Santa Clarita to look at Saugus property
City agenda lists vacant Bouquet Canyon Elementary school site as part of negotiation officials are looking at; SUSD president confirms interest
The Santa Clarita City Council plans to meet in closed session June 26 to discuss negotiations to purchase Saugus properties, including one in the Saugus Union School District, according to city documents.
The address listed in the documents, 28110 Wellston Drive, matches that of the vacant Bouquet Canyon Elementary School.
Board President Chris Trunkey confirmed the district is trying to sell the property.
The negotiations come after a recommendation from the district’s 7-11 Advisory Committee. The committee formed in late 2017 to review the district’s “surplus properties” and provide a recommendation to the district board about the evaluated areas, with the vacant site on Wellston among them.
“We took a look at the Bouquet property, and the recommendation of the 7-11 committee was that the school district should look at disposing of that property,” Trunkey said.
The committee presented its findings to the school board Feb. 6, and the board on June 12 approved the recommendation to dispose of the property. The city then expressed interest in purchasing the property, Trunkey said.
The Saugus district is required by law to also notify other public agencies of the sale in case they are also interested. Los Angeles County is one of the agencies, Trunkey said.
The negotiations are for “prices and terms of payment,” but in closed session, so the city cannot comment, said Communications Manager Carrie Lujan.
In June 2010, the Saugus district closed the school after 30 years because of massive budget cuts. The closure saved the district an estimated $600,000 a year.
The site includes about 10 acres of vacant school land next to Bouquet Canyon Park, and about 20 acres of vacant land surrounded by existing or planned residential areas.