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Post by wvhsparent on Jan 16, 2008 13:57:27 GMT -6
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-dist204_16jan16,1,7035284.story chicagotribune.com Aurora-Naperville school officials to end fight to buy Brach-Brodie land District 204 to end plan for Brach-Brodie land By Alexa Aguilar Tribune reporter January 16, 2008 After two years of fighting to buy the Brach-Brodie land for a third Aurora-Naperville area high school, Indian Prairie District 204 officials have decided to scrap that plan in favor of 86 acres on Eola Road in Aurora. The idea of using the Brach-Brodie site in Aurora took a hit in September when a DuPage County jury decided the school district must pay $31 million for the 55 acres on the southwest corner of 75th Street and Illinois Highway 59 -- more than double what the school district argued the land was worth. District officials announced Tuesday that they will recommend that the Brach-Brodie land and two other possible sites be scrapped in favor of the Eola Road site at next week's school board meeting. To build a third high school with all the amenities of the district's other two high schools -- Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley -- and to open it by August 2009, the district had to look elsewhere, Supt. Stephen Daeschner said Tuesday. "We've waited long enough," he said. School board members wanted to keep the project at $146 million, the amount approved by voters in a March 2006 referendum, plus interest, and to have the school open by 2009, he said. The Brach-Brodie site is owned jointly by the Helen Vorhees Brach trust and Hazel Brodie trust, both spinoffs of the original 1942 land purchase by members of the Brach candy family. In 2005, the board negotiated to buy 80 acres from the trust for $15 million, contingent on passage of a bond issue to build a new school, but voters rejected the idea. Later that spring, the district bought 25 acres for other uses for $6.4 million with the understanding that the trust would buy the land back at that price if the board could not acquire the 55 neighboring acres needed for a high school. Two years ago, the board condemned the 55 acres through eminent domain. The weeklong condemnation trial last fall included testimony from appraisers and experts about what they believed the site was worth in today's market. Daeschner said building on the Eola Road site would cost $13 million less. The savings includes selling back the 25 Brach-Brodie acres. Two other sites -- an 80-acre parcel outside District 204 boundaries near Wolf's Crossing and Heggs Roads, and an 85-acre site at 95th Street and 248th Avenue -- were ruled out because annexations and negotiations wouldn't be done before 2009, Daeschner said. In the months since the jury's decision, officials have been in "massive" negotiations about all three options, Daeschner said. The Eola Road site became available when a previously unwilling seller, St. John's AME Church, agreed to negotiate, and Midwest Generation, a power plant, closed. The land, in the northwest corner of the district, is on the east side of Eola Road and is bordered on the north by the Illinois Prairie Path. The asking price is an average of $191,000 an acre, or about $16.5 million. Charley Parnell, spokesman for Midwest Generation, said selling the land became an option after the plant was shut down. The turbines should be removed by the end of 2008, he said. The land will be remediated to make it safe for students, officials said, and the land where the generating plant stood will be open space surrounded by retention ponds, according to preliminary plans for the campus. If approved by the school board next week, most of the school can be completed by August 2009, Daeschner said. It's important to open by thenbecause current enrollment already calls for a third high school, he said. About 3,000 students will attend the school, to be named Metea Valley High, he said. ----------- aaguilar@tribune.com
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Post by wvhsparent on Jan 16, 2008 14:02:38 GMT -6
Dist. 204 chooses new Metea site
Site along Eola Road will cost district about $16.5 million
By Amy Boerema | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 1/16/2008 12:16 AM
An 87-acre parcel along Eola Road south of Diehl Road should be the new site for Metea Valley High School, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 administrators said Tuesday.
The northern Aurora site will cost about $16.5 million and is owned by St. John AME Church and Midwest Generation, an independent power producer, officials said.
Administrators said they will take their proposal to the school board in a special meeting at 6 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Crouse Education Center, 780 Shoreline Drive in Aurora. There will be time for public comment.
It's been a frenzied few months for district officials, who previously identified the Brach-Brodie property at 75th Street and Commons Drive in Aurora as the best site for their third high school.
The district, which covers parts of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield, already owns 25 acres at that location and wanted to buy an additional 55 to create an 80-acre campus.
But the landowners and school leaders were unable to agree on a price and the district pursued condemnation. A jury decided the site was worth $31 million -- $17 million more than the district planned.
School officials said they couldn't afford the new price and began looking at three other sites, including the Eola Road land.
"I'm glad the public can now see the product of some of the work we've been doing for the last several months," board President Mark Metzger said. "We're certainly pleased our objectives are achievable (with this plan)."
