LAKE PLACID — Voters will decide on June 24 if the Lake Placid Central School District donates a plot of land to the town of North Elba for the Helping Hands Community Hub, a planned building that will house both the Lake Placid Ecumenical Food Pantry and shuttered Helping Hands Thrift Shop. The hub is set to go up at the former site of the school district’s basketball courts, next to the Shipman Youth Center.

The LPCSD Board of Education on Tuesday voted to donate the more than one acre plot of land to the town of North Elba rather than lease the land. District superintendent Timothy Seymour said Tuesday that this decision was meant to ensure the longevity of the food pantry and thrift shop in the community.

“Our initial discussions were to allow for a lease of that parcel, which according to New York state education law, allows for a lease to happen for 10 years,” Seymour said. “Due to the success of the campaign and the groundswell of support in the community, it’s become rather apparent to the district that these services not only need to sustain well past 10 years, but that the support for them is overwhelmingly in favor of ensuring that they do.”

The board first passed a resolution indicating that the district has no present or future use for the parcel, a requirement under state law for any district that intends to transfer property. After that, the board voted unanimously to convey the property to North Elba. Board member Colleen Locke was not present, while board member Colleen Skufca attended and voted via Zoom. The property transfer will not go through unless a majority of voters approves it. The vote is slated for June 24 from 2 to 8 p.m. in the Lake Placid Elementary School cafeteria and the Wilmington Town Offices.

Seymour, who has been involved with the development of the community hub, said on Wednesday that the project has so far received $575,000 in direct donations. The project’s fundraising goal is $800,000. A May 19 fundraiser at Mr. Mike’s Pizza will mark the start of a community campaign to help the community hub meet its goal. The building is set to go up over the summer and open in the fall.

The Lake Placid Village Board of Trustees announced Monday that new basketball courts will be built in McKinley Park in the next few months. The district took down its old courts in March to make way for the community hub project.

The school board also fielded comments from the public on Tuesday during its annual school budget presentation and hearing. Community member Audrey Hyson urged the board to invest in electric school buses as a part of the district’s commitment to climate change.

“I was very concerned about the bus proposal because, as a town that relies very heavily on winter sports for its income and survival and fame, I think that we want to be in a leadership position as far as embracing technologies and changing habits that will help ameliorate climate change,” she said. “It’s really clear that electric vehicles are an important part of addressing that problem.”

This year’s school budget ballot features a bus proposition that would authorize the district to purchase two 68-passenger school buses and one 65-passenger school bus as a state deadline to switch to electric bus purchases looms on the horizon. The district typically leases its buses.

Board president Dan Cash said Tuesday that the bus purchases are a way to operate with a hybrid fleet in a transitional period instead of making a hard turn to an all-electric fleet when the state deadline arrives in 2027.

“The purchasing of the buses is less about trying to avoid switching to electrics but doing so in a cautious manner,” he said. “It’s probably the smartest thing to do just in that it allows us to catch up, not only with the technology, to allow the technology to catch up, but also our infrastructure for power and for the cost of the buses.”

The school budget vote is set for May 21 from 2 to 9 p.m. in the LPES cafeteria and Wilmington Town Offices. Two seats are open this year on the LPCSD school board, and the school board race is uncontested. Board member Colleen Locke is running for re-election, while Cash is not. Don Mellor, retired school counselor at Northwood School, is running for the open seat.