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Post by sushi on Apr 13, 2008 7:27:32 GMT -6
Church may bring hope to D204 deal
Would consider selling district full 84 acres
April 13, 2008
By MIKE MITCHELL mmitchell@scn1.com
Even with the news Friday that could give new life to District 204's plans for building a third high school along Eola Road this week, critics of the site said the district should nevertheless abandon the location along Eola Road.
One day after Midwest Generation said it would not sell 37 acres of the property to the district, officials of the St. John AME Church said Friday they might be willing to sell all 84 acres they own east of Eola and south of Diehl Road to the district, according to published reports.
If a sale does happen, District 204 would have the land it says it needs for the construction of the new Metea Valley High School, without using any of the 37 acres owned by the power company.
But Jasmine Grassi, leader for Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, which filed a lawsuit demanding that the district build Metea on the Brach-Brodie property, said in a written statement Saturday that the land the church owns borders the power plant and is still a safety concern.
"How could the school board even consider another site until they resolve this situation with Brach-Brodie?" Grassi said. "The environmental issues haven't gone away, you know. ... This presents the same environmental concerns as the previous plans."
School officials were not available Saturday to comment on the offer.
In 2005 and 2006, the district attempted to buy the church's acreage, but was turned down on both occasions. This year, however, the house of worship opted to sell the district about 49 of its 84 acres and the district could have combined that acreage with the remaining 37 acres from Midwest.
But the Midwest deal fell through, and the church has decided it may sell all of its 84 acres, according to published reports.
No word has been given when or if the school board would meet with church officials.
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 13, 2008 8:05:07 GMT -6
Church may bring hope to D204 deal Would consider selling district full 84 acres April 13, 2008 By MIKE MITCHELL mmitchell@scn1.com Even with the news Friday that could give new life to District 204's plans for building a third high school along Eola Road this week, critics of the site said the district should nevertheless abandon the location along Eola Road. One day after Midwest Generation said it would not sell 37 acres of the property to the district, officials of the St. John AME Church said Friday they might be willing to sell all 84 acres they own east of Eola and south of Diehl Road to the district, according to published reports.If a sale does happen, District 204 would have the land it says it needs for the construction of the new Metea Valley High School, without using any of the 37 acres owned by the power company. But Jasmine Grassi, leader for Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, which filed a lawsuit demanding that the district build Metea on the Brach-Brodie property, said in a written statement Saturday that the land the church owns borders the power plant and is still a safety concern. "How could the school board even consider another site until they resolve this situation with Brach-Brodie?" Grassi said. "The environmental issues haven't gone away, you know. ... This presents the same environmental concerns as the previous plans." School officials were not available Saturday to comment on the offer.[/font]In 2005 and 2006, the district attempted to buy the church's acreage, but was turned down on both occasions. This year, however, the house of worship opted to sell the district about 49 of its 84 acres and the district could have combined that acreage with the remaining 37 acres from Midwest. But the Midwest deal fell through, and the church has decided it may sell all of its 84 acres, according to published reports.[/font]No word has been given when or if the school board would meet with church officials. [/quote] Bummer to not have a Saturday edition to your newspaper, huh? Guess if the school officials aren't speaking when you need to write an article, then that means get out and interview your star community spokesmen for some more school board and subdivision bashing. |
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Post by JB on Apr 13, 2008 10:41:29 GMT -6
Sorry Sleepless, I missed the subdivision bashing in this article - where is it? Church may bring hope to D204 deal Would consider selling district full 84 acres April 13, 2008 By MIKE MITCHELL mmitchell@scn1.com Even with the news Friday that could give new life to District 204's plans for building a third high school along Eola Road this week, critics of the site said the district should nevertheless abandon the location along Eola Road. One day after Midwest Generation said it would not sell 37 acres of the property to the district, officials of the St. John AME Church said Friday they might be willing to sell all 84 acres they own east of Eola and south of Diehl Road to the district, according to published reports.If a sale does happen, District 204 would have the land it says it needs for the construction of the new Metea Valley High School, without using any of the 37 acres owned by the power company. But Jasmine Grassi, leader for Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, which filed a lawsuit demanding that the district build Metea on the Brach-Brodie property, said in a written statement Saturday that the land the church owns borders the power plant and is still a safety concern. "How could the school board even consider another site until they resolve this situation with Brach-Brodie?" Grassi said. "The environmental issues haven't gone away, you know. ... This presents the same environmental concerns as the previous plans." School officials were not available Saturday to comment on the offer.[/font]In 2005 and 2006, the district attempted to buy the church's acreage, but was turned down on both occasions. This year, however, the house of worship opted to sell the district about 49 of its 84 acres and the district could have combined that acreage with the remaining 37 acres from Midwest. But the Midwest deal fell through, and the church has decided it may sell all of its 84 acres, according to published reports.[/font]No word has been given when or if the school board would meet with church officials. [/quote] Bummer to not have a Saturday edition to your newspaper, huh? Guess if the school officials aren't speaking when you need to write an article, then that means get out and interview your star community spokesmen for some more school board and subdivision bashing.[/quote] |
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 13, 2008 12:02:52 GMT -6
Sorry Sleepless, I missed the subdivision bashing in this article - where is it? You're right. It is the other article in today's Sun where Jennifer bashes the elitist subdivisions again. Got to fill up those newspaper pages with lots of nice juicy stuff so people can go to their website and vote on their ridiculous polls. |
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Post by WeBe204 on Apr 13, 2008 12:09:04 GMT -6
Okay, I need to rewind for a second...
