RV wins bid for land

The Royal Valley school district was the winning bidder on a 98-acre piece of land located next to the RV elementary school that sold Sunday during a real estate auction in Hoyt, it was reported.

Superintendent Aaric Davis said that the board of education will take formal action to purchase the land at its meeting on Monday evening at the district office. 

The district’s bid of $420,000 was the highest for the parcel, which was owned by the late Marvin and Shirley Smith. 

The land, as well as several other parcels, were sold during an auction last Sunday organized by Crossroads Real Estate & Auction LLC that was held at the Hoyt Community Building.

Davis said the district will use capital outlay funds to purchase the land. After board approval, the district will take ownership of the land on May 3.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” Superintendent Davis said. “I’ve had a lot of people ask me what the district is going to do with that land, and I don’t have an answer right now. The truth is we are just about out of space where we are at.”

The north end of the parcel is located on the south side of West First Street in Hoyt and sits directly west of the elementary parking lot and high school track. From the north, the land spans about half a mile back.

Davis said the elementary school parking lot is currently “undersized” and, with the purchase of the land, that could be expanded.

“At some point in time, we’re going to need to put in a bus garage somewhere to keep the buses together,” he said. “I would love to put in an early childhood center at some point in time. It doesn’t mean anything is going to happen right now. There are no immediate plans.”

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