The Nampa School District has selected an industrial site for its future bus depot after residents protested initial plans for a suburban location.
The school board Tuesday approved a lease agreement for an Amity Avenue property on the eastern edge of Nampa. The site offers “ample parking” for buses and staff vehicles, said a district news release, and the current structure will be retrofitted to serve as an operations center for the district’s bus services.
School board vice chairman Jeff Kirkman lauded the site’s accessible location and its industrial setting, which has buffers for nearby residents.
“I just think this is a really good piece of property,” he said during Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Rent for the site is about $16,000 per month, and improvement costs are estimated at $190,400.
Cortney Stauffer, executive director of operations for the district, told trustees that the monthly rent is cheaper than market rates, and the district got a “very, very good offer,” particularly as industrial land is in high demand.
Nampa sought a bus depot as part of its transition to a new busing contractor, First Student. Former contractor Brown Bus Company has its own local parking facility, but First Student does not. The new contract will save the district about $1.1 million compared to Brown Bus’ initial offer to renew its deal with a 24% hike.
On July 2, KIVI reported that the district planned to convert the former Union High School site into a depot, where 100 buses would be parked. That idea drew the ire of Nampans who live near the property and feared buses would bring noise, pollution and traffic problems to their suburban neighborhood.
In response to the protests, district administrators said the Union site wasn’t a done deal, and they were searching for other options.
Stauffer told trustees Tuesday that the Amity location should be ready to receive buses in about three weeks. The new school year starts Aug. 19.
