District to consider sale of properties

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT--MESA -- For the second time since its formation, the committee

responsible for examining the Newport-Mesa district’s deteriorating

schools has scheduled its last meeting.

The Facilities Committee is scheduled to meet Thursday to put together

its final recommendations to the school board -- that is, unless the

school board comes back with more questions as they did in the fall.

The group was originally scheduled to be finished on Sept. 28. At that

time, they issued a report with numerous recommendations and the board

asked them to follow through on them, said committee chairman Mark

Schultheis.

Now the group is preparing once again to iron out the final details of

those recommendations.

One of the main questions remaining is what should be done if the

district decides to sell the Baleric and Banning Ranch sites.

The two sites have already been declared unfit for schools, said school

board member Wendy Leece.

The two options up for consideration are putting the money toward the

total cost of repairing the district’s schools or setting it aside for

future repair of the schools in order to prevent a repeat of the current

problem.

The committee will recommend the money be put toward the school repairs,

Schultheis said.

The school board likely will vote tonight to approve an agreement with

real estate appraiser Stephen White to reappraise both sites before a

decision to sell is made.

“As we’re getting ready to sell, we need an idea of what [the sites] are

worth,” Leece said.

Schultheis said he expected the combined value of the two sites to be in

the neighborhood of $10 million.

The Baleric site has at least one possible buyer. The site is currently

being used by the city of Costa Mesa.

Also, there has been interest expressed in the Banning Ranch site by

private parties, Schultheis said.

A final loose end that needs to be tied up, he added, is discussing the

structure of a facilities oversight committee, which will be formed to

manage and control any funds raised to pay for the school repairs.