The guy who said this has been proven to not really have the position mentioned or is it he does not exist. This was mentioend earlier by DrDave. The DH has been asked to make a correction. The Sun article quotes no one. So errr do we really have a clue what the church really thinks?? Am I missing something....
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Post by macy on Apr 13, 2008 12:11:12 GMT -6
It is my understanding that the statement was made. The name is incorrect.
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Post by WeBe204 on Apr 13, 2008 12:15:30 GMT -6
It is my understanding that the statement was made. The name is incorrect. Ah, got it.. Thanks. |
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Post by entitled on Apr 13, 2008 12:17:33 GMT -6
Out of curiosity, is there any scenario where a Northern site would be workable? If the price is right, I think the SD is going for it. Fire, then aim is just their style.
How could this work for our community?
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Post by Arch on Apr 13, 2008 12:26:08 GMT -6
Out of curiosity, is there any scenario where a Northern site would be workable? If the price is right, I think the SD is going for it. Fire, then aim is just their style. How could this work for our community? It will go against the #1 reason they said they could not go with BB.. PRICE. The total cost will be MORE than BB. You have to take into consideration any and all costs to defend and pay settlements for the lawsuits into the price for any place else other than BB because w/ BB, they all go away. |
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Post by entitled on Apr 13, 2008 12:39:13 GMT -6
I didn't say it would make sense, I gave up on this SB making sense a long time ago. I just don't have any confidence that they won't push this through for the sake of saving face. Nevermind saving money.
If that is the case - How do we move forward? Could a grass-roots effort help heal the divisions? Eventually, people are going to run out of insults and children will need classrooms.
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Post by Arch on Apr 13, 2008 12:41:57 GMT -6
I didn't say it would make sense, I gave up on this SB making sense a long time ago. I just don't have any confidence that they won't push this through for the sake of saving face. Nevermind saving money. If that is the case - How do we move forward? Could a grass-roots effort help heal the divisions? Eventually, people are going to run out of insults and children will need classrooms. We'll all bleed the same green when BB eventually gets done with us. We will have that in common, even those without any kids in the system. |
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Post by d204mom on Apr 13, 2008 13:14:38 GMT -6
After sleeping on this news, I am still wondering why the Church chose Friday to make their first public comment on the situation.
I think they are all good people but I certainly hope they are not desperate to sell for some reason - either they have already spent the money or they know something is wrong with the site - even worse than we already know.
Rumor a while back was that many members were happy to dump the worst part of the property off to the district. As one fine alderman pointed out, our kids were supposed to provide a "buffer" between the contamination/EMFs/and Industrial sites and the nice homeowners. No more "buffer" if our kids aren't there.
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Post by d204mom on Apr 13, 2008 13:18:49 GMT -6
I didn't say it would make sense, I gave up on this SB making sense a long time ago. I just don't have any confidence that they won't push this through for the sake of saving face. Nevermind saving money. If that is the case - How do we move forward? Could a grass-roots effort help heal the divisions? Eventually, people are going to run out of insults and children will need classrooms. I think if the school does end up being built there, they need to re-do boundaries to even out the commute times. That can start the healing process. As it stands now, either you were "saved" (McCarty, Steck, Welch, Owen E, Gombert W) or you were screwed (Pet, Fry, Watts, Cow, Owen W, Gombert E). No middle ground. How about everybody feels a little saved and a little pain? Then everyone would be able to see this from the others' viewpoint. |
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Post by d204mom on Apr 13, 2008 13:24:41 GMT -6
I didn't say it would make sense, I gave up on this SB making sense a long time ago. I just don't have any confidence that they won't push this through for the sake of saving face. Nevermind saving money. If that is the case - How do we move forward? Could a grass-roots effort help heal the divisions? Eventually, people are going to run out of insults and children will need classrooms. We'll all bleed the same green when BB eventually gets done with us. We will have that in common, even those without any kids in the system. I think it's ridiculous that the board members and admin REFUSE to plan for a worse case or even a moderate outcome? If I know anything about lawsuits, it's that there is rarely a clear "winner" and "loser." Everything is shades of gray. ALL PLANS leading up to now and going forward are based on a BEST CASE outcome. I don't think there is any chance that every single lawsuit currently pending will have a BEST CASE outcome for the district. And we are still waiting for the Brach shoe to drop on damages and legal fees! |
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Post by rural on Apr 13, 2008 14:00:47 GMT -6
I think it's ridiculous that the board members and admin REFUSE to plan for a worse case or even a moderate outcome? If I know anything about lawsuits, it's that there is rarely a clear "winner" and "loser." Everything is shades of gray. ALL PLANS leading up to now and going forward are based on a BEST CASE outcome. I don't think there is any chance that every single lawsuit currently pending will have a BEST CASE outcome for the district. And we are still waiting for the Brach shoe to drop on damages and legal fees! Arch, I think you'll be able to appreciate today's Dilbert: www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert2008041261963.jpgI know it's too close to home to actually be funny. |
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