The Smithville Independent School District is $52,000 richer after divesting itself of some property in Monday night’s board of trustees meeting.

After a little less than a month of accepting bids for the SISD property that consisted of several lots, the school board accepted an offer of $52,000 from Bennie Rooks Jr. Custom Homes for the property located in the 500 block of Byrne Street.

During its December meeting, the board voted to advertise lots 1 to 5 of Byrne Street for sealed bids after a company called Austin Homebuilders showed an interest in building two eight-unit apartment buildings on it.

According to superintendent Rock McNulty, the property was then advertised for two weeks and the deadline for accepting bids was this past Friday, Jan. 22.

“We received a good number of calls,” said Rick Boehm, director of business and finance. “I believe there were about 10 different inquiries about the property, but only two bids open for consideration.”

According to board member Kamron Saunders, who read the bids out loud, one bid was from Austin Homebuilders for $50,000 and another was from Bennie Rooks Jr. Custom Homes for $52,000.

After a closed session for the purpose of discussing both bids, the board voted to accept the bid from Bennie Rooks Jr. Custom Homes, who wants to build up to five single-family residences on the property.

An informal poll taken by a resident near the property showed that the board’s decision will likely be a popular one.

Andy Smith told the board on Monday night that when polled, most people in the area were in favor of property development on the five lots. Only three people were not in favor.

However, 94 percent of the people polled, which is a total of 34 people, were opposed to apartments being built on the property, which is what Austin Homebuilders was interested in doing.

“Most of the residents want the property to be developed for single-family housing,” Smith said.

In other action:

•The outstanding students for the third six weeks were recognized. For the high school, they are sophomore Oscar Kenebrew and senior Megan Gajowski. For the junior high, they are sixth-grader Michael Anthony Trevino and seventh-grader Jade Burleson.

• Boehm went over the financial statements for December and said that the school district is on track for expenditures.

• During his Superintendent’s Report, McNulty pointed out that two of the five new directors for the Bastrop Central Appraisal District are from Smithville, including Becky Bunte and Elaine Seidel.

He also noted that January is School Board Appreciation Month and thanked the board for everything they do for the school district.

• The 2009-10 High School Course Catalog was reviewed and approved by the board, with a few changes made due to legislative mandate.

• The board approved to authorize McNulty, Boehm and Denise Behrens, the superintendent’s secretary, to obtain bank credit cards in the name of SISD.

According to Boehm, the school district currently has one authorized American Express card, which they wanted to cancel and replace with three Visa cards, since Visa is more widely-accepted than American Express.

• According to McNulty, Mike Duggan, a Spanish teacher at the high school, will retire at the end of this school year.

• Lastly, after his evaluation by the board, McNulty’s contract as superintendent has been extended for another year.