Civil Municipal Magazine - Nov 2023

219 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11 GREENE COUNT Y SCHOOL SYSTEM A Cornerstone of the Community The district’s impact on the community is exemplified through the decision to locate a new school in a central location in the county. Dr. Houston recounts, “We had to pay for the water and the sewage to come down the entire length of the roadway to build the school. And when we did that, we had developers come to us and say, ‘If you enlarge the size of the pipe, we will reimburse you for the costs of purchasing the property, and it’ll help us because we want to develop that road’.” This commitment not only led to significant residential development, with plans for over 5,000 new homes, but also attracted various businesses and eateries, including a Longhorns SteakHouse, Starbucks, and Jersey Mike’s, along with plans for two new hotels. “They may have had tentative plans to develop, but once we started and they found out that the school was going up in the area, and that we were taking care of the infrastructure costs, they all jumped on board. So, it’s a great example of the school system being a Design. Delivered. K-12 Municipalities Performing Arts Higher Ed www.gsstj.com A Professional Corporation for the Practice of Architecture