Salida’s Longfellow Elementary School. Photo by Jan Wondra
A discussion between the Chaffee Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) and the Salida School District was the main agenda item for the BoCC’s Tuesday, April 16 regular session. The BoCC agreed upon the next steps including a group field trip in May to the proposed land purchase site, and an agreement on the price per acre, followed by a purchase agreement draft in June, with the goal of completing an agreement by September, 2024 .
Long-Term Planning for the School District’s Future
The topic is not new: the school district had approached the county in late 2018 regarding the purchase of county land north of the Chaffee County Fairgrounds as a future site for a school building. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the project was put on the back burner while the county and the school district dealt with the health crisis.
“We put together a contract, but the pandemic derailed us,” said Salida School Superintendent David Blackburn. “This is an essential step that helps the county take a leadership position. We’ve got to make plans, to set things aside today so that we’re ready for the future.”
He outlined that the earlier step had included an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that involved both school districts. “The IGA created a roadmap that we all agreed to, to address these needs for land (so at the right time) we could agree on how to move forward.”
BoCC Chair PT Wood pointed out that any agreement developed was needed to protect the county’s long-term interest in the land being used for public good. “I hope my fellow commissioners agree, if this property were not to be turned into a school, that we were able to get it back and use it for our ag programs. But if the school is successful in building a facility out there, it will help to enhance our ag programs out at the fairgrounds.”
The planning being discussed is not for next year, or the year after. “This is planning for the 20-year program,” said Chaffee County Administrator Don Reimer. “It’s the long-term planning for the infrastructure.”
The Question Became; what Kind of Agreement is Needed?
The Salida School District and the county had earlier identified a 20-acre parcel for discussion; all or only a portion of which might someday be needed. The land is currently being leased to a local rancher for grazing. Two legal options, a new IGA, or an actual purchase contract, were seen as the most viable agreement options.
Reimer pointed out that the earlier study work for an IGA had established that a fee would be paid at the time whether it was Buena Vista or Salida schools. “Staff recommends that the school district do an update to reflect current land values, (that should be an annual indexing of those fees) and that it should include the criteria that the BoCC could consider developing an agreement.” He added that staff suggested setting a price per acre and “when the school district ID’s how much they do need, then we can make that available.”
County Attorney Daniel Tom added that the county will need to legally identify the sections of land and get a surveyor out there to map the size and prepare a legal description.
No actual BoCC vote was taken. Instead, the commissioners unanimously agreed that tangible progress is needed so that the school district can proceed with long-term plans. Chair PT Wood said he hoped they could have an agreement by September, 2024.
Commissioners Greg Felt and Keith Baker agreed, with Felt saying, “To my mind, I’d like to see this wrapped up during my remaining months in office. We had a major interruption with the pandemic and I’m still supportive of moving forward. I agree with my colleagues that we need to get this resolved. I’m supportive of the use of this property for an educational facility.”
But he added, “If that isn’t happening, then I don’t want the county to lose control of the future of this property. It’s of great value as one piece.” He added that keeping it productive and figuring out this payment plan tied to those development fees was desirable… but asked about adding a review clause where the county would pay the school district back in the event that the demographics never led to a school in that location .
Baker added that he wanted the county to work to “get the utmost clarity. Over time we’ve learned that documentation is the best approach — so that in 20 years from now when we’re gone, people aren’t sitting here trying to figure out what we meant.”
Felt asked for a clear set of steps to proceed. The group agreed upon a purchase contract to sell real estate, with the county as the owner carrying the mortgage.
“The school would prefer a purchase agreement and this makes sense if we’re talking about something that is going to happen 15 to 20 years out,” said Wood. “It does stand up better than an IGA. That’s where I land on this.”
“Nothing you’ve talked about is a concern — if we plan well we can avoid bonds,” responded Blackburn. “For people who have paid all these fees this is a fair question of our constituents. The answer is that it goes to land for future schools. It helps us be really responsible to those who have retired here on fixed incomes … to avoid pushing out people who have been here a long time.”
Wood added that the agreement needs to include assurances that the school district will have enough room to do what it needs to. Reimer added that the agreement should also include a set number of provisions to meet, so the school district will have what it needs and both district and county are protected.
The group discussed a walking field trip to the site. “We need to do a field trip out there,” said Felt, who had been on the parcel while setting up the grazing agreements and again recently, when the grass fire occurred. “It’s an interesting piece of property to walk through. Not to get down in the weeds, figuratively or literally, but to see it together. It’s not a big piece of flat ground.”
The BoCC agreed upon a May 6 walking tour of the parcel, followed by an executive session the second week of June, 2024.
Blackburn said that he would share the facility master plan, including the localized demographics “So you can see the growth patterns we can expect. In the next 15-20 days we’ll have a document.”
Blackburn expressed appreciation of the school district saying, “It’s great, it’s a timeline. It’s a way forward and we’re excited about it.”