Since You Asked: What about odors from high school barn?

Q: The Marysville school district plans to build a barn for pigs, goats and sheep at the south end of the high school campus, less than two blocks from where we live. We're concerned there will be flies, mosquitoes and odors that will lower our property value. There's plenty of room on the north end of the campus. Couldn't they build it there? Were neighbors notified about this?

A: Some people claim to like the odor of cow manure. If pig manure has any fans, it's news to us.

Gay Todd, superintendent of the Marysville Joint Unified School District, said last week that she's confident the new barn, scheduled for completion next year, will contain unpleasant odors before the wind picks them up and carries them to the nostrils of nearby residents. Animals will be kept inside the barn, which she described as "pretty state of the art," and waste from their stalls will be hosed into a "grinder" before going into the sewer system, she said.

The school district worked with the city on plans for the barn, Todd said.

That's true, there was a discussion with city officials about possible barn-related problems, said Marysville City Services Director Dave Lamon.

The city has restrictions on animals — but really no control over what the school district or county decides to do, Lamon said.

"I'm not sure we'd get involved with land-use issues, such as use permits," he said.

Lamon said the city doesn't know how severe a problem odors might be.

Todd said notices were sent to nearby residents and a public meeting was held the week of May 11. She said 15 to 20 students and adults showed up but wasn't sure if any of the adults were neighbors who might be affected.

As for the north end of the ca pus, a planned expansion of the school's athletic complex, including more ball fields, leaves no room for the barn, said Todd.

Too bad. A pigsty — if there were really going to be one — inside the left field fence would have added a new dimension to the game of baseball.

Q: The voters of Yuba County passed a bond for construction of a high school in the foothills at the site of the existing Foothill Intermediate School on Fruitland Road in Loma Rica. When will the school be built and what's happening with the bond money? Is the planned location suitable for a new high school?

A: There has indeed been some question about the suitability of the land — specifically whether the soil can handle wastewater from the new school, according to Gay Todd, superintendent of the Marysville Joint Unified School District.

Construction had been scheduled to start in summer 2008 but is now set for spring 2010, said Todd.

The solution to the wastewater problem appears to be a "multilevel treatment plant." Original estimates for the plant came in as high as $3 million, but that cost has been brought down to about $1 million, Todd said.

Treated wastewater will be used for irrigation, she said.

The new school will have about 800 students and serve grades seven through 12. It will replace Foothill Intermediate School, which has about 200 students in grades six through eight.

Some of the students expected to attend the new school would have had to ride a bus as long as 11⁄2 hours each way to attend Marysville High School.

Since You Asked is published Tuesdays. Send questions to reporter Rob Young at the Appeal-Democrat, P.O. Box 431, Marysville CA 95901, e-mail him at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com or call 749-4710.