Post by refbasics on Apr 10, 2008 23:25:02 GMT -6
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-indian_prairie_landapr11,0,7580754.story
chicagotribune.com
Midwest Generation power company won't sell land to Indian Prairie school districtBy Alexa Aguilar
Tribune reporter
April 11, 2008
Midwest Generation, the power company that offered to sell 37 acres to Indian Prairie School District 204 to build a third high school on Eola Road in Aurora, is backing out of the deal.
The surprise announcement Thursday, which came after weeks of controversy over whether the land was safe for students, left district officials reeling. They had hoped to close on the property soon and open Metea Valley High School in fall 2009.
"We absolutely need a third high school," Supt. Stephen Daeschner said. "We're going to have to evaluate all of our options again."
Daeschner said he will meet with the school board Monday to discuss what to do next.
The public outcry over use of the site of a former power plant as a school has led to "misleading and potentially harmful" publicity that threatens both the company's business interests and reputation, company officials wrote in a letter explaining their decision.
"We feel like we've been put in the middle," Midwest Generation spokesman Charley Parnell said.
In January, the school district settled on the Eola Road site after abandoning a years-long battle to buy 55 acres on the southwest corner of 75th Street and Illinois Highway 59, known as the Brach-Brodie site. The district tried to take that parcel by eminent domain but walked away from the site after a DuPage County jury determined it was worth $31 million—more than double what the district said the land was worth.
When the district changed course, a small but vocal group of residents formed in opposition to the Eola Road site, just south of Diehl Road in Aurora. The group, Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, filed suit in March, demanding that the district instead buy the Brach-Brodie site.
The district approached Midwest Generation in November, Parnell said. The company wasn't looking to sell, though it was shuttering the plant. In January, the school board announced its intent to buy 37 acres from Midwest Generation and another adjacent 50 acres from St. John's AME Church for $16.5 million.
Since then, the opposition group has blasted the district for considering using the parcel, arguing that the site is dangerous. Environmental reports released this week showed that five of 90 soil samples taken where the power plant stood were contaminated—four with diesel fuel and one with PCB—and could be harmful if ingested. The portion of the site where contaminants were found would have been cleaned and used for storage and storm water retention, district officials said.
But Parnell said that unless the community can show a consensus for the site, the company isn't interested in selling to the district.
With strong sentiments by residents on both sides of the issue, Daeschner said he doesn't know how he can rally the entire community around one site. For all the public opposition to the land, he said, he also has gotten hundreds of positive comments from residents who support the Eola Road site.
Shawn Collins, attorney for the opposition group, said he was relieved that the company backed out. The district should now buy the Brach-Brodie site, and if it needs more money to meet the asking price, it should go back to the voters, he said.
aaguilar@tribune.com
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
chicagotribune.com
Midwest Generation power company won't sell land to Indian Prairie school districtBy Alexa Aguilar
Tribune reporter
April 11, 2008
Midwest Generation, the power company that offered to sell 37 acres to Indian Prairie School District 204 to build a third high school on Eola Road in Aurora, is backing out of the deal.
The surprise announcement Thursday, which came after weeks of controversy over whether the land was safe for students, left district officials reeling. They had hoped to close on the property soon and open Metea Valley High School in fall 2009.
"We absolutely need a third high school," Supt. Stephen Daeschner said. "We're going to have to evaluate all of our options again."
Daeschner said he will meet with the school board Monday to discuss what to do next.
The public outcry over use of the site of a former power plant as a school has led to "misleading and potentially harmful" publicity that threatens both the company's business interests and reputation, company officials wrote in a letter explaining their decision.
"We feel like we've been put in the middle," Midwest Generation spokesman Charley Parnell said.
In January, the school district settled on the Eola Road site after abandoning a years-long battle to buy 55 acres on the southwest corner of 75th Street and Illinois Highway 59, known as the Brach-Brodie site. The district tried to take that parcel by eminent domain but walked away from the site after a DuPage County jury determined it was worth $31 million—more than double what the district said the land was worth.
When the district changed course, a small but vocal group of residents formed in opposition to the Eola Road site, just south of Diehl Road in Aurora. The group, Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, filed suit in March, demanding that the district instead buy the Brach-Brodie site.
The district approached Midwest Generation in November, Parnell said. The company wasn't looking to sell, though it was shuttering the plant. In January, the school board announced its intent to buy 37 acres from Midwest Generation and another adjacent 50 acres from St. John's AME Church for $16.5 million.
Since then, the opposition group has blasted the district for considering using the parcel, arguing that the site is dangerous. Environmental reports released this week showed that five of 90 soil samples taken where the power plant stood were contaminated—four with diesel fuel and one with PCB—and could be harmful if ingested. The portion of the site where contaminants were found would have been cleaned and used for storage and storm water retention, district officials said.
But Parnell said that unless the community can show a consensus for the site, the company isn't interested in selling to the district.
With strong sentiments by residents on both sides of the issue, Daeschner said he doesn't know how he can rally the entire community around one site. For all the public opposition to the land, he said, he also has gotten hundreds of positive comments from residents who support the Eola Road site.
Shawn Collins, attorney for the opposition group, said he was relieved that the company backed out. The district should now buy the Brach-Brodie site, and if it needs more money to meet the asking price, it should go back to the voters, he said.
aaguilar@tribune.com
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
