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Facilities director outlines preliminary plan to add parking at Fielding Elementary; commission to seek city guidance
Summary
District facilities staff presented a preliminary plan to add about 40 parking stalls at Fielding Elementary on land staff said belongs to the city. Commissioners asked staff to verify ownership and legal options and to return the item to the commission and town council next month.
Corey Thompson, the district facilities director, told the planning commission the district is considering a preliminary plan from Forest Green Engineering that would add roughly 40 parking stalls to Fielding Elementary.
"Currently, Fielding Elementary has about 45 parking stalls," Thompson said, and the school now employs "just under 90" staff while enrollment has grown from "just about 400" students to "about 560," creating a shortfall in parking. Thompson said the plan includes sidewalks and other improvements but noted the parcel the district is targeting is, in his view, city-owned.
Commissioners and staff debated options for the site. The commission’s chair (identified in the transcript only as the meeting chair) asked why the district would look to town-owned land rather than expanding on property the school already controls. Thompson and other attendees said the site is constrained by existing fences, culverts and a head gate used for historic flood irrigation, and that the district cannot extend the fenced area without access across the adjacent property.
Planning staff cautioned that work on property owned by the city would involve additional steps. A staff member advised the commission that whether the town could deed or sell the parcel "is the town's decision" and recommended the commission get direction from the town council and the municipal attorney before the district pursues any construction or property transfer.
Rather than take immediate action, commissioners asked staff to research legal and title questions and recommended placing the item on the commission's next agenda. Thompson said district staff are willing to build and fund improvements if the town approves an agreement or transfer; the commission encouraged the district to attend the council meeting the same night the commission next meets.
The commission set no binding deadlines or formal votes on the Fielding plan at this meeting; members instructed staff to return with more information and potential steps for the town council to consider. The presenters said they would attend the planning commission’s next meeting on Aug. 6 at 6:00 p.m. and, if useful, the town council meeting that same evening.
