School district, county mull land transfer

EPHRATA — Grant County has agreed to transfer around 3.7 acres of land to the Moses Lake School District that should have been part of the district’s purchase of fairgrounds land.

In exchange, the district will, at some point, construct a road across the land to improve access to the fairgrounds.

“The north end was not included in the parcel, and the additional property is needed for development,” said Eric Johnson, operations manager for the Moses Lake School District.

In the run up to last year’s school construction bond vote, the district bought roughly 57 acres at the corner of West Valley Road and North Paxson Drive for its second high school. However, with the bond tied up in court challenges for more than a year, the fate of the land — a sagebrush covered slope carved out of the county fairgrounds — was uncertain.

The Moses Lake School Board is currently evaluating alternatives to the construction of a second, separate high school right now, which state law allows despite two courts upholding the certification of the Feb. 14, 2017, bond vote.

“We will be utilizing it at some point,” Johnson told Grant County Commissioners on Tuesday.

Johnson said the various design plans the district had for a second high school on the lot required relocating Green Gate Drive — which currently cuts through the middle of the parcel — to the north end of the lot.

Because the slope is fairly steep there, however, the road would need a long, gentle curve in order to allow long trucks and trailers with livestock to make it up the hill.

“Building a road is more expensive than buying the property,” Johnson said.

“This is simple to do. All we need is revised survey work and a legal description,” said Grant County Planning Director Damien Hooper. “It should take about two weeks.”

Commissioners agreed to transfer the land but asked the district to build a road to county specifications.

“I think we’ve gotten the better part of deal,” said County Commissioner Cindy Carter.