Office of Education nears decision

More than a year after deciding to head west, Colusa County's Office of Education may be homing in on its future home.

The department is turning its attention to a 55-acre site on the east side of Williams, where the Colusa-based agency voted in April 2007 to move its headquarters. Officials hope to share the site with Woodland Community College's planned annex and possibly a new library.

The site at Husted Road and E Street could prove the best long-term hope for college and county alike, according to Dave Scroggins, one of the education office's five board members.

"We might luck out and get the same contractor, the same parking, which would be cheaper for both the schools," he said at Wednesday's board meeting.

Board members are scheduled to choose the architect at their June 11 session. No groundbreaking date has been announced.

The Office of Education runs special education, alternative schooling and other services throughout the county. A Williams headquarters would place it and its services closer to students in the county's western school districts in Williams, Maxwell and Arbuckle.

Since the decision to move to Williams, the agency had looked into two other sites - one on E Street next to the California Highway Patrol station and another farther north up Husted Road, according to Superintendent Kay Spurgeon.

Plans remain to combine the department site with the Woodland College building, slated to open in the fall of 2010. College officials are seeking 3 to 5 acres for the center, which would house the county's first college presence since the closure of Yuba College's Colusa offices in 2003.

Colusa County Library also is looking for federal and state funds for a new Williams branch that could become the site's third occupant, Spurgeon said.