" I know that the NCOE and the NVUSD are involved in conversations, but that doens't mean they will hold the developer accountable for building an elementary school as they should. The South East district of Napa is already the fastest growing area that has impacted the populations of our school district recently. NVR, please do some research on this so the people of Napa can be informed on how the developer is planning on addressing schools. Napa Pipe must be held accountable for providing all the infrastructure for a school. "

" You’re absolutely correct in asking this question.
Why Isn’t NVUSD chiming in publicly about this?
The answer is… politics.
It would be embarrassing for them to say, “You know we can hardly keep this ship floating now,…No, this isn’t in the best interest of our community to further extend our limited funds to support more students and provide long-term busing for this area.”

I believe the school board will wait until the deal is done and then start to make noises about a “NEW BOND MEASURE” being needed to solve this unforeseen event.
And,
I expect to see some kind of guilt trip about, “If parents really care about their kids education, they will vote for a new bond measure to help solve this unforeseen need.”

I have always had great respect for our school board members, but for them not to be publicly adding their voice to this issue now, makes me think city and county POLITICS are more important than standing up for our students and community’s future interests NOW.
Perhaps by the time Napa Pipe is dropped in our laps, some of these board members will have left and the new one’s will say, “I would have voiced my concern publicly about this financially impacting our school district.
But, now the only thing left for us to do is put a NEW BOND MEASURE on the ballot and hope the community cares enough about their kids education to pass it.”

I can not tell you how disappointed I am in the silence coming form our school board regarding the proposed housing at the old Napa Pipe site. "

" Leon, that's a very good point! I'm not a developer. I'm a Mom, and my kids go to the local elementary school and Redwood for middle school. With Napa Pipe, maybe some kids can fit in at Carneros? I think that' a small school, 300 or less. But maybe 100-150 could go there, not 1200! And middle and high school? Can Silverado and Redwood smoosh in 200 extra students? And high school, that's 4 grades, not 3 like in middle school, so the projection of 400 might be more like 500. Of course, there will be drop outs, and kids going to private schools. Still, Napa High and Vintage don't need more kids. Not after last week- they are above capacity now and it shows! Don't other towns and cities have built into their plans for addititional schools in a large developlment? Before Napa County approves this, they need a plan for the schools and a way to pay for it. "

" So, you'd like the school districts (city and county) to speculate about something that is nowhere close to a done deal? That makes no sense.

You want them to say - we will force Napa Pipe to build a school, whether we need it or not? Really? Because that would be completely irresponsible.

And Mr. Brauning, your numbers for schools are completely made up. Any references for those figures? Yeah, that's what I thought. "

" If you have read anything or been to any presentations on the project, it has always been said it will be for young professionals and retired persons according to the demographics Rogel has put together. There won't be a significant amount of children to warrant any schools in this area. "

" Fortunately we do not allow developers to decide where schools go, all we do is expect them to pay for them. Napa Pipe will be paying substantial development and impact fees for traffic, services and most importantly schools. Regardless of whether Napa Pipe generates even one new child at a Napa school they will be forced to pay millions of dollars in development fees which will help our underfunded schools. The school board and administrators know this which is why they are not chiming in, that way they get to put the money where it is most needed as opposed to being tied to a plan that the developer and the supervisors come up with. "

" So this project will be for "young professionals and retired people."

All the talk is that it will be affordable housing for our working poor. That's the political pitch you will hear over and over and over and over and over and over.

The fact is that only 20% will be affordables and most of the working poor will not be able to buy even the so-called affordables.

But the politicians will say it will be for the working poor. Over and over and over again.

The big lie. "

" BD4- young professional don't ahve children, how many grandparents are taking care of grandkids these days. You are joking if you think there are not going to be kids that will either require a school or a cost to the district with busing "

" I feel like this question has been asked and answered. Will Napa Pipe give pay impact fees to schools? YES. Will the school board get to decided if a new school is needed? YES. Should Napa Pipe be in the business of determining where our schools should go. NO. Napa Pipe could be a HUGE help to our schools, providing millions of dollars in funding. I think its time we see Napa Pipe as the savior for our schools, not the demise! "

