Council directs finance committee to find $2.5 million in budget for project, approves $12,000 for consultant

By Lauren McSherry, Town Crier Staff Writer

The Los Altos Hills City Council is forging ahead with plans to kick in town money for the Bullis Charter School’s future campus.

The council voted Thursday to have its finance committee investigate how much and where the money, up to $2.5 million, could come from. It also voted to spend up to $12,000 on a consultant and authorized using staff time to find a site for the school. The council’s action fulfilled a charter school request earlier this month when charter school officials disclosed they were pursuing a residential property on Purissima Road and asked the council to help them buy it.

Before the vote Thursday night, charter school officials veered away from some of the request details and made no mention of the Purissima property.

“The Bullis Charter School is not requesting a specific site or a specific dollar amount,” Chris Vargas, the school’s foundation co-chairman, told the council. “We’re asking the town to invest in land and land only.”

He pledged $1 million from the foundation toward a land purchase and $4 million toward developing and operating a school. The goal is to have the school up and running by Aug. 2006, Vargas said.

Swapping or selling a 1.8-acre town-owned parcel on Page Mill Road remains a funding option. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could swap it for something we could really get some use out of?” Councilman Dean Warshawsky said.

During the council’s discussion, Councilman Jean Mordo said he received a number of e-mails from opponents of the council’s plans, but added, “It’s very easy to send an e-mail. It’s not as easy to come and talk (at a council meeting). As far as I’m concerned I bought it.”

Mayor Breene Kerr called the potential $2.5 million contribution “a modest local match.”

“This has been characterized as the beginning of a battle,” he said. “I fundamentally disagree. It is the beginning of a resolution.”

Kerr and Councilman Mike O’Malley agreed to draft a letter that will be sent to residents informing them of the council’s plans to share expenses with the charter school.

Kerr said the council will hold a public meeting in the fall when residents can voice their opinions.