Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Montgomery County plans to build a new Price's Fork Elementary School on a 20-acre parcel east of the school's current location.

Montgomery County, Virginia Tech and the Virginia Tech Foundation have agreed in principle on a deal that will give the county 20 acres of land to build a new elementary school in Prices Fork.

The three-way deal involves farmland owned by Virginia Tech near the existing Price's Fork Elementary School and foundation-owned Heth farm property that lies across the U.S. 460 Bypass west of campus.

The foundation is the private, nonprofit, organization that manages Tech's endowment and real estate for the benefit of the university.

If the deal goes forward, the foundation would receive $1 million, the county would receive 20 acres of land the university owns east of the current elementary school and the university would get 14 acres of the 323-acre Heth tract owned by the foundation. Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences would use the Heth farmland to replace the loss of the Prices Fork farmland.

Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said, fundamentally, the deal amounts to a three-way contract.

The new land is closer to campus and the Heth property will eventually be home to other Tech agriculture operations. Officials with Tech and the county referred to the deal as "a win-win."

The existing Price's Fork Elementary School opened in 1954 and had 198 students enrolled as of September. Some students are taught in portable classrooms and teachers and students have complained about the school's lack of storage, chilly classrooms, creaky floors and noisy radiators. The county had hoped to acquire land for a new school by 2007.

"I think there were a lot of people who never thought they'd see this happen," said school board Chairman Wendell Jones.

Annette Perkins, chairwoman of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, said the board would likely vote on the deal in March. She's confident it will have the support of the supervisors and the school board.

"I'm just so excited that we're moving in this direction," she said. "I can't remember how long it's been but it's been a long, long time. It's great for the people of Prices Fork, the children. They're going to have a beautiful school."

If the plan is approved, Jones said he thinks ground can be broken on the site by early spring.

Sherwood Wilson, Tech's vice president for administrative services, said the county approached him about the land a year ago. The foundation did not become involved in the discussions until late 2008, he said.

"We began looking for ways that we could make this happen for the county and, ultimately, because of the way we have to structure land deals through the legislature, we came up with this kind of model that we're using now," he said.

If Tech were to sell the Prices Fork property directly to the county, it would have to declare a land surplus and the money from the sale would go to the state's general fund. Tech would then have to petition the legislature to get the money from the sale.

Hincker said the deal is a way for Tech to help the county quickly address a need.

"One of the reasons you have a foundation is so you can do things more quickly and more cleanly," he said. "In the end, the county gets the parcel it wants and we have the money to make the moves that we need to make."

Wilson plans to bring the deal before the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors in March.

Perkins said the location of the land fits nicely with the county's comprehensive plan, which focuses development in the county around six village areas, including Prices Fork.

Keeping the school in a central, accessible area was an important consideration, Perkins said.

The county contacted several landowners in the area but Perkins said no one was willing to sell. Now that a deal appears imminent, the county is looking into details of the university land, conducting a title search and soil surveys.

The foundation initially acquired the Heth farm property as a combination gift and purchase from the Heth family in 2001. Valued at more than $15 million at the time, the foundation has leased the property for private use and Tech has factored it into plans for campus growth.

With agriculture school land on campus expected to be squeezed by the expansion of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center and the Virginia Tech-Montgomery County Executive Airport, the university will begin moving its agricultural program to the Heth property beginning in the next year and continuing through the coming decade, Wilson said. Dairy science, poultry, equine, heifer and crops programs are all expected to relocate to the 323-acre property.

Typically, the university uses foundation land by leasing it on a "make no money, lose no money" basis, said Ray Smoot, the foundation's chief operating officer. But if the deal goes through, the university will own at least 14 acres of the Heth property outright.

Staff writer Anna Mallory contributed to this report.