FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Schools to Lease Maintenance Facility

Fountain Valley School District trustees voted this week to lease rather than buy a new site for the district’s maintenance facility.

The present maintenance facility occupies a portion of 8.6 acres that the district sold to a developer two years ago. Condominiums are to be built on that property.

The district can now look for a new location for the facility, something it has been unable to do until the board decided on whether it wanted to lease or purchase space for the relocation, said Marc Ecker, administrative assistant to the superintendent.

“We will now be able to identify and look at properties that meet the district’s needs,” Ecker said.

Ecker and a commercial real estate broker will be reporting to the Board of Trustees and the School Assets Management Board about potential facility sites.

The district will have the opportunity to purchase the leased property and building when additional income becomes available from payments on four school sites that were sold in recent years, Ecker said.

If the district leases for three years and then buys the site, it’s expected the facility will cost up to $2.4 million, according to a district report.

Leasing with an option to purchase was considered the most economical way for the district to use the school sale income.

The other alternatives included leasing without an option to buy, purchasing a new site and building, or using the William D. Lamb School site. Lamb School is presently leased to the Huntington Beach Union High School District and is planned to be sold in the future for residential or commercial uses.