" Schools need to be addressed even if the board hasnt made up its mind on the project. Keith cant promise only retired people and young professionals well buy these homes. And most young professionals do get married and have kids. If low income is added there is a large amount of kids right there. Even if Carneros can take the kids how are they getting there? bus? parents? thats more traffic. Middle school, well Redwood is already over flowing and having to bus kids to Silverado. How are those kids getting there? bus? parents? again more traffic. High school, well with American Canyon opening soon no one knows how the levels well be for any of the high schools. The bottom line is Keith the board and NVUSD need to sit down and talk schools and who well pay for new school or for busses. I know i well not support a bond that supports Napa Pipe kids and i dont think im the only one with that view. "

" I think this conversation brings up a very good point. I always hear people complaining and warning that Napa Pipe will destroy our schools and hurt access to services and other amenities. People are missing the big picture here. People are going to move to Napa, if we don’t build at Napa Pipe, homes will be built somewhere else. If we build them on a large scale, like at Napa Pipe, Rogal and his group will be forced to pay for millions in impact fees and development fees to upgrade services, pay for schools and road improvements. If we just put a few houses here and there the large sums are not going to come in. We need this money, especially for our schools! "

" Where did all these "millions" in developer fees go in American Canyon?

How come the taxpayer ended up footing the entire bill for the new school? "

" I believe Mr. Brauning, as usual, has put the proverbial cart before the horse in a misguided effort to create a scandal where there is none.

I don't get where he's going with this. Does he want the school district to guess that maybe, someday, they might need a school at Napa Pipe, so they should commit to that now? That seems so far down the road as to be ridiculous.

No one has any idea of what that project will end up looking like, or if it will ever happen at all. Why the mock outrage? "

" I expect nothing from this developer regarding decisions about new schools or cost of long-term busing.
I expect the school district and school board to publicly weigh in on the true bennifits, detrimental effects, or future financial burdens to the NVUSD by putting residental housing in what was for years, an industrial zoned part of town.

Do young professionals not have children?
Do the working poor not have children?
AND
the comment that someone made about,
"I think its time we see Napa Pipe as the savior for our schools, not the demise! "
I think someone has been walking around the Nipe Pipe property too long and is already suffering from some toxic delusions.
...I think I may have hit on something that explains some of these comments expounding on the bennifits of building mass housing at the old Napa Pipe.
Better limit the amount of walking tours out there guys... "

" These are all interesting comments. I somehow was put on the supporters list for Napa Pipe (not sure how) and received a phone call the other day. Anyhow they were looking to gather supporters to come to a "town meeting". I explained that I work out of town and would not be able to attend and then told him that I am on the fence about Napa Pipe. I don't really know enough to make a decision just yet. I talked about the school issue and the person on the phone did not have answers but encouraged me to ask anyway (why ask questions that he can not answer and no promise to get back to me) Impact to our schools is the biggest question I have. I do not think that we should be worried about the developer building another school but rather being fiscally responsible for the infrastructure to support the kids that will live in this development. The person on the phone never mentioned "young professionals" or "retirees". And quite frankly unless it is a retirement community you can NOT keep kids out. He talked of nurses, fire fighters, waitresses and chefs all living here together. What we have is a lot of people not really talking from the same sheet of facts. What we have is a developer who will, at any cost, get a development in. We also have a bunch of people in office who will not ask the tough questions until it is too late. Again I am not for or against it at this point HOWEVER every article or phone call says something different. Once we have a firm idea of what will be happening there I will choose which side of the fence I sit on. "

" I went through the Napa Pipe website and didn't see anything that addresses the school issues. I saw the envrionment, traffic, low income etc...but nothing about the children that will more than likely live there as well. I'm not neccessarily against Napa Pipe, everything I have read about seems to be very well thought out, BUT the impact it will have on our schools is a good question. I have been to board meetings and haven't heard anything brought up about it either. That doesn't mean there are not conversations taking place, the district isn't very transparent, so it doesn't surprise me that nothing has been addressed publically on their behalf.

Can anyone on this blog direct me to where I can find some information on the impact it will have on our local schools? Harvest is full, Silverado not quite, so it could take some growth, but no elementary rooms have the current buildings to hold more students. "

" Oh goody. Leon's back. "

" Noblindershere, I would direct you to information if it existed, but it doesn't. Why doesn't it? Because there is nowhere near anything resembling a final plan on how many houses will go in at Napa Pipe, so how could one know the impact? "

" Regarding BD4's comment about Napa Pipe being a development primarily for young professionals and retirees, is he talking about vacationers or is he talking about permanent residents?

