The Alpine school board has qualms about eminent domain, but the need for a new elementary school in Eagle Mountain is just too great.

"It is certainly not what I would prefer to see happen. I'm not in favor of using eminent domain," said board member Donna Barnes. "But we're at a point where we don't have other options."

The school board voted Friday to use eminent domain to acquire eight acres in Eagle Mountain to build a school that the district needs by next fall.

Rob Smith, assistant superintendent and business administrator for the district, said the district is in negotiations with the developers who own the land, which is in Hidden Valley on Pony Express Parkway.

The school district made an offer on the property at a value of $103,000 per acre and the developers didn't accept it, so the school district is seeking a court remedy to acquire the land.

The district will file a condemnation action and a request for immediate occupancy as soon as possible.

Barnes said that without the school, the other elementary schools in Eagle Mountain could have potentially double the students that an elementary should hold.

Smith said the district will be hard pressed to get the school finished in time.

"It will be a challenge for us, even if we move as fast as we can," Smith said.

Eagle Mountain City Council member David Lifferth said he had "heartburn" over the use of eminent domain.

So did board member Andrea Forsyth.

"We all have heartburn about eminent domain," she said.

Vincent Liddiard, also a member of the Eagle Mountain City Council, is excited the school is coming.

"Getting a school anywhere in the city is going to be good for those kids," Liddiard said.

This is the second site the board has tried to acquire for building the school, but the public outcry over a spot at Cedar Pass Ranch prompted the school board to look for another spot.

Brittani Lusk can be reached at 344-2549 or at blusk@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.