District 204 backs out of Brach-Brodie deal

[soon2bwvhs]

District 204 backs out of Brach-Brodie deal
Board files court motion in hopes of lower parcel cost

October 26, 2007
By BRITT CARSON Staff writer
As long as the land for Metea Valley High School costs $518,250 an acre, Indian Prairie School District 204 is not interested.

Mark Metzger, school board president, announced Thursday that the district cannot afford to pay nearly $31 million for the land if they intend to build the type of third high school they promised taxpayers in 2006.

WHAT'S NEXT
Brach-Brodie attorneys will have an opportunity to respond to the district's post-trial motion. Then the judge will likely schedule a hearing on the motion. In the meantime, the district will pursue the other three potential sites for Metea Valley High School.

Instead they filed a post-trial motion Thursday in DuPage County asking for a new trial in the condemnation case.

"The board has explored what options exist to build Metea Valley at the Brach-Brodie site and given the growth in material costs and anticipated labor cost increases, the only options for the building on Brach-Brodie within available proceeds involve substantial reductions in the building such as eliminating the pool or athletic facilities," Metzger said. "We believe the community expects Metea to be a full featured facility making those options unacceptable.

"We have therefore concluded we cannot and will not buy the 55 acres for the jury's price," Metzger said Thursday following a special board meeting.

The board met for two hours in executive session. The board had to make a decision by today on whether to buy the land, so the motion was filed Thursday. Metzger said he expects another meeting to be scheduled for sometime next week, but does not expect any final action to be taken.

Metzger said the post-trial motion is based on several things, including evidence the judge let into trial, witnesses and instructions given to the jury. The Brach-Brodie attorneys will have time to respond to the motion and Metzger said it could be several months before it is all sorted out.

During that time, the jury's price of $518,250 an acre still stands, however Metzger reiterated, the board will not take it.

He said even with an extra $17 million to $20 million in funding the district could not build a comparable high school on the Brach-Brodie site along 75th Street and the future extension of Commons Drive in Aurora.

In the meantime, the district is pursuing three other potential sites for the school. Metzger said although they now don't plan to break ground this fall, the fall 2009 opening is not out of the question.

"A 2009 opening is certainly not completely out of the question yet," Metzger said. "In certain scenarios where we will have to pay possibly substantial additional funds, it is still possible."

Although Metzger said Brach-Brodie was one of the four sites the board was considering, he would not say what the other three sites are, but that they are continuing discussions with landowners.

"Our staff looked into what possibilities we had and what happens if we purchased 55 acres on Brach-Brodie to have the building come within available proceeds," Metzger said. "To make that number happen was much, much, much bigger than any of us anticipated."

Although changing sites is an option for the district, the boundaries for the new high school were created around the Brach-Brodie site. A new site would likely mean some changes to those boundaries.

The architectural firm the district hired also designed plans for that site and preliminary plans are ready to be submitted to the city of Aurora if the land is purchased.

Contact Britt Carson at [e-mail] or 630-416-5269.



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[soon2bwvhs]

What is Next!

M2 is an attorney. We all saw the BB attorney's filed motion after motion and the actual trail date got pushed back and back; what makes the SB think that a motion for a new trail won't take longer than a few months? I was a supporter of BB, but if you can't afford it at what point do you walk and find another alternative!

[slp]

I think this buys the SB time to sort out the other options without completely eliminating BB as an option as well.

30 days was an awfully short amount to time to make a very large and very important decision. This gives them a little more time. So long as it doesn't take more than a few months.....the waiting continues. That is the frustrating part, but in the end I am hopeful that it will have all been worth it.

[wvhsparent]

Now SB........Get your Arses in gear and get the alternate site purchased.
If you had done your homework before, it would be over by now.

STOP the madness that is/was BB!!!!!!

Sorry.....I do feel bad for those of you who have kids caught up in the middle of this.

Let's keep on the SB to get it right and get moving on what should have been done already.

[warriorpride]

slp said:

I think this buys the SB time to sort out the other options without completely eliminating BB as an option as well.

30 days was an awfully short amount to time to make a very large and very important decision. This gives them a little more time. So long as it doesn't take more than a few months.....the waiting continues. That is the frustrating part, but in the end I am hopeful that it will have all been worth it.

Time is exactly what the SB has very little of

[chicoryowl]

warriorpride said:

slp said:

I think this buys the SB time to sort out the other options without completely eliminating BB as an option as well.

30 days was an awfully short amount to time to make a very large and very important decision. This gives them a little more time. So long as it doesn't take more than a few months.....the waiting continues. That is the frustrating part, but in the end I am hopeful that it will have all been worth it.

Time is exactly what the SB has very little of

They don't have unlimited time, but they don't have unlimited funds. This action preserves their options. They can continue negotiating with the other parcel owners while this is playing out in the courts. And the door still remains open on BB.

[doctorwho]

slp said:

I think this buys the SB time to sort out the other options without completely eliminating BB as an option as well.

30 days was an awfully short amount to time to make a very large and very important decision. This gives them a little more time. So long as it doesn't take more than a few months.....the waiting continues. That is the frustrating part, but in the end I am hopeful that it will have all been worth it.

