In short, the city of Selma didn’t know they owned it and the Selma City School Board didn’t know they didn’t own it. Such is the case involving a question of property ownership of the site where a new Selma High School is currently being constructed.

During a special called meeting of the Selma City Council’s administrative committee, city officials discussed a request from school officials, asking the city to simply transfer the deed of the property to the school system.

“After the discussion, I feel the recommendation of this committee will be we transfer the deed to the school board,” Ward 4 council member and administrative committee chairperson Angela Benjamin said.

According to a property abstract researched by the school system, the City National Bank of Selma to the city of Selma conveyed the property on Aug. 9, 1938.

One question that may hinder any transfer could be whether or not the property has appeared as an asset of the city and that a transfer of the property might affect the city’s value.

But, according to city attorney Jimmy Nunn, the city was unaware they held the title on the property until the abstract was researched.

“We didn’t even know we owned,” Nunn said. “So I would expect that it has not been counted as an asset of the city.”

The committee did ask Selma Mayor George Evans and Nunn to research any impact the transfer might have and to provide that information ahead of the full council voting on the measure at their next meeting on Tuesday, May 31.

Selma Superintendent of Education Donald Jefferson did attend Monday’s committee meeting and said transfer of the property — if approved — should be done before the construction of the new school is completed, which is not expected until February 2012.

If approved, this would be the third property the school system would own, including Payne Elementary and Clark Elementary.

Evans told committee members he has asked Nunn to begin looking into who holds the titles on the remaining school properties to prevent any future confusion.