Snoqualmie Valley School District is buying three properties in the path of a planned high school expansion and has begun condemnation proceedings to acquire the other four parcels of land identified as needed for the project.

All of the votes, one to begin condemnation proceedings and three to approve purchase-in-lieu-of condemnation agreements, were split, 3 to 1 at the board’s Sept. 10 meeting. Marci Busby cast the only vote in opposition to each of the actions. Tavish MacLean, Geoff Doy and Carolyn Simpson all voted in favor, and there was little discussion. Dan Popp was absent from the meeting.

The properties, adjacent to the high school lot on the south end, along Schusman Avenue Southeast and Southeast Epsilon Street, were targeted for purchase after architects began design work on the 2,300-student high school rebuild approved by voters in a $244 million bond in February.

For about a year beforehand, the school board had known the district would need to buy an acre of additional property for off-site parking for the new, larger school. When architects considered these properties, they proposed a new plan that would open the bigger high school in three years, instead of the eight originally projected. With the addition of the combined 2.7 acres of the properties on the south end, the project could also be built almost entirely in one phase, instead of three.

Negotiations are continuing between the district and the other parcel owners, Assistant Superintendent Ryan Stokes reported, and “Our preference is still to work out an amicable purchase agreement with each of them.”

For the property owners who have agreed to sell, the condemnation proceedings will enable them to save about 2 percent of their properties’ values in excise taxes they don’t have to pay. Also, Stokes said one home was expected to be sold at auction, but could be sold short with the condemnation action in place.

Stokes also answered the board members’ questions about district accommodations for the sellers, such as allowing one family to live in the home past the close date of the sale, providing relocation costs and other types of compensation and flexibility, when possible.  He noted that to begin permitting processes, the district should close on the properties by February.

Purchases approved on Sept. 10 totaled $583,760. The properties are expected to cost about $1.5 million total.

The school board was also asked for a decision regarding the seismic stability of the high school gym. Originally, architects proposed about $2.5 million, included in the February bond, in seismic improvements to the gym. However, recent changes to the International Building Code, along with findings from soil testing done on the high school grounds, indicated that there were two layers of unstable soil, one close to the surface and one more than 80 feet underground.

Matt Rumbaugh, with NAC Architects and construction consultant Clint Marsh both recommended the district opt for building a new gym. The new building would be seismically stable down to the deeper layer of unstable soil, meaning that it would be expected to withstand a major earthquake, allowing anyone inside to safely exit, and possibly, board member MacLean pointed out, providing potential shelter for local residents displaced after such an event.

The remodeling plan, on the other hand, would stabilize only the top layer of shifting soil. After an earthquake, the building would likely secure enough to allow people to get out safely, but might not be useable again afterward.

Rumbaugh projected the gym would add a net cost of $6.4 million to the project, but Stokes told the board he didn’t know how the change would affect the upcoming budget process. He expected more concrete cost numbers in October or November. Stokes also reported that the high school design committee, which reviewed the two proposals for stabilizing the gym complex, was overwhelmingly in favor of the new construction.

Currently, the district is anticipating about $16 million in state matching funds for the high school project. These funds had tentatively been earmarked for contingencies during the project and paying down the bond. However, Stokes advised the board to commit to using the state match for the gym construction, and they agreed.