The City of Gallup and the Gallup-McKinley  County Schools are finalizing a land swap that will solve problems for both sides while helping to keep expenses down.

The entities will be swapping the school district’s 4.4-acre Bus Barn property, which it no longer uses, for a 10.7-acre wedge of city land adjacent to Rocky View Elementary School.

Despite the difference in size, the properties appraised within $10,000 of value because the smaller property includes structures, and the larger parcel is in a more desirable location along Boardman Avenue.

City Attorney Curtis Hayes called the swap “one of those situations where everything falls into place at the right time. The school district has exactly what we need, which is property next to the public safety building.”

The city will use the secure Bus Barn property for an impound lot and indoor storage for evidence. For its part, the school district will use its patch of dirt to build grant-funded teacher housing.

“For anyone who’s trying to recruit professionals to this community, housing is a problem,” Hayes said.

The school board approved the deal at its March 28 meeting and City Council assented in a special meeting April 5.

Before the deal closes, expected around the end of June, the city will expedite surveying and subdividing the school district lot from a larger 80-acre parcel, and re-zoning the lot the city is giving up for housing.

Funding for the city to build a new public safety building will become available July 1, Hayes said.

By Holly J. Wagner
Sun Correspondent