At its 6:30 p.m. Monday meeting, the Enumclaw School Board is expected to approve changes to the Tri-Party School Mitigation Agreement with YarrowBay Developers and the city of Black Diamond.
The Black Diamond City Council discussed the agreement at its workshop Dec. 9 and it is scheduled to go before the council Jan. 6.
The changes are subtle, but district Superintendent Mike Nelson said they are necessary to ensure district leaders will have flexibility 15 years down the road.
“We believe these changes only enhance it on the school end of the deal,” Nelson said.
For the past two years, the school district has been working with Black Diamond and YarrowBay, since the developer announced plans to create a Master Plan Development in the small community north of the Green River.
District leaders formed the agreement to provide future administrators with a long-term infrastructure and security, provide neighboring school locations and flexibility for future decisions.
The district currently has one elementary school in Black Diamond. Middle and high school students are bused to Enumclaw.
The pair of proposed developments, Lawson Hill and The Villages, are expected to eventually bring about 6,000 housing units to the city and an additional 3,500 students.
The agreement would set aside, at no cost to the district, sites for four elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school in Black Diamond.
Last October, the Enumclaw School District board of directors hosted a joint meeting with the city of Black Diamond and YarrowBay, releasing information about the School Mitigation Agreement. The district followed up with two community forums in November where members of the public were able to ask questions and provide comments. Master Plan Development hearings took place throughout the spring and summer.
District leaders began to look at the document again after those hearings concluded.
At its Dec. 6 workshop, Nelson laid out the changes.
The original 35-acre high school site in the agreement has been bumped to 40 acres, but will not include a joint-use piece with Lake Sawyer Park. Additional language has also been added to make the hilly Lawson Hills elementary school site more versatile with YarrowBay covering those costs.
Since the city is in the process of discussing the draft development agreements with Yarrow Bay and looking at a mid-February date with the hearing examiner – and due to a land use petition act appeal – the school district has asked that the agreement reflect the delay. The due diligence part of the agreement, where the district has 180 days to hire qualified consultants to review and assess each site, will begin at the end of the appeal process.
The agreement notes if a site does not meet standards for a school, the three parties will meet again to determine an alternative site; if the alternate site is not identified, Yarrow Bay will be required to pay mitigation fees up to the value of the site at the time the site would have been conveyed to the district.
All school-related documents are posted on the district’s website at www.enumclaw.wednet.edu
