The William S. Hart Union High School District will hold a special Governing Board Meeting on Wednesday November 18, 2009 from 5:00- 7:00 PM at the Hart District Administrative Center located at 21515 Centre Pointe Parkway in Santa Clarita. The meeting will center on the proposed Castaic High School site selection.

Anyone that is concerned about the proposed Castaic High School should plan on attending this important meeting. The Hart District appears to be trying to ram through a decision on the a site without the newly elected school board members being sworn in yet or having the opportunity to weigh in on this significant choice.    

At the November 18, 2009, meeting of the Governing Board, the results of several months of research conducted on three potential high school sites in Castaic will be presented.

• Traffic patterns and road improvements have been investigated by a traffic engineering firm very familiar with the Castaic community. The traffic analysis has included vehicle counts at key intersections, research into County planning records for roadways and bridges, and application of vehicular patterns at high schools of 2600 students.
• Detailed soils and geology studies have also been conducted on all three of the sites under review. These studies have included analysis of earth borings on each site, personal survey of each property, review of County earthquake fault zones and flood plains, historical investigation of land usage, and County records pertaining to tract map applications.
• Extensive civil engineering has occurred on each of the sites to determine the school site construction pad size and shape, amount of earth to be excavated, earth quantities for export or import, school pad elevations, draining, and off-site improvements. The civil work that has been done includes identification of roadways to be constructed, water requirements to each site, sewer utilities, bridges, and other traffic improvements needed.
• Detailed cost summaries have been prepared that include all of the site improvements as well as off-site enhancements. Appraisals of each site have been completed that place a value on the land, pre-development.
• An environmental assessment has occurred on all of the sites that identifies environmental concerns such as oil wells, high pressure gas lines, protected fauna and flora, air pollutants, ground contaminants, and high power overhead lines.
• Consultants and engineers under contract with the District will be at the November 18 Board Meeting to present their findings and to answer questions from members of the Governing Board. It is anticipated that the Board will take action directing District staff to begin the process of due diligence including the standards of the California Environmental Quality Act and approval from the California Department of Education.
• The public is welcomed to attend the meeting which will begin at 5 p.m. in the Board Room of the Administrative Center located at 21515 Centre Pointe Parkway, Santa Clarita.

 The three properties investigated include:

• A site in the north portion of Castaic approximately one mile west of the termination of Parker Road (Romero Canyon Site) 

1.  
   1. The site has an initial approval as a high school site from the state Dept. of Education;
   2. The parcel is in the path of future development (meaning homes are currently not there, but will be);
   3. The parcel is large enough to house a high school as well as other administrative buildings;
   4. The high school will finish the community’s road circulation plans; and
   5. Most of the permits have been approved or are ready to pull making the Romero Canyon site the one location that can come on line the quickest for this under served community.
   6. The property owner is willing to grade the site.

• A property in the southern part of Castaic located adjacent to the community of Val Verde along Del Valle Road (Green Valley Ranch)

1.  
   1. It’s near the Chiquita Canyon land fill……A DUMP!
   2. This site is within the aerial plume of the land fill; odors and gases from the land fill may permeate this school site.
   3. Val Verde residents are against

• A third site in Hasley Canyon at the northeastern corner of Sloan Canyon Road and Hasley Canyon Road (Hasley/Sloan)

1.  
   1. This property was examined previously and rejected!
   2. There have been questions raised as to whether there are soil “liquefaction” issues with this site. “Liquefaction is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking and have been responsible for tremendous amounts of damage in historical earthquakes around the world.” The State Geology Map clearly shows Liquefaction/collapsible soils for this site.
   3. It currently only has one entry point which will require an access bridge to built and a number of experts have apparently claimed it is cost prohibitive to create a second entry which is required for a school site
   4. A flood control channel must be built which will require permits from the L.A. County Flood Control, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the California Department of Fish and Game. All of which could take as long as 5 years to get those permits.
   5. There is apparently no water or sanitation “will serve” letters on this property and no tentative track map.
   6. And there is a plant called the Beavertail Cactus which appears to be on the endangered species watch list and will require some kind of mitigation.
   7. It has apparently been owned by the Facilities Foundation since 2003.

Read more about this issue in a commentary by Dave Bossert titled: Do you care about your children? The Hart School District apparently doesn’t!!