FOUNTAIN VALLEY : School District to Retain Headquarters
After considering seven alternatives, the Fountain Valley School District Board of Trustees has decided to keep the district offices at the former site of the John C. McDowell Elementary School.
Other alternatives included purchasing or leasing an existing building, purchasing land and building a new structure, or moving to the William D. Lamb Elementary School site. The option chosen by the board was considered the least expensive and provided the most stability because it would mean not having to move.
The McDowell site, which the district has used for its offices for the last 10 years, will require remodeling over the next decade, according to the report. However, the only immediate concern is updating the computer and communication systems at a cost of about $250,000.
The board’s decision now means that a new agreement must be reached between the district and the Tumanjan Co., the developer which was going to purchase the McDowell property for residential development. According to the district report, however, the developer has already agreed to trade the McDowell site for the Lamb property.
“The decision is very attractive to the developer because the Lamb site has a Huntington Beach address and it does not have the impact of having a freeway nearby,” said Marc Ecker, assistant to the superintendent.
The Lamb site has been leased to the Huntington Beach Union High School District for the last decade. The Fountain Valley School District, the owners of the property, recently renewed the high school district’s lease for another year through Aug. 31, 1992. The lease will then be considered on a month-to-month basis until the Tumanjan Co. is given the go-ahead to begin developing.
The board will hold a public hearing Oct. 24 to vote on declaring the Lamb site surplus property. After the property is designated as surplus, the district must then go before to the State Allocations Board to obtain approval to sell the property for purposes of residential development.
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