Geary USD 475 has reached a settlement with Rick Munson on the price of the land obtained by the school district for the new Junction City High School project.

The Board of Education approved a settlement of a case that had been pending in Geary County District Court. BOE President Tom Brungardt said the two sides had proposed two different prices. “The court had said pay this amount, which we did. We paid a certain amount, but Mr. Munson appealed so that was the basis of the court case.”

Brungardt said there was mediation on Monday. “In the process of the mediation Mr. Munson came down and we are going to have an additional $52,316 to pay him for a total for that land of $760,000.” He added it was less than district officials thought they would have to pay.

The lawsuit in the case will be dismissed with prejudice, which means it can’t be refiled.

The case would not have delayed construction of the new high school because the district had already obtained the land through an eminent domain process. Brungardt believes because the case had not gone on into the court process that will save the school district a lot of money in legal fees.