SPRING VALLEY — After a vote from residents as well as an approval from the school board, the Spring Valley School District got the go ahead to purchase 34.3 acres of land to construct a new transportation building at the Sept. 17 meeting.

As part of the April referendum, community members voted to approve a new transportation building for the district. Upon looking into the best options for a site, they came down to two proposals. The first option is on the north end of the middle school/high school property. Alternatively, the district could purchase the land across County Road CC from the school.

Superintendent John Groh estimates the construction cost to be about $436,000 less expensive if they go with the option of purchasing 34.3 acres for $250,000. This is because using the current property requires evening terrain and the creation of road access. All costs of the land purchase proposal would be covered through the referendum with the exception of the $250,000 land purchase, as land cannot be acquired with referendum funds. The additional cost will come from the general fund, with Groh writing that no additional taxes will be levied.

“Will there be any additional tax money needed to make this purchase? The answer is no,” Groh said. “We already have the money in our district general fund to cover the purchase price of this property.”

According to a video from the district, with all costs factored in, proposal A would cost about $1.89 million and the property purchase proposal about $1.26 million.

“Initially, the preferred location was on the school campus north of the future track. The downtown site was also considered, but it is too small to hold all buses and allow for maintenance, repairs, and washing. In addition, buses would need to back directly onto County Road B, creating traffic and safety concerns,” a letter from Groh to electors stated.

To make the option B purchase, the school board needed to make the approval. A video put up on YouTube by the district shared benefits of the land purchase being no additional tax levy, saving taxpayers money and reducing costs/travel time.

On Sept. 8, the district held a meeting of electors where residents could come in, share their opinions and vote. Over 100 people did so, speaking in favor of both plans, with the final vote being in favor of purchasing the County Road CC land.

During one of the videos, Groh said the district has already approved a 20-year outdoor athletic facility plan that included plans for a football field, track and ball fields to turn downtown into a cloverleaf baseball/softball complex. They originally considered a piece of land on the planned facility for the transportation center, but the cost estimate was significantly above what was expected.

Groh said 120 people voted at the Sept. 8 meeting, the largest meeting attendance he has seen in his three years in the district, which he called amazing. He said there were great questions and feedback from people on both sides of the discussion.

Of those who spoke against the purchase of land on Facebook, residents cited there being no need for additional land with the district’s current property and questioned why the district needs 34.3 acres instead of a smaller parcel. In Groh’s letter he stated the seller would keep the price relatively stagnant regardless of whether the district purchased a portion or the entire parcel.

During the Sept. 17 meeting, members of the board spoke in favor of the property purchase.

“It’s a lot of money that we could do a lot with, if we could potentially save going across the street.” Board Vice President Jennelle Wolf said.

Wolf also said the decision of the electors should be taken into account as the board came to a decision. The board followed suit with a 6-1 vote as Treasurer Joan Ford was the lone vote against the land purchase.

The school district levy will be set next month at the Oct. 22 school board meeting.

Scholarship Investment

The board heard from Eau Claire Community Foundation (ECCF) about opportunities for investing scholarship funds to bring greater opportunity.

With a flurry of scholarships for seniors, including the $34,000 cut into four annual Eldon and Josephine Hill Scholarships, the district currently invests the funds into the government’s system. While they can get varying rates around 4%, ECCF can grant 6-8% returns with recent years averaging out closer to 8%. The annual fee to use the service is 1-2% with a .28% weighted fee.

Through growing the funds, district representatives see opportunities to grant more and/or larger scholarships.

A benefit ECCF provides that the board valued is talking with the families who provide the scholarships to find out the history of the scholarship, how they would like it to continue and the true reason behind them. The board unanimously approved a collaboration.