Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission to vote on school development proposal

Columbia’s Planning and Zoning Commission will vote Thursday night on a revised development proposal for East Elementary School.

Thursday morning, the Columbia School Board unanimously approved the proposal, which calls for a second access road connecting Howell Mountain Drive and Rolling Hills Road south of Columbia Gorge Parkway.

The budget for the development project is set at $2.2 million, but officials estimate the revisions will cost about $300,000, and, as a result, revisions will have to be made.

“We’ll work through our construction budget and determine what items we can either wait on, not do entirely or maybe reconfigure in order to come up with that estimated $300,000 cost,” Columbia Public Schools spokesperson Michelle Baumstark told ABC17.

If the commission green lights the proposal, it will then go to the Columbia City Counsel for approval.

Officials said the new elementary school will help ease overcrowding and provide a space for growth.