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Hayden Lake School goes back out to bid

DEVIN WEEKS | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years AGO
by DEVIN WEEKS
Devin Weeks is a third-generation North Idaho resident. She holds an associate degree in journalism from North Idaho College and a bachelor's in communication arts from Lewis-Clark State College Coeur d'Alene. Devin embarked on her journalism career at the Coeur d'Alene Press in 2013. She worked weekends for several years, covering a wide variety of events and issues throughout Kootenai County. Devin now mainly covers K-12 education and the city of Post Falls. She enjoys delivering daily chuckles through the Ghastly Groaner and loves highlighting local people in the Fast Five segment that runs in CoeurVoice. Devin lives in Post Falls with her husband and their three eccentric and very needy cats. | May 8, 2021 1:07 AM

HAYDEN — The old Hayden Lake School at 9650 N. Government Way is going back out to bid.

The first bidding process for the school, owned by the Coeur d'Alene School District, opened in March. The two bids submitted by the April 20 deadline were $1,501,000 from John Geddes and $829,000 from Aspen Homes. Both were rejected by the school board, citing that both bids were well under the appraised value of the school.

"The board is not in a position where they're able to accept those bids because they came in under appraised value, and that's by state statute," district operations director Jeff Voeller said at the school board meeting Monday. "It's time for us to consider next steps."

The board voted to move forward with a rebid process, setting the minimum acceptable amount at $2 million rather than disclosing the appraised amount, at the recommendation of district officials. The school was reappraised in February.

"I still think there's interest in this property out there," Trustee Casey Morrisroe said. "I'd like to see us move forward with another bid."

On Friday, Voeller said the school could have a variety of uses.

"It's definitely high-value land," he said.

The deadline for the second bid is 2 p.m. May 20. If those bids are rejected, then the board can choose to place the school on the active market and open it up for a public process.

"We’re definitely hoping for greater success," Voeller said. "We were surprised to see such low bids come in in this hot market."

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