MOORPARK : Progress Reported in School Land Dispute

Moorpark city and school officials said Thursday they are closer to settling an 18-month-old legal dispute after meeting to discuss offers on the development of a downtown park.

After a stalemate of nearly a year, two members from the Moorpark Unified School District board and two City Council members met in closed session Wednesday to settle the lawsuit that the city filed to purchase 7.2 acres at the old Moorpark Memorial High School for use as a park. Talks between the two agencies broke down last July.

One item officials agreed on is sharing the cost of a study on repairs needed at the high school auditorium in return for the city’s use of the facility, Councilman Clint Harper said.

Members of the committee declined to elaborate on the proposals, but said there was some progress on the price of the land.

The City Council will discuss the proposal next Wednesday during a closed session, Harper said. The school board is expected to meet in closed session May 29 to consider the city’s offers, board member Tom Baldwin said. Both sides are expected to meet again in about two weeks.

City officials last year offered the school district $319,000 to buy the school site. School officials have asked for nearly $700,000 for the land.

Closed for nearly three years after the school district opened a larger facility, the old high school sits on a 26-acre site that the district now wants to develop as a source of revenue for new classrooms.

School officials two months ago agreed to sell nearly 2 acres of the school site to the Moorpark Boys and Girls Club, but want to develop the remaining portion into a high-density housing project.