Ocean View board OKs gym study
Angelique Flores
A passionate group of about 400 residents, teachers and students
crowded the Marine View multipurpose room as Ocean View school board
trustees took initial steps toward the construction of controversial
gymnasiums at three middle school sites.
The 4-1 decision brought mixed support from the crowd, half of whom
wore yellow tags in support of the gyms, and others waving bright, red
“disagree” or “Think Recall!” signs.
Still, board President Carol Kanode said she thought the decision
addressed many concerns.
“We’ve made many compromises,” Kanode said.
Trustee Barbara Boskovich, however, opposed the vote Tuesday night.
The board’s action essentially OKs an environmental study by LSA
Associates Inc. for the Marine View, Mesa View and Vista View middle
school sites. A final environmental report will be available to the
public before board approval.
In a related twist, the board is waiting to hear from attorneys on
whether trustee Pam Ogdon has a conflict of interest in voting on Spring
View Middle School, which she lives near.
With both sides conceding on the details of the plan, compromises were
set on the terms and conditions of the project.
“We may not always agree, but I value the [community advisory
committee] comments and input,” Kanode said.
The board still needs to approve the designs by the architects, which
will be done upon the environmental study’s completion.
The initial study will analyze 17 points including traffic, noise,
lighting and aesthetics in order to send the findings to the architect.
The process will take about four to six weeks and the moratorium on
funding for the project will be lifted when the environmental report is
given.
While many residents realize the need for the facility, some of the
original details did not sit well with them. The biggest controversy has
been over the district’s original plan to rent the gyms to outside
groups.
Residents are adamantly opposed to having outside groups come into
their neighborhood tracts, a move that would affect traffic and parking
around their homes.
But, according to the resolution, the board will not rent the gyms.
The district may legally prohibit the rental of gyms to anyone outside
the mandatory civic-center uses, which are emergency shelters, Scouts,
Parent-Teacher Organizations, school and community advisory committees
and the registrar of voters, attorney Brian Smith said.
“I think the hugest compromise to our school board was the rental,”
said Supt. Jim Tarwater.
If the district would have allowed a joint-use agreement with the
city, it could have received $6 million from the state to help with
construction costs and another annual $300,000 from the joint-use
agreement money.
Size and design being another point of contention, the board agreed to
pare down to 18,616 square feet, with a possible additional
1,198-square-foot classroom that would accommodate two middle school size
basketball courts, or one-and-half high school court. The original
designs had the gyms large enough for two full-size courts at 19,600
square feet.
“The designs don’t follow the [community advisory committee]
recommendations,” said Stefan Rubendall, the Spring View community
advisory committee representative. This committee had asked for only one
middle school size basketball court.
However, the board also agreed to reduce the seating to accommodate
990, and eliminate the outdoor amphitheater.
The locations of the gyms were also moved away from the residences, as
requested by the community advisory committees, except for the Marine
View gym. Because of the layout of that school, the gym could not be
placed in the center of campus. It was instead moved away from Frans
Lane, closer to Forbes Lane.
“We’re OK with a gym, but we’re not OK with the location,” said Marine
View resident Todd Emmons.
Another thing some aren’t OK with is the funding plan for the
$12-million project.
The plan is largely dependent on money from the short-term leases of
closed school sites.
“I have a problem with applying short-term lease money to long-term
debt,” Boskovich said.
Kanode agreed that the funding plan needed further study.
“I’d like to see a more secure funding plan,” Kanode said.
While Kanode and Boskovich would like to look further into some
aspects such as funding, trustees Tracy Pellman and Pam Walker felt
comfortable in moving forward with the plan as presented.
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