BUSD to seek James' help for fire station repurchase

Bonsall Unified School District (BUSD) superintendent Justin Cunningham will be working with local attorney Bob James on the potential of the school district utilizing James to assist with the repurchase of the North County Fire Protection District's (NCFPD) former Station 5.

During the Aug. 11 BUSD board meeting, a non-voting discussion item concluded with board members giving direction to Cunningham to contact James, who is also the NCFPD legal counsel, about the possibility of a formal agreement which would subsequently be ratified by the BUSD board.

"It would probably be a good idea to start with the attorney who has probably the greatest background on the property," Cunningham said. "What we thought we would do is talk to the gentleman who had previously been representing North County Fire."

In 1981, the Bonsall Unified School District was the Bonsall Union School District and the North County Fire Protection District was the Fallbrook Fire Protection District. That year, the school district sold a parcel of land on Old River Road adjacent to the Bonsall Elementary School property to the fire district, which paid $35,000 for the land.

The grant deed, which applied to successor agencies, stipulated that if the land was to be used for something other than a fire station it was to be sold back to the school district for the purchase price of $35,000.

A fire station and a parking area were constructed on the property. On Jan. 30, the County of San Diego issued NCFPD a certificate of occupancy, which allows habitation and visitors, for the new Station 5 on Olive Hill Road. NCFPD and BUSD staff had different interpretations whether the repurchase price should consider the improvements made to the property.

On Jan. 13, the BUSD board voted 4-0, with Timothy Coen absent, to support a purchase price of $35,000. Fire board members threatened to continue to use the old fire station rather than sell it for $35,000. A docketed agenda item for the Jan. 27 NCFPD board meeting was withdrawn, and the fire board never took an official position in favor of factoring the improvements into the repurchase price.

On March 19, a 3-0 BUSD board vote, with Coen and Sylvia Tucker absent, reaffirmed the school district's intent to move forward with the repurchase of the fire station property.

Public agency boards usually discuss real property negotiations in closed session, although any votes may be reported out of closed session. The July 28 closed session of the NCFPD board included a decision which accepted the sale of the property for $35,000.

"That was a pretty established deal from all of our predecessors," said NCFPD fire chief Bill Metcalf.

Cunningham and James will discuss terms of a formal agreement before the BUSD board makes an official decision on utilizing James. "We don't have a contract or anything like that," Cunningham said.

The school district has not made a definite determination on the use of the land, although it has been discussed as the location for a continuation high school.