REGIONAL NEWS ROUNDUP: MVSD to hold $3.1 million levy

Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part two, with part one having appeared in Saturday’s Tribune.

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GRANGEVILLE — After just more than an hour at a special meeting Sept. 5, Mountain View School District’s board voted 3-2 to run a $3.1 million levy Nov. 7.

The motion was made by trustee B Edwards, seconded by trustee Laci Myers and the two plus board chair Melisa Kaschmitter voted yes, while vice chair Larry Dunn and trustee Casey Smith voted no.

Dunn started the discussion by requesting the board hold meetings and put off any type of levy vote until May.

“This open meeting format does not encourage open discussion (with the public), it just doesn’t,” Dunn lamented. About 30 people were in the audience.

“I’m all for talking to the people in our community, but the way our school board system is set up is discussing what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it,” Kaschmitter said. “We should be talking to our constituents and coming to these meetings with a knowledgeable approach to what we can or cannot do.”

She noted school funding is “very complicated,” and she would not expect the public to completely understand all aspects of it. She also put the blame for the financial decision on the state legislature’s lack of funding, especially for specific mandates that come without any dollars.

“But, we are still legally required to provide an appropriate education for our children, by Idaho Code and Idaho standards,” she said. “We have depleted savings and will be down to four weeks of operating expenses at the end of this school year. We’re in a position now where we either step in and fund our schools or we don’t. Nothing is going to step in and save us. If the state comes in for whatever reason and has to take control, then they take control, and nobody gets a say in anything. I don’t think we want that to happen.”

— Lorie Palmer, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Thursday

Developer eyes 50+ high-end homes in McCall

MCCALL, Idaho — Preliminary plans for more than 50 new homes along First Street in McCall were aired Tuesday to the McCall Area Planning and Zoning Commission.

The proposed Wood Moor Crest Subdivision would build 53 homes on two parcels spanning about seven acres along First Street between Colorado Street and Railroad Avenue, according to current plans.

Star developer Rick Williams, who represented the owners of the two parcels at Tuesday’s P&Z meeting, described the homes as “nicer upper-end houses” that he expects to sell for $800,000 to $1.2 million.

“Most of everything that’s out there right now is like $1.6 million,” Williams said. “We’ve been bouncing this around people already and we have a large group of people that are really interested in this product.”

Williams told commissioners that he hopes to begin construction next spring on the homes, which would range from about 1,600 square feet to about 2,400 square feet.

A roadway wrapping through the parcels would link with First Street at Railroad Avenue and Colorado Street. Williams expects a traffic study to be completed soon.

Formal plans for the development have not yet been filed with the city. Williams must hold a neighborhood meeting with nearby property owners before an application can be submitted.

Tuesday’s P&Z appearance was a pre-application hearing required by city code to allow commissioners to review conceptual plans and provide comments to developers before a formal development application is submitted.

A 6-acre parcel at 500 First St. owned by Leo Stoddard of Scappoose, Ore., would contain 47 of the homes proposed, as well as two pickleball courts and a community gym.

The remaining 6 homes would be built on a parcel of less than an acre near Railroad Avenue and First Street that is owned by Dennis Harmon of Nampa.

“The two projects are connected together,” Williams told commissioners.

— Drew Dodson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday