Moses Lake School Board considers sale of land to Grant County
R. HANS MILLER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 11 months AGO
The empty lot shown here north of West Valley Road in Moses Lake, near the fairgrounds, was bought by the Moses Lake School District in 2017. The district is now moving forward with selling it to Grant County after selecting a different site for a new campus.
Courtesy Google Maps
Managing Editor Rob Miller is a 4-year U.S. Army veteran who grew up in Western Montana in a community about the size of Soap Lake. An honors graduate of Texas State University, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Brandee, and their three dogs, Draco, Pepper and Cinnamon. He has one son, William. During his free time, he enjoys photography, video games, reading and working on the house he and his wife bought in Ephrata. He is passionate about the First Amendment and educating communities. | December 27, 2021 1:03 AM
The Moses Lake School Board approved moving forward with the potential sale of property located at the northwest corner of the intersection of West Valley Road and Paxson Drive during its Dec. 16 meeting.
“It’s basically being sold back to Grant County,” said Moses Lake School District COO Jeremy O’Neil. “We purchased it at a price of ($851,000), and the prior administration arranged a sale to Grant County at $1.2 million, so this resolution is the first step in the process.”
O’Neil said the next step in the process is to schedule a public hearing, which will be advertised prior to the event. Grant County commissioners will need to approve the purchase on their end. The process had been started in 2019, he said, but changes in state law related to governmental entities selling property to one another had caused a delay in selling the land. It had originally been purchased in anticipation of a school campus being placed there.
Grant County Central Services Director Tom Gaines said the county has been ready to move forward with the purchase of the land for some time. He added that changes to the administration at MLSD had led to delays.
“We’ve already held public meetings. We’ve already done a capital facilities (plan) and budget amendment. We stand ready to make that payment to the school district in the process, so it’s just kind of languished with the change in personnel,” Gaines said.
No response was received from Grant County officials regarding what the property may be used for.
ARTICLES BY R. HANS MILLER
Awareness helps prevent porch pirates’ success
EPHRATA — At least 58 million packages were stolen in the U.S. last year, with about 25% of Americans being the victims of theft, according to the United States Parcel Service. At the local level, there are thefts occurring regularly as well, but that doesn’t mean that you’re stuck being the victim, authorities say. “The experience of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office is that package theft happens regularly,” said GCSO Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman. “It is a crime of opportunity. When someone’s out looking to try and make a quick buck, they may drive through a neighborhood looking for unattended packages on the front porch.”
Gorge shooting trial rescheduled to 2026
EPHRATA — The trial in the case of James Kelly, the man charged in the June 2023 shooting that led to the deaths of two women at the Beyond Wonderland music festival held at The Gorge Amphitheatre, has been bumped to early next year, according to court documents.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: In appreciation of educators ...
An experience I recently had with a school district, quite honestly, has left me gob-smacked a bit. I am in awe of the teachers and administrators at school districts throughout the region and what they have to deal with. Let me get back to the beginning, though. Journalists often cover a wide variety of topics and are constantly looking for ideas for stories that will matter to readers. As such, when we hear of events of interest, we sometimes ask to attend so we can either cover it, or, as in this case, learn how to cover a topic better.