Post by d204mom on Apr 10, 2008 19:54:52 GMT -6
Thanks to yeson321 for pointing out the updates on the website.
Midwest Generation won't sell its land
April 10, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Midwest Generation has decided not to sell a 37-acre portion of the property Indian Prairie School District 204 has selected as the site of Metea Valley High School.
Early Thursday afternoon, Midwest Generation spokesman Charley Parnell confirmed for The Sun that the company is no longer interested in selling the land.
"I think, as you’re well aware, that this is an issue where there doesn’t seem to be consensus on what the plans are going to be going forward," Parnell said. "So rather than have Midwest Generation as the reason either to oppose or support the project, we think this will give all of the parties an opportunity, a chance to sit back and try to find consensus on what is or is not appropriate for the new school."
Later in the afternoon, District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner sent to residents an e-mail message in which he confirmed Midwest Generation’s decision.
"Our two high schools are overcrowded today with 8,200 students," he said. "As our existing middle school students move up through the grades, we will have an additional 1,000 high school students by 2011. Several of our middle schools are also facing overcrowding, which needs to be alleviated with the opening of our seventh middle school.
"We are currently investigating fiscally responsible land options that will move construction forward to ease the overcrowding," Daeschner said.
Daeschner’s message also contained a Web link to a posting of Midwest Generation’s official notification of its decision on its Web site, www.ipsd.org.
In that letter, Fred McCluskey, Midwest Generation’s vice president for technical services, says "it is now apparent that there is serious public opposition and a deep division within the community regarding the use of Midwest Generation’s property as the site of a new high school."
That opposition, McCluskey said, includes Neighborhood Children for Our School’s lawsuit against District 204, but also the lobbying of public officials, and a "grass roots effort that has disseminated incorrect, misleading, and potentially harmful information" about both District 204 and Midwest Generation.
"Consequently, it is our opinion that continued negotiations and the potential sale represent a threat to both the business interests and reputation of Midwest Generation."
But McCluskey ended his letter by saying Midwest Generation "would be willing to reopen our discussions should the district community come to a consensus in support of using our site for a new facility."
But Mark Metzger, District 204’s board president, said he thinks "that opportunity died with the letter" because people are far too divided on both sides to "arrive at any solution that results in that sort of peace."
Metzger said the district had some indication before today that Midwest Generation wasn’t comfortable moving forward with the deal.
"We knew from meetings with (Midwest Generation) over the course of the last several weeks that they’d been nervous about the uproar caused by the group," Metzger said. "I think we always thought and hoped we would be able to work through it and it wouldn’t be an issue."
Now, for the third time, District 204’s board must pick up the issue of where to build Metea.
Will it build a scaled-down school on the remaining 50 acres of the Eola Road property?
Will it return to the Brach-Brodie property it abandoned after its condemnation resulted in a price twice what it expected to pay?
Or will it consider other potential sites in the district?
"It’s hard to say," Metzger said. "I have to think at this point in time, nothing is off the table."
Midwest Generation won't sell its land
April 10, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Midwest Generation has decided not to sell a 37-acre portion of the property Indian Prairie School District 204 has selected as the site of Metea Valley High School.
Early Thursday afternoon, Midwest Generation spokesman Charley Parnell confirmed for The Sun that the company is no longer interested in selling the land.
"I think, as you’re well aware, that this is an issue where there doesn’t seem to be consensus on what the plans are going to be going forward," Parnell said. "So rather than have Midwest Generation as the reason either to oppose or support the project, we think this will give all of the parties an opportunity, a chance to sit back and try to find consensus on what is or is not appropriate for the new school."
Later in the afternoon, District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner sent to residents an e-mail message in which he confirmed Midwest Generation’s decision.
"Our two high schools are overcrowded today with 8,200 students," he said. "As our existing middle school students move up through the grades, we will have an additional 1,000 high school students by 2011. Several of our middle schools are also facing overcrowding, which needs to be alleviated with the opening of our seventh middle school.
"We are currently investigating fiscally responsible land options that will move construction forward to ease the overcrowding," Daeschner said.
Daeschner’s message also contained a Web link to a posting of Midwest Generation’s official notification of its decision on its Web site, www.ipsd.org.
In that letter, Fred McCluskey, Midwest Generation’s vice president for technical services, says "it is now apparent that there is serious public opposition and a deep division within the community regarding the use of Midwest Generation’s property as the site of a new high school."
That opposition, McCluskey said, includes Neighborhood Children for Our School’s lawsuit against District 204, but also the lobbying of public officials, and a "grass roots effort that has disseminated incorrect, misleading, and potentially harmful information" about both District 204 and Midwest Generation.
"Consequently, it is our opinion that continued negotiations and the potential sale represent a threat to both the business interests and reputation of Midwest Generation."
But McCluskey ended his letter by saying Midwest Generation "would be willing to reopen our discussions should the district community come to a consensus in support of using our site for a new facility."
But Mark Metzger, District 204’s board president, said he thinks "that opportunity died with the letter" because people are far too divided on both sides to "arrive at any solution that results in that sort of peace."
Metzger said the district had some indication before today that Midwest Generation wasn’t comfortable moving forward with the deal.
"We knew from meetings with (Midwest Generation) over the course of the last several weeks that they’d been nervous about the uproar caused by the group," Metzger said. "I think we always thought and hoped we would be able to work through it and it wouldn’t be an issue."
Now, for the third time, District 204’s board must pick up the issue of where to build Metea.
Will it build a scaled-down school on the remaining 50 acres of the Eola Road property?
Will it return to the Brach-Brodie property it abandoned after its condemnation resulted in a price twice what it expected to pay?
Or will it consider other potential sites in the district?
"It’s hard to say," Metzger said. "I have to think at this point in time, nothing is off the table."