Carson City School Board action on former church property delayed

The Carson City School Board on Tuesday voted to proceed with the revised letter of intent for the former Capital Christian property at 1600 Snyder Ave., but it lacked a quorum for action. The letter has expired as of Thursday and the board must wait until the next board meeting in August to take further action.

Superintendent Richard Stokes provided an update to the trustees Tuesday on the most recent changes with the proposal. Top concerns included restoring the original 90-day inspection period for environment and health assessments for the feasibility period and ensuring the $25,000 earnest money would once again be the original $50,000 refundable amount to be returned to the district if it chose not to proceed with the sale. The total purchase price of the property remains at $5.67 million, or 3 percent above the initial amount of $5.5 million as first presented last month.

The board expressed concerns on moving forward on the newest version of the proposal, but the resulting vote Tuesday was 3-2, with Trustees Richard Varner and Mike Walker dissenting. Trustees Joe Cacioppo and Don Carrine were absent.

Stokes clarified Thursday that the board did not have the proper quorum to take action on the item Tuesday night.

“Any action taken by the board requires a majority vote. At Tuesday’s meeting we had a quorum with five of the seven trustees in attendance,” Stokes told the Appeal. “The vote to proceed with a letter of intent on 1600 Snyder Avenue resulted in a 3-2 split vote, which is not a majority of the board. Consequently, further discussions or actions about the property may occur at a later date if the board chooses.”

The item is expected to be on the agenda for a board meeting in August, according to district spokesman Dan Davis.

The board also approved proposed changes to its language on its search and seizure policy, or policy 526, in a 5-0 vote, for which there was a quorum on the item. During discussion at the last board meeting on July 9, trustees had directed staff to incorporate the term “controlled substances” in addition to unauthorized drugs into the policy if searches warranted them of students, their property or in student areas, lockers or vehicles.