we had to take action by November 11, 2025. Therefore, we couldn’t wait until the regularly scheduled meeting on November 18.
We thought that purchasing this property to connect our high school campus to the East Main Elementary campus would be an asset to our district. The community also voted overwhelmingly last May to approve the purchase. However, the timing as outlined above just didn’t work out.
Sincerely,
John Bell
Dr. John J. Bell
Superintendent of Schools