Either way, many of these units will probably be rented out to both. Unless the development is specifically designated as a retirement facility, it is illegal to discriminate against families with children. From what I understand, it's legal having either two or three people living in each bedroom.

Rogal's living in fantasy world if he truly believes these units will be limited primarily to retirees and young professionals, hoping to escape the responsibility of paying for schools with verbiage alone. Unreal. Napans are smarter than that. "

" All!

We have schools, enough schools. Many schools have enough room on property for possible new construction. We should put thoughts toward utilizing the space in our existing buildings.

We need to stop and simplify our plans and that is in politics, at home, in our businesses, how we live and how were running our cities. "

" Dear Ms. Vocal-de-Local: independent technical analysts, working under the direction of the NVUSD, along with County Planning, make professional judgments about what they believe will be the likely impact in terms of student age residents. If and when a project is approved, school fees are assessed the developer. Those fees aren't casually selected, they're dictated within State law. These are not topics that we, the property owners, are called on to forecast; the public sector makes these determinations.

But I do want to state publicly again, as I always do when this topic comes up, that I've had many meetings with the School District and the County on this topic, and they are studying it seriously – no one is avoiding it. And also I, personally, have NEVER made the absurd assertion that we would expect (or want) to have a neighborhood without zero children. I hope and expect we would have some kids arriving with parents when they move in, and others born to proud parents while living there, alongside other residents from a wide range of incomes, ages and life stages.

Our proposal is designed to address diverse needs, focused in particular on Napa’s young people, its commuting workforce, and its empty-nesters. In addition, it is designed to meet much of the County’s Affordable Housing obligations assigned under State law. It proposes to do so in a traditional walkable neighborhood format, comprised mostly of smaller, attached homes. It is not a suburban subdivision of large detached homes.

Please know I share everyone’s view on this topic's importance. Independent professional analysis of this and hundreds of other issues will be available for all our review and comment upon issuance of the EIR. "

" Is Napa PIpe paying for the new construction that you say could happen on our campuses? The development fees are not enough to build what will be needed. "

" BD4, let me tell you something to absolutely blow your mind... "young professionals" go to bars, get drunk, get pregnant, married, and have children! Oh gosh the horror I know !

Developer Fees: We as a comunity should build into the cost of the housing school construction, not putting it on the backs of parents now who are already paying for several measures! "

" Mr. Rogal, the phrase "what they BELIEVE will be the likely impact" concerns me. "Believe" is subject to human error. Will the decision makers error on the side of caution? Will they be influenced by Grabill type tactics?

Too often, housing developments forge ahead without any "realistic" analysis on impact. There's also the "special interest" factors, such as "more children = more per pupil funding" to school districts. Can they be trusted to provide an unbiased opinion? Will special interest evaluate the impact of the "whole", or just the small piece which primarily affects them?

Napa County taxpayers are tired of subsidizing the corporate owned housing development industry for the purpose of providing mega bucks to a few, and then having them typically walk away, leaving a heavy infrastructure burden on local taxpayers.

I also think we need to analyze the enormous costs of toxic waste cleanup on this site. It's not sufficient requiring toxic cleanup ONLY under a small portion of the development, leaving the rest of the toxic cleanup for another day. That "other" day could add yet another layer of burden on taxpayers as well as existing residents adjoining the toxic cleanup site. "

" And now a proposed parcel tax on all Napans to help subsidize developments just like this! Let the developer build the schools and infrastructure for these projects and I might be more inclined to agree with it.

And since they'll say it's not feasible then don't build it at all. Use the land for commercial enterprise and create lasting jobs, with good salaries, for workers from many cities. "

" Re Vocal: "Napa County taxpayers are tired of sibsidizing the corporate owned housing development industry for the purpose of providing mega bucks to a few, and then having them typically walk away, leaving a heavy infrastructure burden on local taxpayers".

Let us not leave out roads, water and sewage infrastructues. All bonded and paid for by the taxpayer "

" Who's going to pay for the additional teachers and upkeep, principal, and utilities???
I still think there should be a casino on that property paying taxes to Napa County. A big luxury Las Vegas style casino. Jobs and tax money. Call Harrah...Get an exemption from the no gambling law. Californians need to cash in on this resource. It all goes to Nevada or the Indian casinos. "