AURELIUS - The Cayuga-Onondaga Board of Cooperative Educational Services will ask taxpayers this October to authorize the sale of its old South Street campus.

During the monthly meeting Thursday, the board of education decided unanimously to put before voters a proposition to sell the nearly 25-acre vacant lot on South Street in Fleming to Francis Cunningham, whose own property adjoins it, for a cost of no less than $50,000.

A vote is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, at Presentation Room no. 1 at the BOCES Regional Education Center, 1879 West Genesee Street Road, Aurelius. Absentee ballots will also be available for those that cannot personally make it to the polling place.

BOCES officials have said they are eager to sell the property. The former administrative building still exists on the property - BOCES moved to its new location in Aurelius two years ago - and slabs of concrete that were once the foundation of the 120,000-square-feet facility are causing liability issues. People have broken in and used the lot as a skateboard park. The existence of both is causing the property value to decrease.

Cunningham was the only person to bid on the property during an open bidding process last spring. Officials had once sought a more lucrative offer on the property, but given the current economic situation and liability issues, the board decided to move on the sale three months ago.

Since then, Superintendent Bill Speck has gauged reaction by reaching out to each of the nine component school districts and personally visited the boards of education for the Southern Cayuga Central School District and the Auburn Enlarged City School District. Both districts approved of plans to sell.

In other news:

* During its reorganizational meeting, the board elected Suzanne Fadden, who represents the Cato-Meridian Central School District, as president and Mary Schooley, of the Union Springs Central School District, as vice president.

Fadden served as board president last year.

* The next board meeting is slated for 7 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Regional Education Center.

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net