School district to sell industrial land

Developers will have a chance to purchase 29.5 acres of industrial land in Sisters in the wake of a school board decision to put its Lundgren Mill property on the market.

The board voted unanimously Monday night, August 18, to sell the property at the end of North Pine Street for $100,000 per acre.

The land is zoned for light industrial use.

The proceeds from the sale will be used in part to pay back an $800,000 loan the school district used to repair the building that now houses Sisters Middle School (the former high school).

The school roof was repaired and new siding installed.

The remainder will be earmarked for facilities improvement and maintenance.

After the vote, board member Bill Reed recalled that the district had entered negotiations to sell the whole parcel (not then zoned industrial) for $300,000 to $350,000 about 11 years ago.

Those negotiations fell through and the district backed off.

"We thought 'maybe we're underselling this, maybe we should hang onto this for a while,'" Reed said.

"I'm glad we did."