A hearing introducing the Preliminary Environmental Assessment report on the 10-acre property reserved for a new $20 million public elementary school in northeast Morgan Hill is the first order of business on the April 5 board of education docket.
Morgan Hill Unified School District staff will lead the discussion on the PEA for what is being called “Borello Elementary School,” which will be located on the corner of Peet Road and Mission Avenida about a mile east of Cochrane Road. The plot was donated to MHUSD by the Borello family for the sole purpose of building an elementary school.
“The school site is master planned for up to 600 students in grades K-5,” according to the April 5 agenda item. “Any project on a school site that requires review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) must also undergo a complete environmental review, and if necessary, a cleanup to protect students, faculty and staff who will occupy the school.”
Listed in the consent calendar of the same April 5 meeting is a request to approve a $40,500 contract for a Removal Action Plan with McCloskey Consultants under oversight of California Dept. of Toxic Substance Control, “to go through a comprehensive environmental review and cleanup process” for the Peet Road property.
Previous site assessments of the vacant land detected dangerous levels of harmful toxins—including a potentially cancer-causing pesticide known as dieldrin—in the soil due to the decades of agricultural use on the site, according to an Oct. 10, 2014 report by Danville-based McCloskey Consultants.
The Times made a California Public Records Request in November 2014 for all documents pertaining to the Peet Road property.
While experts have not yet determined the best way—or the cost—to remove potentially dangerous toxins from the soil, MHUSD’s Board of Education Dec. 15, 2015 unanimously approved a nearly $1 million design contract with McKim Design Group for the Peet Road elementary school.
MHUSD Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Kirsten Perez and Director of Construction and Modernization Casino Fajardo are expected to give updated information on what the project and site cleanup will entail at Tuesday’s meeting.
Other consent items include:
—Approve $402,710 contract (Deferred Maintenance) with Andy’s Roofing Co. Inc. for roof replacement on two buildings at Live Oak HS;
—Approve $174,700 contract (Unrestricted General Fund) with Santa Clara County Office of Education for 2016-17 Annual Technical Services.
Closed session begins at 5 p.m. with public session starting about 6 p.m. at the 15600 district headquarters.
