Farmington school board approves donation of Chula Vista Park to City of Farmington

• The Farmington Municipal Schools Board of Education on Oct. 12 voted to donate the Chula Vista Park property to the municipality of Farmington by transferring the title of the land.
• The donation comes as the school district looks to sell part of the 7.26-acre plot of land at the intersection of Southside River Road and Hutton Road.
• The school board in August approved a donation agreement for the old Tibbetts Middle School property to the City of Farmington.

FARMINGTON — Farmington Municipal Schools started the process to transfer ownership of Chula Vista Park to the City of Farmington during its most recent board meeting.

The Farmington Municipal Schools Board of Education on Oct. 12 voted to donate the Chula Vista Park property to the municipality of Farmington by transferring the land title, according to Farmington schools spokesperson Roberto Taboada.

The school district made the announcement about its intentions to transfer the park to the city on June 22 in a video posted to its Facebook post.

Taboada said in a statement the district made the video to show off how wonderful the park is.

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“We are sure the city will take great care of the park and that our community will continue to enjoy it,” Taboada said in a statement.

The donation comes as the school district looks to sell part of the 7.26-acre plot of land at the intersection of Southside River Road and Hutton Road, according to a copy of the resolution.

The plan is to split up the property into two different plots of land. The first lot of 4.74 acres is where the old district bus barn resides on the southeast corner of the intersection.

The second lot on the south side of the property along Hutton Road is 2.52 acres and where Chula Vista Park resides. Both Farmington schools and the City of Farmington have been in a Joint Use Agreement for the park since spring 1993.

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Farmington intends to sell the bus barn property at a later date. The approval of the New Mexico State Board of Finance is required to complete the transfer to the City of Farmington.

The school district in June purchased the old property which Halliburton operated at on Southside River Road in a $2.5 million deal.

It is an effort to consolidate its transportation, plant operations and possibly its food services departments onto the 20-acre site.

This is the second recent donation of land from Farmington schools.

The school board in August approved a donation agreement for the old Tibbetts Middle School property to the City of Farmington. The 7.65-acre site is proposed site for an all-abilities park for Farmington. 

Joshua Kellogg covers breaking news for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com.

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