That is exactly correct on what it does -- also it lets BB know the land will not be purchased at the jury amount. The way I view it , it is a chance for them to negotiate if they like. If they believe they can get that money for that land, with the housing market the way it is today - then they will not negotiate. It's their move, the SB is moving on otherwise it appears.
Shows me the right due diligence is being done to all sites, and all monies being considered. My guess ( and purely speculation ) is that there is a price at which BB works - we'll see if it can get there. If not - the site will move. For all screaming about how his would never be done, it was all a ploy, looks like that was an incorrect statement.

[casey]

chicoryowl said:

They don't have unlimited time, but they don't have unlimited funds. This action preserves their options. They can continue negotiating with the other parcel owners while this is playing out in the courts. And the door still remains open on BB.

To me I feel that the door to BB should be slammed shut! Quit saying the door remains open. A new trial (with delays, delays, delays and more legal costs) isn't going to bring a better price. Stop and move on.

IMHO, I think the SB must feel fairly confident in another site selection or they wouldn't have let BB go. They wanted BB but it became increasingly apparent that it wouldn't work. They would never have backed down unless they finally had a Plan B. Again, I don't think there was ever a Plan B until after the jury verdict.

What a mess! And at what point will they just come flat out and say 2010 is the new anticipated date?

[macy]

there is also the possibility of an even higher price if there is another trial.

That has to be considered. I had heard BB attorneys were disappointed with the verdict.

[doctorwho]

casey said:

chicoryowl said:

They don't have unlimited time, but they don't have unlimited funds. This action preserves their options. They can continue negotiating with the other parcel owners while this is playing out in the courts. And the door still remains open on BB.

To me I feel that the door to BB should be slammed shut! Quit saying the door remains open. A new trial (with delays, delays, delays and more legal costs) isn't going to bring a better price. Stop and move on.

IMHO, I think the SB must feel fairly confident in another site selection or they wouldn't have let BB go. They wanted BB but it became increasingly apparent that it wouldn't work. They would never have backed down unless they finally had a Plan B. Again, I don't think there was ever a Plan B until after the jury verdict.

What a mess! And at what point will they just come flat out and say 2010 is the new anticipated date?

I'm glad people who work for me don't negotiate contracts with that attitude. Sure take any hope of BB off the table so the next person you negotitate with feels they are in the drivers seat completely, just like BB. Good Strategy.

They will likely say 2010 is the date when that truly is the only option - not to appease anyone else.
Today it also is not off the table - but the clock is ticking.

Anything but BB ? -- one should always be careful what they ask for.

[wvhsparent]

warriorpride said:

slp said:

I think this buys the SB time to sort out the other options without completely eliminating BB as an option as well.

30 days was an awfully short amount to time to make a very large and very important decision. This gives them a little more time. So long as it doesn't take more than a few months.....the waiting continues. That is the frustrating part, but in the end I am hopeful that it will have all been worth it.

Time is exactly what the SB has very little of

Agreed, however I am reminded of an old saying-----

"Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part"

However in this instance it has become an emergency on everyone's part.
Maybe an emergency session should be called and the SB members cannot leave until they have a workable solution within the allotted funds approved by the ref.

[doctorwho]

macy said:

there is also the possibility of an even higher price if there is another trial.

That has to be considered. I had heard BB attorneys were disappointed with the verdict.

Of course you're making the assumption another trial is what they really want.

[chicoryowl]

casey said:

chicoryowl said:

They don't have unlimited time, but they don't have unlimited funds. This action preserves their options. They can continue negotiating with the other parcel owners while this is playing out in the courts. And the door still remains open on BB.

To me I feel that the door to BB should be slammed shut! Quit saying the door remains open. A new trial (with delays, delays, delays and more legal costs) isn't going to bring a better price. Stop and move on.

IMHO, I think the SB must feel fairly confident in another site selection or they wouldn't have let BB go. They wanted BB but it became increasingly apparent that it wouldn't work. They would never have backed down unless they finally had a Plan B. Again, I don't think there was ever a Plan B until after the jury verdict.

What a mess! And at what point will they just come flat out and say 2010 is the new anticipated date?

I'm sensing you don't think BB is a good place to build the HS. (Yes. That is sarcasm.)

As we know from recent experience, juries can be unpredictable. Going back could always yield a better price, just as it could yield an even higher price. But that uncertainty could cause BB to want to negotiate. And there's no point in taking an option off of the table. It may be a real option or it may be leverage with another parcel. That's the great thing about negotiation, you never have all the information you need.

[macy]

I'm not assuming anything. It's a delay tactic in my opinion.

Do I really think they want another trial? No. That would be a huge mistake, in my opinion.

I'm not as confident that it's a negotiation tactic. I don't see the BB attorneys sitting down and negotiating a better price at this stage. That is unfortunate, but it might be the reality.

[doctorwho]

macy said:

I'm not assuming anything. It's a delay tactic in my opinion.

Do I really think they want another trial? No. That would be a huge mistake, in my opinion.

I'm not as confident that it's a negotiation tactic. I don't see the BB attorneys sitting down and negotiating a better price at this stage. That is unfortunate, but it might be the reality.

But that will be BB attorney option now - I also doubt the SD will go back to them -- but you have to leave them on the table while negotiating other deals - that's just good business. Never play all your cards.