Post by d204mom on Mar 22, 2008 14:57:38 GMT -6
Another "blast from the past" article - we always knew BB would cost a premium, even 4 years ago.
204 chooses site for new school
Naperville Sun, The (IL) - December 21, 2004
Author: Britt Carson
If voters in Indian Prairie School District 204 approve an April referendum measure, a third high school will be built along the Brach Brodie property at Route 59 and 75th Street.
Superintendent Howie Crouse said pending approval of the measure, the district will purchase 80 acres for $19.6 million. The agreement was reached Monday afternoon and Crouse made the announcement in the evening during a meeting between the school board and the Citizens Advisory Committee.
"We looked at three sites," he said. "We also looked at what other costs are associated with each parcel."
The district has $2.5 million set aside from the 2001 referendum measure to be used for land for a seventh middle school. The district plans to use that money along with another $1.5 million from land-cash donations to purchase land for the third high school.
Crouse said that leaves only $15.6 million needed for land in a referendum measure.
That brings the total referendum measure to $105.6 million, including the $90 million it will cost to build the school. However, that does not include money for operations and maintenance projects and technology, which are funded through referendum measures. That could add another $27 million to the price tag.
The district also gave committee members new estimates on the impact on taxpayers a referendum measure would have. One scenario included the taxes on a $300,000 house that appreciates in value at a rate of 7.5 percent each year. Without a referendum measure, taxes in 2006 are estimated to increase by $906. If a $131.8 million measure is passed, taxes on that house would increase by an additional $118 in 2006.
The committee will decide on a final price tag for the referendum measure at its Jan. 4 meeting.
The other sites the district considered were one in Bolingbrook and a site directly outside district boundaries in Oswego west of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway tracks. However, considerable concerns were raised with both sites, board member Mark Metzger said.
"The site in Bolingbrook has significant charges for connecting water and electric, and since it is right next door to a quarry, you have to deal with dynamiting two times a day," he said.
The Oswego site is across the street from a closed landfill. After discussions with the owner, the possibility exists the landfill could be expanded or that an asphalt plant would be placed next to the landfill, Metzger said. In addition, there are no utilities on that site, so the district would be responsible for the cost of getting the utilities and purchasing any easements from properties the utilities may have to cross.
"We had to look at the surrounding areas and how that would affect the value and desirability," Crouse said. Metzger said the Bolingbrook land may have been cheaper initially, but the costs associated with development would outweigh the cheaper price tag.
"We are paying a $2 (million) to $3 million premium to have a school where it does us a lot of good," Metzger said.
The district is already in condemnation proceedings for 25 acres of the Brach Brodie property for a seventh middle school. If the referendum measure passes, the district will drop those proceedings and immediately purchase 80 acres for a third high school.
Crouse tried to dispel myths about available land along Interstate 88 and why the district did not choose to negotiate purchasing parcels along Ferry Road.
"People see vacant land and think it is big enough to build a high school," Crouse said. "The parcels identified were not anywhere near where there are kids. The further north you go, the farther you go from kids. The further across the tollway, there is a lot of land that is not really vacant and we did not want to take commercial properties that may be of value to us down the road."
A third high school would house 3,000 students and have all the amenities of Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley high schools.
A public hearing on the committee's final recommendation will take place at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 at Still Middle School, at 787 Meadowridge Drive in Aurora.
Caption: Map: Location of new District 204 high school site -- Brach property at 75th St. and Route 59.
204 chooses site for new school
Naperville Sun, The (IL) - December 21, 2004
Author: Britt Carson
If voters in Indian Prairie School District 204 approve an April referendum measure, a third high school will be built along the Brach Brodie property at Route 59 and 75th Street.
Superintendent Howie Crouse said pending approval of the measure, the district will purchase 80 acres for $19.6 million. The agreement was reached Monday afternoon and Crouse made the announcement in the evening during a meeting between the school board and the Citizens Advisory Committee.
"We looked at three sites," he said. "We also looked at what other costs are associated with each parcel."
The district has $2.5 million set aside from the 2001 referendum measure to be used for land for a seventh middle school. The district plans to use that money along with another $1.5 million from land-cash donations to purchase land for the third high school.
Crouse said that leaves only $15.6 million needed for land in a referendum measure.
That brings the total referendum measure to $105.6 million, including the $90 million it will cost to build the school. However, that does not include money for operations and maintenance projects and technology, which are funded through referendum measures. That could add another $27 million to the price tag.
The district also gave committee members new estimates on the impact on taxpayers a referendum measure would have. One scenario included the taxes on a $300,000 house that appreciates in value at a rate of 7.5 percent each year. Without a referendum measure, taxes in 2006 are estimated to increase by $906. If a $131.8 million measure is passed, taxes on that house would increase by an additional $118 in 2006.
The committee will decide on a final price tag for the referendum measure at its Jan. 4 meeting.
The other sites the district considered were one in Bolingbrook and a site directly outside district boundaries in Oswego west of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway tracks. However, considerable concerns were raised with both sites, board member Mark Metzger said.
"The site in Bolingbrook has significant charges for connecting water and electric, and since it is right next door to a quarry, you have to deal with dynamiting two times a day," he said.
The Oswego site is across the street from a closed landfill. After discussions with the owner, the possibility exists the landfill could be expanded or that an asphalt plant would be placed next to the landfill, Metzger said. In addition, there are no utilities on that site, so the district would be responsible for the cost of getting the utilities and purchasing any easements from properties the utilities may have to cross.
"We had to look at the surrounding areas and how that would affect the value and desirability," Crouse said. Metzger said the Bolingbrook land may have been cheaper initially, but the costs associated with development would outweigh the cheaper price tag.
"We are paying a $2 (million) to $3 million premium to have a school where it does us a lot of good," Metzger said.
The district is already in condemnation proceedings for 25 acres of the Brach Brodie property for a seventh middle school. If the referendum measure passes, the district will drop those proceedings and immediately purchase 80 acres for a third high school.
Crouse tried to dispel myths about available land along Interstate 88 and why the district did not choose to negotiate purchasing parcels along Ferry Road.
"People see vacant land and think it is big enough to build a high school," Crouse said. "The parcels identified were not anywhere near where there are kids. The further north you go, the farther you go from kids. The further across the tollway, there is a lot of land that is not really vacant and we did not want to take commercial properties that may be of value to us down the road."
A third high school would house 3,000 students and have all the amenities of Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley high schools.
A public hearing on the committee's final recommendation will take place at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 at Still Middle School, at 787 Meadowridge Drive in Aurora.
Caption: Map: Location of new District 204 high school site -- Brach property at 75th St. and Route 59.
