CV stays in talks for buying new school site
The Central Valley School District board decided last week that it will continue to negotiate for the purchase of a 12.6-acre site from a Liberty Lake developer for a new elementary school.
Under a current proposal from a Liberty Lake developer, the district would pay $275,000 for the property at Holl Road and Mission Avenue, just west of the Liberty Lake city limits.
River Crossing LLC has plans to build up to 2,000 homes in the next several years in that area.
“The price is well below what the market price is,” said Dave Jackman, director of auxiliary services for Central Valley.
The district would pay $25,000 up front and will have the option to complete the purchase within two years, Jackman said.
Central Valley would also agree to waive up to $475,000 in any impact fees that the developer may be assessed by local governments, Jackman said. That would bring the total purchase price of the land closer to market value of $750,000.
In May, Central Valley Superintendent Mike Pearson sent a letter to the cities of Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, and Spokane County, asking them to collect impact fees on behalf of the school district.
In addition to the purchase price, the district would also be responsible for developing the road along Mission, while the developer would complete improvements and access along Holl, Jackman said.
The proposal is only preliminary, and it is not known when or if the district and the developer will reach an agreement.
“But I don’t expect that the final conditions will be much different,” Jackman said. “The board had indicated it would like to negotiate based on these things.”
A planning committee charged with looking at growth in the district recommended last year that the board acquires two more elementary school sites in the eastern end of the district. In February the district paid $850,000 for a 17-acre site at Mission and Long as a possible elementary school site.
Voters will be asked to approve a $52 million construction bond in the spring to pay for the remodel of four schools in the district and the construction of two new schools in the Liberty Lake area, including a new elementary school likely on one of the new sites.