Will the Decorah School Board purchase property for a new bus garage and parking?

At their Monday night meeting the Decorah School Board discussed the possible purchase of land for the construction of a new bus maintenance garage and bus storage facility (an open structure with roof). The potential properties discussed are on County Road A52, just beyond Walmart, and could cost from $100-150K¸depending on the lot. Building and lot development costs have not been determined but could be $750K or above. The discussion of other properties may be explored, particularly because the ones under consideration are in the flood plain, and approval for construction could be complicated and time consuming.

The other problem is timing. It is unlikely that a purchase, approvals, design and construction could be completed before the district's current three year property lease expires at the end of next June. Currently the district pays about $42K in rent per year for the bus facility.

The Board tabled the discussion to gather more information regarding costs, financing, the extension of the current lease and site approval issues.