Citizens for McClave School Letter to Bent County Commissioners

Description: The Citizens for McClave School is a group of community members that support the McClave School and its plans to construct a new school. In this letter submitted to SECO News for publication, they make two proposals regarding the plan for the new school construction facilitated by a recently passed matching funds bond measure.

December 6, 2022

Dear Commissioners Sykes, MacDonnell, and Netherton:

We, the Citizens for McClave School, are writing you to ask for your support and consideration on two proposals that we believe would benefit both Bent County and the McClave School District and would afford Bent County with a rare opportunity to provide direct benefits for residents who live on the east half of Bent County. Although this letter is from the Citizens for McClave School, the McClave School Board of Education and administration have expressed their strong support for these proposals as well. The Citizens for McClave School is a group of community members that support the McClave School and its plans to construct a new school.

As you know, the McClave School District voters recently passed a bond measure to fund the matching portion of the cost to construct a new Pre-K through 12th-grade school on a 206-153 vote. The McClave School District will now apply for BEST Grant funds to cover the remainder of the cost. In order to receive BEST Grant funds, the school will be required to divest of its ownership in its existing school building, and without an alternative planned use, the entire building will have to be demolished.

Community Center

Various ideas have been proposed as alternative uses for parts of the building, including a new east-end county road and bridge shop, housing, and several others. The idea that has garnered the most interest from community members, including our group, is to turn a portion of the school building into a community center for the benefit of residents who live on the east half of Bent County. This would provide similar benefits to our residents as the community center in Las Animas (which Bent County financially supports) provides to residents who live on the west half of the county. The proposed community center would, at a minimum, include the new white gymnasium and it’s three locker rooms, which were all constructed in 2008.

Since the McClave School must divest of ownership in their existing building, we are asking Bent County to take over ownership of this portion of the existing school building. The McClave School has expressed interest in transferring ownership for a very nominal cost, leasing the building back, and sharing in maintenance and/or utility costs with Bent County. There is also an opportunity to request that some of the school’s BEST Grant funds that would otherwise be used for demolition be used instead to patch up where other parts of the existing building are removed. This partnership would not only provide a community center for citizens to utilize for exercise and special events, but would also permit the school to reduce the size of its secondary gym in the new building because this could serve as a second full size gym. This reduction in square footage would lower construction costs for the new school building, which would also strengthen the school’s grant application.

East-End Road and Bridge Shop Property

The second proposal that we’d like you to consider is trading or selling Bent County’s property in McClave where the east-end shop is located to the McClave School District. If the school is able to acquire this property, they would have the option to build the new school where the baseball field currently sits and use this adjacent property for parking, a maintenance shop, and a bus barn. The school's architect estimates that the school would likely save $2 to $3 million, and likely more, in construction costs if the school is able to acquire this property due to the savings realized in being closer to the paved highway and utilities. This cost savings would also translate into a stronger grant application for the school, which is significant because BEST Grants are very competitive. The school has looked into purchasing additional land to the north and west of their current property, but are unable to build on it due to the land being in a conservation easement that disallows it.

We’ve been made aware that Bent County is considering acquiring other land south of the McClave Cemetery for a new east-end county shop location and that the McClave School has expressed interest in offering Bent County the portion of their building that is currently the ag. shop and smaller red gymnasium to use in-place or to move to a new location. These portions of the existing school building are unique in that they have metal frames that can be dismantled, moved, and installed in a new location.

The discussion for both of these proposals is urgent, as the school district needs to include its plans for the existing building and the estimated costs for the new building in the grant application that is due on February 6, 2023. Both proposals, if agreed to by Bent County, will have significant positive impacts on the school’s grant application. Previous Meetings for Reference Based off of information provided by the McClave School and for your quick reference, please recall the following relevant meetings between Bent County and the McClave School Board: January 10, 2022 Bent County meeting: The McClave School Board and superintendent attended this meeting to inform the commissioners that, based off of two years of research and a community-member-led facility planning committee’s recommendation, the school was going to apply for a BEST Grant in February of 2022 to help fund construction of a new school. They also told the commissioners that in order to receive BEST Grant funds, the school would be required to divest of its ownership in its existing school building and discussed various alternative uses for portions of the building, including as a new east-end county shop, apartments for housing, a community center, and offices for local businesses. The school officials also inquired about purchasing or trading for Bent County’s east-end county shop property.

April 11, 2022 McClave School Board meeting:

Commissioners Sykes and MacDonnell attended this meeting. The school board reminded the commissioners that the McClave School had applied for a BEST Grant in February of 2022 and that they were going to run a bond measure in the November 8, 2022 election, both to fund the construction of a new school. The school board and facility planning committee members in attendance also proposed the idea of Bent County trading their property in McClave for a portion of the school’s existing building for use as a new east-end county shop. The idea of using the school’s property for additional housing or local businesses was also discussed. The school board voted at this meeting to provide the required one-year notice to terminate a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two entities that gives Bent County permission to use the west two-thirds (approximately) of the property where the east-end county shop in McClave is located, which is owned by the McClave School.

This decision was made by the school board to allow them flexibility for future construction if they received a BEST Grant in May of 2022.

August 16, 2022 Bent County meeting:

McClave School Board and administration attended this meeting and formally expressed their interest in trading for or purchasing Bent County’s east-end county shop property to help lower costs for construction of their new school. The Commissioners told the school officials that the county was pursuing an option to acquire the Arkansas River Farm’s property northeast of the intersection of Hwy 50 and Hwy 196, south of McClave, to construct a new east-end county shop, but that they planned to wait until December of 2022 to make a final decision on whether or not to acquire the property. The commissioners and school board members agreed at this meeting to sign another MOU to replace the previous one, except to use a 90-day notice of termination instead of the one year notice to allow Bent County to continue to use the school’s property in McClave.

We appreciate your willingness to have a discussion with us on these two proposals at your meeting on December 8th and look forward to Bent County and McClave School partnering to provide a unique opportunity for our community’s residents on the east half of Bent County.

Sincerely,
Citizens for McClave School 

The Bent County Commissioners have the Citizens for McClave School on their agenda today (12/8/22) at 11 AM.

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