Officials also looked at an 80-acre, $14 million parcel in southeast Aurora called Hamman Farms. It lies just outside the district's southwestern boundaries.
But leaders decided annexing it into the district would be too lengthy and uncertain a process.
"It's a nice site," Superintendent Stephen Daeschner said, "but we couldn't have gotten it fast enough to build in '09."
They also considered an 86-acre parcel for roughly $17.9 million along 248th Avenue in southwest Naperville. But it's too close to Neuqua Valley and negotiating with the Macom site's multiple landowners would be a long, complicated process, leaders say.
That left the Eola land, of which 49 acres belongs to the church and 37 to Midwest Generation.
The district considered the site in 2004, but church leaders had no interest in selling then, and the Midwest Generation land wasn't for sale.
It took a little luck and some "massive negotiations" to get to where officials are today, Daeschner said.
"(The district) reached out to us several months ago," said Charley Parnell, spokesman for Midwest Generation. "Before that, we had not given a lot of thought to selling. But we managed to strike a deal and we wish them well."
The Eola plant, which produced power when demand was at its peak, last operated in early 2007.
School leaders say there are no safety concerns with the site. The firm is working toward meeting specific environmental standards, and consultants have determined the school is far enough away from power lines, leaders say.
If the board approves the purchase of the Eola site, construction on the school could begin this spring.
"We'll be very proud to have another 204 high school (in Aurora)," Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner said. "We'll work very closely with them on their construction plans to make sure they meet their schedule."
Officials hope the bulk of the building will be done by August 2009, with extras like the pool and auditorium to be completed later. Freshmen and sophomores will move in first.
Waubonsie Valley's freshmen building would be converted in August 2009 into a middle school.
The site will require new high school boundaries. It took the district months of public hearings and debate to reset the boundaries in preparation for opening at the Brach-Brodie site.
Administrators say they're reviewing options and will recommend a plan in the next few weeks.
"We're not going to take anything seriously until the board OKs the land," Daeschner said. "But we'll be ready to react immediately after."
Leaders also must decide what to do with their 25 acres of Brach-Brodie land. Selling it back is an option.
Steve Helm, attorney for the Brodie trust, said the district has taken no formal action yet and it's premature to say it will abandon its rights to the other 55 acres.
But if officials do, they'll have to pay the landowners for attorney fees and litigation expenses that could be more than $4 million. The landowners also could seek other damages.
School leaders say the new site still is within budget. The total cost of the plan for land and a 3,000-student school will cost no more than $146.2 million, they say.
Administrators also said Tuesday they're leaning toward not asking voters for an operations tax increase in 2009, an idea that has been talked about for years.
District 204's quest
A look at Indian Prairie Unit District 204's pursuit of land for Metea Valley High School:
May 2005: District purchases 25 acres of Brach-Brodie property off Route 59 near 75th Street and Commons Drive in Aurora.
December 2005: District files condemnation suit to obtain the remaining 55 acres of the Brach-Brodie site it needs for 80-acre high school campus.
February 2006: Attorneys for Brach-Brodie file motion to dismiss case, saying district didn't bargain in good faith.
March 2006: Voters approve $124.7 million tax increase to pay for a 3,000-student high school to be built on Brach-Brodie property.
Nov. 15, 2006: Judge grants district permission to continue its quest for the land and denies the land trust's motion to dismiss.
Nov. 28 2006: State lawmakers refuse district's request for "quick-take" powers to obtain access to the land.
January 2007: State Rep. Joe Dunn again files a request that state lawmakers consider giving the district immediate access to the land.
January 2007: Paul Lehman, head of Macom Corp., suggests his property at 248th Avenue and 95th Street as a viable alternative to Brach-Brodie site.
Jan. 23, 2007: Judge grants the district access to the land for soil samples.
March 1, 2007: Judge sets Sept. 17 court date for jury to determine the land's cost.
March 29, 2007: Without a vote to spare, the Illinois House approves "quick-take" legislation for the district.
April 2007: A city of Naperville memo indicates it could take at least four to six months before Macom could complete all the work necessary to have its site ready for review by city council.
June 6, 2007: After Dunn's "quick-take" proposal stalls, state Sen. Randall Hultgren, a Winfield Republican, takes the reins in trying to get a similar proposal passed.
Aug. 6, 2007: School board President Mark Metzger accuses state Sen. Linda Holmes, new sponsor of the "quick-take" proposal, of delaying the legislation unless the district changes its high school boundaries for two subdivisions. Later in the day, under pressure from the district, a Holmes' spokesman says the senator plans to move the plan forward. The legislature, locked in an overtime session budget battle, never votes on the measure.
