The vacant Jacobs Campus in Eureka. | File photo: Andrew Goff

###

The Jacobs Campus is back on the agenda.

At tonight’s meeting, the Eureka City Schools Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing to discuss the future of the long-disused Jacobs Middle School Campus. The board will consider a waiver that, if approved by the State Board of Education, would give the district “maximum flexibility” in selecting a potential developer for the blighted site. 

The waiver would allow the district to sidestep a bit of Education Code that “restricts the District’s flexibility in negotiating price, payments, and other terms that may yield greater economic and other benefits to the District than a sealed bid process,” the proposed waiver states. 

“The District will work closely with consultants to ensure that the process by which the Property is sold is fair, open, and competitive,” the proposed waiver continues. “The process the District will use will be designed to get the best result for the District, the schools, and the community. … With a waiver of the requirement that sealed proposals be received, and that the highest bidder be awarded the contract, the District will be able to sell the Property to the party that presents the most favorable proposal to the District.”

As many of our readers will recall, last year, the Jacobs Campus was at the center of a controversial land exchange agreement between the school district and AMG Communities - Jacobs, LLC, the anonymous private developer who had promised nearly $6 million for the eight-acre site. Eight months after the deal was struck, the Board of Trustees backed out of the deal, voting unanimously to reject AMG Communities’ fourth request to extend the escrow deadline. 

Shortly thereafter, the district resumed property negotiations with the California Highway Patrol, which intends to build a new Humboldt Area headquarters on the site if the sale eventually goes through.

Reached for additional comment, Eureka City Schools Assistant Superintendent Paul Zielger confirmed that the district is still in “ongoing” negotiations with the California Department of General Services, the entity representing the CHP, but said the district is “exploring avenues for a possible sale of the former Jacobs Middle School site in the event it is unable to reach an agreement” with the state.

Asked if the proposed action is an indication that the district is looking for a developer that would build more neighborhood-friendly features (mixed-use housing, communal amenities, etc.), Ziegler reiterated that the waiver would provide another option for the district if negotiations don’t pan out.

“The waiver would permit the District to partner with someone that will be most acceptable to the Board, the community, and consistent with the District’s educational purposes, rather than being locked into selling to whomever presents the highest offer,” Ziegler wrote in an emailed response to the Outpost. “Since the property is adjacent to our elementary site, we want to ensure the appropriateness of any potential new neighbor.”

The Eureka City Schools Board of Trustees will meet for its regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the District Office – 2100 J Street in Eureka. The agenda packet can be found here.

###

PREVIOUSLY: