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Boys & Girls Club site in Bayfield discussed

Club will be next to new school
A black box, lower left, shows the proposed location of a Boys and Girls Club facility near the new school being built in Bayfield, just south of Bayfield Middle School.

Bayfield school officials have been talking with Boys & Girls Club representative Vaughn Morris about a facility just west of the new school for grades 3-5 that will be built just south of the mid school.

District Finance Director Amy Lyons gave an update to the school board Tuesday night.

"From the beginning (of planning for the new school), we talked about working with the Boys & Girls Club," she said. "They desperately need a facility here. The site is designated. Troy (Superintendent Troy Zabel) and I have been working with Vaughn Morris" on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) about how this will work. Morris is CEO of the Boys & Girls Club in Durango and lives in Bayfield.

"The MOU talks about our intent to work together when they go out on their capital campaign, to show that they have a place for the building," Lyons said. The district's attorney has advised that subdividing that part of the 40-acre school site and transferring it to the Boys & Girls Club might be preferable to a long-term lease, even though it's in the middle of the property, she said.

"This (MOU) doesn't tie us to anything," Lyons added. "It just says we're going to work together to get them what they need."

Board member Carol Blatnick was skeptical of subdividing. "It's no longer our land," she said.

Lyons responded, "In a sense it wouldn't be our land anyway. We'd want some parameters on the kind of building they do, and that it remains a Boys & Girls Club, and they won't sell it at some point."

Marty Zwisler, the district owner's representative on the school construction project, said, "We just allocated a space for it. We've routed the utilities to make sure we aren't in that space."

It's just west of the new school being constructed for third through fifth grades.

"It's a good location with proximity to the mid school," Lyons said. "It's something we feel very strongly about. I think Troy does too."

Board member Mike Foutz commented, "The Boys & Girls Club serves a need and keeps kids out of trouble."

Blatnick wanted Morris to provide information about other schools in Colorado that have a Boys & Girls Club on the property.

"There are models," Lyons said. "We have to find one that will work here. ... They're getting ready to start on their capital campaign."

The MOU will be up for board approval at a future meeting. The MOU also must be approved by the Boys & Girls Club board, Lyons added.