Sept. 17-Sept. 26, 2007: The condemnation trial includes testimony from experts as to the value of the land. School district: $250,000 an acre; Brodie trust: $540,000 an acre; Brach trust: $650,000 an acre.
Sept. 26, 2007: A jury unanimously sets the price of the 55 acres at $28.5 million plus an additional $2.5 million in damages. The cost is more than double what the district believed the property is worth.
October 2007: The district begins negotiations on four possible sites for Metea, which it does not disclose.
Oct. 25, 2007: The school board announces it cannot afford the Brach-Brodie property and asks the court for a new trial.
Nov. 19, 2007: The Brodie trust files a motion asking the courts to force the district to either buy its property or pay additional fees. It also makes a motion to dismiss the district's request for a new trial.
Jan. 8, 2008: A judge denies the district's request for a new trial.
Jan. 15, 2008: District administrators recommend building Metea on 87 acres off Eola Road just south of the Illinois Prairie Path. The parcel, owned by St. John AME Church and Midwest Generation, would cost $16.5 million.
Source: Daily Herald reports
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Post by d204mom on Jan 16, 2008 14:03:40 GMT -6
What the heck does this quote from the DH mean??
School leaders say there are no safety concerns with the site. The firm is working toward meeting specific environmental standards, and consultants have determined the school is far enough away from power lines, leaders say.
They are "working towards" meeting standards? I can't believe we don't have all the details and are supposed to believe that '09 is assured.
Here we go, here we go, here we go again (now) yeah here we go again...shoulda known shoulda known ....
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Post by Arch on Jan 16, 2008 14:10:43 GMT -6
What the heck does this quote from the DH mean?? School leaders say there are no safety concerns with the site. The firm is working toward meeting specific environmental standards, and consultants have determined the school is far enough away from power lines, leaders say. They are " working towards" meeting standards? I can't believe we don't have all the details and are supposed to believe that '09 is assured. Here we go, here we go, here we go again (now) yeah here we go again...shoulda known shoulda known .... Isn't it easier just to redefine those standards ? Instantly with the stroke of a pen.. no more 'problem'. |
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Post by wvhsparent on Jan 16, 2008 14:19:02 GMT -6
D204 picks Eola site for Metea Valley Land will cost half as much as Brach-Brodie January 16, 2008 By BRITT CARSON Staff writer District 204 says it will build Metea Valley High School on land off Eola Road and the Illinois Prairie Path. It also comes at half the price of the Brach-Brodie parcel. Indian Prairie School District 204 announced the site Tuesday on its Web site, www.ipsd.org. If approved by the school board during its Jan. 22 meeting, the district will purchase the 87 acres for $16.5 million. The land is owned by the St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church and Midwest Generation. » Click to enlarge image "The price was right and the location is nice," Superintendent Stephen Daeschner says of the site off Eola Road and the Illinois Prairie Path. (Kate Szrom/Staff photographer) RELATED STORIES• Blog: New boundaries coming? RELATED PDF• Location of proposed sites PROPOSED SITES Four sites considered for Metea Valley High School: 1. Brach-Brodie: 55 acres (school owns adjacent 25) Cost: $31 million Location: off 75th Street and future extension of Commons Drive, Aurora Open school: 2009 2. Hamman: 80 acres Cost: $14 million Location: Wolf's Crossing and EJ&E Railroad, Oswego Open school: 2010 3. Macom: 85 acres Cost: $17.9 million Location: Ashwood development, 248th Avenue and 95th Street, Naperville Open school: 2010 4. Eola Road: 87 acres Cost: $16.5 million Location: Eola and Molitor roads, off Illinois Prairie Path, Aurora Open school: 2009 A map of all four sites can be found at napersun.com. "The price was right and the location is nice," said Superintendent Stephen Daeschner. The 87 acres is a combination of 49 acres owned by the church and 37 acres owned by Midwest. Midwest Generation spokesman Charley Parnell said a peaker plant, a natural-gas powered plant that produces electricity, on the land was shut down a year ago, and the district has offered $5.5 million for the land. The Midwest Generation plant had been operating just south of Interstate 88 since 1970. It is a much smaller plant - and site - than the Reliant Energy peaker plant that opened on Eola Road north of the tollway in 2001. Midwest will be responsible for cleaning up the site and tearing down all the structures except the maintenance buildings, which the district plans to use. He said the site is not contaminated. "We've done ground borings and haven't found any problems with the site," Parnell said. The district approached the church in the past, but the church was not interested in selling, and the peaker plant was still operating. Daeschner said, although it wasn't an easy negotiation, they were happy to nail down a deal. "It took massive negotiations," Daeschner said. Representatives from the church did not return phone calls for comment Tuesday. Timeframe intact Kathy Birkett, deputy superintendent, said the 3,000-seat school is slated to open in fall 2009 with freshmen and sophomores. However, some items such as the pool, auditorium