SEQUIM — School Board members decided Monday to sell two parcels of school district land to raise money to buy property for a new vehicle storage and maintenance building.
In separate votes, trustees declared the parcels surplus, meaning they can be put up for sale by public bid.
One parcel, less than an acre in size, is on South Second Avenue next to the city of Sequim shop.
The other is 2.9 acres located behind the Boys & Girls Club on Fir Street.
Sequim School District leaders have been considering options for replacing the district’s aging “bus barn” for some time.
The current building, located next to the high school, failed a safety inspection last year and must be replaced.
Industrial use of land
Board members had seriously considered putting a new transportation building on the land behind the Boys & Girls Club.
There were reservations about such an industrial use of that location, however, and now it’s likely that development on an adjacent property will reduce necessary street access to the parcel from Fifth Avenue.
There will still be a dedicated road right of way to the district property, but it might not be wide enough to accommodate the comings and goings of buses safely.
That, combined with the district’s future needs, led to the recommendation by Superintendent Garn Christensen to sell the two parcels and build a new bus barn off-campus at a location to be determined.
“Looking at the congestion around our campus . . . in the long run, I think that would be a better use of our public resources,” he said.
