Recent changes made to the plans for a new middle school complex have left some school board members feeling underwhelmed, while one former board member maintains the project should be scrapped altogether.
School district officials unveiled last month designs for a complex at Eagle Valley Middle School that would feature a community greenhouse, redesigned traffic flows and field improvements.
The centerpiece of the plan was a 100-by-500-foot bus barn that would house solar panels, secured by a fence on which wind turbines would be mounted. Only the school's buses would have been parked in the barn. The energy produced, officials said, would produce enough power to eliminate the school's annual $120,000 electric bill.
However, when officials presented the plan to neighbors during a community meeting, there was opposition to the bus barn from residents fearing it would eventually house the district's entire fleet. They argued Fifth Street, and particularly the roundabout down the road, could not accommodate the extra traffic.
Some also complained about seeing and hearing the construction as the complex was being built. Others about increased parking in the area and trails bringing in additional people to the neighborhood.
As a result, the district revised its plan.
The modified plan, presented at last week's board meeting, eliminates the bus barn, along with the solar panels. The 39 windmills remain and would decrease but not eliminate the site's power bill.
The greenhouse, rather than being situated along Fifth Street, has been moved farther from the street to limit neighbors' view of construction.
Secure fencing was added around the perimeter, among other changes.
When school board president Barbara Howe saw the revisions, she called it "lackluster."
"It doesn't have any of the forward-thinking, cutting-edge concepts we saw in the first plan," she said.
Trustee Joanna Wilson urged officials to listen to neighboring residents, but
to also take into account
the needs of the entire
community.
However, former trustee John McKenna, who lives near the school, said the district should scrap plans altogether.
He said earthquake faults on the property could make it too dangerous to build. He said the wind turbines could be noisy and that no environmental studies had been done to measure the impact on wildlife and their habitats, such as raptors and migratory birds.
He also asserted that the agenda item approved by trustees was vague, and they may not have known what they were voting on.
"You may not have a valid vote," he said.
He suggested tossing out the plan and starting anew at a different site.
"I don't know that you need to spend a lot of time at Eagle Valley," he said. "But if you do, I'd like to see you do it in front of the community."
Stokes said people may have gotten the impression the project was a "done deal."
However, he said, it was presented as a proposal to get the community's feedback.
They keystone of the plan, Stokes said, is to apply for federal loans, called Qualified Zone Academy Bonds.
To qualify for the bond, the school district would have to raise 10 percent of the cost through private sources or in-kind donations of supplies and labor.
In return, the district would only have to pay back about 50 percent of the loan.
Stokes said the district was counting on this project to bring in the 10 percent private donations to raise enough money to pay for it and other capital improvement projects.
"For us to go deeper into capital improvement projects, we'll have to find additional funding," he said.
Stokes said the district will try to find a balance between those calling for scrapping the plan and those who want to stick closely to the original design.
Architect Darrin Berger of Hannafin Designs said he will "massage" the plan until "a consensus is reached."
"The more meaningful feedback we get from people, we can incorporate that into the design," he said. "Let's find that middle ground."
Another community meeting will be planned, Stokes said, and any ideas that have come forth won't be wasted.
"We'll take the good work we've done and maybe apply it to projects in the future or projects at different locations," he said.