District flags gas‑line and airport‑influence issues at proposed Centerra/Kinston school site

Thompson School District operations staff updated the board on site‑selection work for a planned K‑8 school in the Centerra/Kinston area and identified two site‑quality concerns that require further study.

“T he original school site when we started this process years ago … there is actually a high pressure gas line that travels … that falls really, well, almost a lot of it does. It goes underneath the school site,” Assistant Superintendent Todd Piccone told the board, describing why the district and developer have been evaluating alternate parcels.

Piccone said the district and its attorneys had identified an alternate northern parcel that does not contain the gas line but lies inside an airport‑influence zone. He described the airport overlay as an outer zone with noise and land‑use implications and said that while the proposed site is not near runways, airport noise and other constraints will need insurance and legal review before any dedication or acceptance of the parcel by the district.

Piccone asked the board to note the issues now so the developer can continue planning; he said the administration’s next step is to work with legal counsel and the district’s insurer and return to the board before any final dedication.

Board members asked about acreage, the proposed K‑8 footprint (about 14–15 acres, the same footprint as Riverview PK‑8) and whether environmental effects from the nearby highway had been evaluated; Piccone said the primary concerns presented to staff so far are the gas line and the airport‑influence zone and that the district would double‑check environmental considerations as part of the review.

Piccone said the developer has a schedule that depends on resolving the site question; the district does not have a strict internal deadline but wants to coordinate with the developer so the overall Centerra project can proceed.