New Bayport elementary school plans draw complaints from church community

A deal that made it possible for the Stillwater school district to move ahead with plans for a new Andersen Elementary school in Bayport was questioned Monday night when the sellers of the 10-acre parcel where the school is to be built said their terms aren’t being met.

The St. Croix United Church expected to have access to an outdoor classroom on the school property where they could continue their practice of holding summer services on Sunday mornings, church members told the city Planning Commission. A city stipulation that the road to the outdoor classroom be for emergency vehicles only means church members would have to walk some 300 feet, a challenge for some, said Paul Spilseth, a church member.

“We have a fair number of elderly and handicapped people,” Spilseth told the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission voted to advise the City Council at their Nov. 4 meeting to look for a creative solution, but it’s not yet clear what that could be, City Administrator Matt Kline said. The city wants the roadway restricted to emergency vehicles, and if some people started driving on it to access the outdoor classroom, it would encourage others to do so, and lead to problems with parked vehicles blocking emergency crews. It’s also a security concern if people started driving to the back of the school, he said.

“For a multiple of reasons, it should remain closed to all traffic,” said Kline, who said the direction came from several levels of city staff.

The church this summer sold its 10-acre parcel of land so the school could be built, a move that “saved” the school, according to Planning Commission Chairwoman Elizabeth Kelly.

“St. Croix United saved your school,” Kelly told school district officials who attended Monday night’s meeting. She said the bond referendum that passed last year in support of the school’s construction might not have been approved if the district had stuck to its original plan of building on Barker’s Alps Park in Bayport, a move that had drawn local opposition from people who didn’t want to lose the public space.

The church bought the land in 1994 for a new church, but never moved forward on the plan. The land has been carefully tended by church members, who built a memorial garden and labyrinth on it and cultivated native species of plants. They called it People’s Park and used it for outdoors services in the summer.

When public opposition to placing a school on Barker’s Alps Park came up, the 100-member church met with school district officials and, after several negotiations, agreed in principle to sell its land. The church sold its 10-acre parcel for $850,000, or about $150,000 less than its appraised value; church members said they agreed to the deal because it included stipulations that they wanted, including the use of the outdoor classroom space for church gatherings. The space could be used by the public as well, according to church members.

“We’re proud that we sold our land to the school,” Spilseth said Monday night. “It’s for the kids.”

The new Andersen Elementary school will be built on the parcel located south of 5th Avenue North and east of Stagecoach Trail is in Baytown Township. The new school plan calls for a 96,000 square-foot, two-story elementary school for 600 students and 100 staff. There’s no plan yet for the future use of the existing Andersen elementary building.

In response to a request for comment on Tuesday, Stillwater schools Superintendent Mike Funk said the ADA access issue would be resolved.

“The church will have better access to the outdoor space than they currently have,” he said in a statement. “The district and the church have had a number of meetings to discuss the learning space, and we continue to work collaboratively in the best interests of our students and community partners.”

The new school could open in two years, according to materials included in Monday night’s agenda.