A project the DeKalb County Board of Education, the City of Rainsville, and the Rainsville City Industrial Board have been working on for the last several months will soon be completed. The new bus garage for the DeKalb County School System will be up for its final inspection within the next two weeks. It is located along Roy Sanderson Drive in the vicinity of Topher’s Wing House in Rainsville.
The new facility came into being as a result of negotiations between Superintendent Barnett, the Fort Payne Waterboard, and the City of Rainsville. In 2016, the DeKalb County Superintendent at the time, Hugh Taylor, and the board of education members agreed to sell the county bus garage to the Fort Payne Waterboard planning to build a new garage on land adjacent to the DeKalb County Technical School. When the new school superintendent was elected and the process for the building continued, it was discovered that the new facility was too expensive for the county school system to afford. They had to create a new plan. During this process the lease for the land the buses were currently located on ran out, and the Fort Payne Water Board sent a letter of eviction to Dr. Barnett asking the buses be removed. After discussions occurred between Dr. Barnett and the water board, the board agreed to extend the county’s lease giving Dr. Barnett more time to come up with a solution. Dr. Barnett commented, “ I really appreciate how cooperative Mr. Paul Nail and the members of the Fort Payne Water Board were during this process. They were very gracious in letting us extend our stay.”
When Mayor Lingerfelt, the Rainsville City Council, and The IDB became aware of the situation, they were eager to help the school system and have the bus garage moved to Rainsville. The city partnered with the board to make this happen. The city agreed to lease the county the land and build the new building.
Because of this partnership, the taxpayers of DeKalb County will see a savings in the expenses of running the bus garage. Dr. Barnett stated, “Since the bus garage is centrally located now, it will be more efficient in both time and money. Monthly bus inspections will be more expedient and the building is a much better facility. There is also a conference room located in the building that can be used by the transportation department, as well as any other board of education departments that need it.”
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