Too close to call Moses Lake construction bond up in the air
Richard Byrd/Columbia Basin Herald A bond measure to relieve crowding at Moses Lake High School and other schools in the district was too close to call following Tuesday’s vote.
MOSES LAKE — With ballots still left to count, a $135.3 million proposal to build a second high school in Moses Lake and a new elementary school is within a whisker of passage, but falling just the slightest bit short.
In unofficial results released by the Grant County Auditor’s Office Tuesday evening, the bond has 5,135 yes votes and 3,461 no votes. That’s 59.74 percent yes – but a construction bond needs 60 percent to pass.
“Too close to call,” said Moses Lake superintendent Michelle Price. “We’re not quite there.”
There are still ballots outstanding; voters had the option to drop ballots at local drop boxes or mail them. The vote count will be updated at 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the auditor’s office website.
“We are very hopeful that over the next couple of days we’ll gain the 0.3 percent,” Price said. “I think we are close enough.”
If the bond is approved, property owners would pay $1.46 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of property assessed at $200,000 would pay $292.
Voters rejected a proposal for a new high school and elementary school in 2012, and for a new high school only in 2015. The 2012 proposal received about 50 percent approval, the 2015 proposal about 55 percent.
If the proposal doesn’t pass, “our board will have to sit down and regroup and decide what’s next,” Price said.
The bond proposal includes $111.4 million for a second high school for 1,600 students, $19.5 million for a new elementary school and $13.8 million for remodeling at Moses Lake High School.
The new high school would be built on property the district purchased last year at the intersection of Paxson Drive and Valley Road. The property is adjacent to the Grant County Fairgrounds.
For the elementary school, the location is still to be determined. District officials are “definitely focused on the southeast side of town,” Price said in an earlier interview.
The new grade school would follow the same design as Park Orchard and Sage Point, which are built around a central courtyard, with classrooms opening into an interior hallway. That’s in contrast to the other eight schools, where most classrooms open directly outside.
Because there’s already a basic design, the goal would be to open the new grade school as soon as possible, Price said.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.