GILROY
– One of two new elementary school construction projects could
start in a matter of days while another hangs in the balance as the
district weighs its options whether to continue haggling over the
price of land it’s pursued for a year.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – One of two new elementary school construction projects could start in a matter of days while another hangs in the balance as the district weighs its options whether to continue haggling over the price of land it’s pursued for a year.
Gilroy Unified School District expects to begin demolishing Eliot Elementary School as soon as possible, although it is still waiting for the state to approve plans for the new school.
The school board will vote whether to approve a contract to raze the current, dilapidated building during its regular meeting Thursday.
“They’re expected to approve the contract,” said Charlie Van Meter, director of facilities and maintenance operations for GUSD. “We’ll issue a notice to proceed on Friday. We want to get moving as soon as possible, but it’s up to the contractor when he wants to get in there, and it’s a matter of when he can schedule the demolition.”
Meanwhile, negotiations to purchase land in South Gilroy for a new Las Animas remain at a standstill. The Glen Loma Group, which owns the site south of Christmas Hill Park long eyed by the district, last month suggested entering a non-binding arbitration process when appraisals on the land differed by roughly $5 million.
The appraisal of the 10-acre Glen Loma site, called Greenfield, was $900,000 per acre for its highest and best use as residential property. GUSD had anticipated paying $500,000 per acre and got a second appraisal that priced the land even cheaper than that.
“Before mediation, I recommended that we meet with the city because there were some errors in the second appraisal,” Glen Loma Group developer John Filice said.
The reason the two appraisals varied so much, he said, was because the second appraiser did not consider the land immediately developable.
“(City Planner) Cydney Casper had told them in terms of the timeline for development of that property that it is developable right now, but (the appraiser) thought it wasn’t developable for 10 years, so that would change his approach,” Filice said.
He is now waiting for the district to decide whether it wants to move forward with arbitration, he said.
“We’re just kind of waiting to see what they want to do,” Filice said. “And in the meantime, we’re proceeding with plans for that property.”
GUSD is “not leaning toward” arbitration, said Steve Brinkman, assistant superintendent of administrative services. Instead, it is looking at other sites and may give up on Greenfield entirely.
“It makes it very difficult for schools to be built if one has to pay residential (prices) for the ground,” Brinkman said. “We simply cannot pay residential prices for property that we’re going to put schools on.”
Backing away from Greenfield in favor of another site could put the district at risk of not meeting its planned fall 2006 deadline for opening the new Las Animas. State law will require GUSD to complete another, often lengthy environmental review process.
“We’re not, by any means, at this point backing away from that deadline,” Brinkman said.
Trustee Jim Rogers said the board is hoping the district can acquire either Greenfield or another site in order to meet the planned deadline, but all is not lost if the project is slightly delayed.
“I think the deadline is slightly flexible,” Rogers said. “Because it’s a replacement school and we already have a place for those kids, I don’t think it’s quite as final a deadline.”
Most of the need for a larger elementary school will come after the Glen Loma Ranch is fully developed over the next several years. Still, Rogers said he hopes something breaks soon.
“We hope that something can be worked out and we get one of those sites down there,” he said.
GUSD already has spent about $260,000 on the Las Animas project for preliminary designs on the Greenfield site. For an additional $50,000, the designs can be adjusted to another property.
“The board made a knowing decision that we would do that and be able to transfer most of those costs to another site,” Brinkman said. “You just can’t get work done if you don’t start.”
In its 25-year Facilities Master Plan, GUSD planned to sell the Las Animas site for a price at least equal to that of Greenfield or the new site. The Las Animas site’s value could be much lower, however, unless the district receives special treatment from the city and acquires housing permits for the property.
The district would first need to request a change in the city’s General Plan because the Las Animas property is designated for educational use, as opposed to residential. GUSD can apply for a change in July.
Second, it would have to create a housing project that contains both affordable and senior housing, based on recommendations from the city. By doing so, its project could get top ranking when the city’s next competition for permits opens up in 2007.
“We’re working with getting a proposal from a consultant to give us timelines and costs associated with varying levels of development,” Brinkman said. “We’re trying to put an estimation of value gained versus expense that would be incurred with doing it so we can decide if we want to go all the way through the process.”
