Boundary Board To Hold Hearing On Water Service To New School

The state Boundary Review Board for Spokane County will hold a public hearing about plans to extend the Whitworth Water District’s service to the site of Mead’s second high school.

The hearing will be at 4 p.m. Monday in the county public works hearing room.

The board reviews any annexations, incorporations and any boundary changes for water or sewer extensions proposed by local government agencies.

The board will have 40 days after it closes the public meeting to decide whether to let Whitworth pipe water onto the 60-acre site.

The hearing is one more hurdle for the planned new school.

Mead School District needs the board’s approval so it can complete its application to the state superintendent for public instruction for $9 million in matching funds. The district is counting on the matching funds as part of the $37.5 million needed to build the school.

Voters approved a $28.5 million bond to pay for the school two years ago.

After the district announced plans to build the school on Mount Spokane Park Drive in the middle of agricultural Peone Prairie, Spokane County commissioners asked the Boundary Review Board to review the water district’s plans to serve the school. Subsequently, Mead conducted a full environmental impact study on the site.

The board’s hearing comes more than a year after the first application by Whitworth to serve the school.