or stadium may not be completed until December 2009. "I think there is some happiness on the part of the board to be able to deliver the building in a specified timeframe and not sacrifice building elements to get there," said Mark Metzger, school board president. The district estimates the total cost of the project at $146 million. Of that, $124.6 million is from the referendum, and the rest is a combination of interest from bonds already issued and previously collected impact fees. David Holm, assistant superintendent of business, said the financial forecast is promising, so a 2009 referendum to cover the operating costs of Metea is not recommended. Brach-Brodie The future of the Brach-Brodie parcel remains in question. The district asked for a new condemnation trial earlier this month and was denied. It has 30 days to appeal that ruling to a higher court or abandon its claim to the property and face paying an estimated $5 million in attorney fees to the Brach-Brodie trust. However, because of a clause in a previous contract, the district could resell the 25 acres it owns back to the trust for $6.4 million, the price it paid in 2005. If the trust is not interested, the district could then sell the land on the open market. Daeschner said they are waiting to see what happens at the Jan. 22 meeting before deciding on the issue. New boundaries A new site means new boundaries. Daeschner said, once the board approves the site, he hopes to have a recommendation on new boundaries in the next several weeks. "We will make a recommendation on the boundaries, and the process is up to the board," he said. When Metea opens, the freshman center at Waubonsie Valley will be converted back into a middle school to accommodate the growing middle school population. The Beacon News contributed to this report. |
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Post by rew on Jan 16, 2008 14:23:58 GMT -6
What the heck does this quote from the DH mean?? School leaders say there are no safety concerns with the site. The firm is working toward meeting specific environmental standards, and consultants have determined the school is far enough away from power lines, leaders say. I searched EMFs and schools... some school boards have policies about avoiding power lines etc. One I read fully had a maximum of 2.0mG background at any site. I think AME ranged as high as 7.2mG according to the consultants. I guess this is an issue that each parent will have to look into and decide for themselves. |
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Post by gumby on Jan 16, 2008 14:36:56 GMT -6
What the heck does this quote from the DH mean?? School leaders say there are no safety concerns with the site. The firm is working toward meeting specific environmental standards, and consultants have determined the school is far enough away from power lines, leaders say. I searched EMFs and schools... some school boards have policies about avoiding power lines etc. One I read fully had a maximum of 2.0mG background at any site. I think AME ranged as high as 7.2mG according to the consultants. I guess this is an issue that each parent will have to look into and decide for themselves. Oh, that sounds nice. We'll have kids holding up flourescent bulbs in the fields watching them light up. |
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Post by wvhsparent on Jan 16, 2008 14:38:14 GMT -6
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Post by wvhsparent on Jan 16, 2008 14:42:47 GMT -6
I searched EMFs and schools... some school boards have policies about avoiding power lines etc. One I read fully had a maximum of 2.0mG background at any site. I think AME ranged as high as 7.2mG according to the consultants. I guess this is an issue that each parent will have to look into and decide for themselves. Oh, that sounds nice. We'll have kids holding up flourescent bulbs in the fields watching them light up. sure that 7.2 was right under the power lines. which are as far away as the ones near NVHS. At the building site itself the reading was 0.36...about 1/3 of the lowset typical home reading. BTW I used to have fun taking a flourescent tube under the power lines in my friends back yard in Lisle. |
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Post by rew on Jan 16, 2008 14:42:54 GMT -6
I will not state my opinion, I am not an EMF or emissions expert. But I would encourage anyone interested to internet search Midwest Generation and peaker plants.
FYI - A peaker plant is an electric generating plant that only produces electricity at "peak hours". Kind of a booster plant.
The one at Eola burns jet fuel to produce the electricity. There are emissions concerns with peaker plants, probably what the environmental remediation refers to.
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Post by gumby on Jan 16, 2008 14:45:40 GMT -6
Oh, that sounds nice. We'll have kids holding up flourescent bulbs in the fields watching them light up. sure that 7.2 was right under the power lines. which are as far away as the ones near NVHS. At the building site itself the reading was 0.36...about 1/3 of the lowset typical home reading. BTW I used to have fun taking a flourescent tube under the power lines in my friends back yard in Lisle. Funny. It's kind of creepy though. Did you kow that using inductive power is considered stealing from the electric company? I think there was a lawsuit along time ago where a person who was doing that ended up losing to the power company. Anyway, sorry about the OT. |
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Post by WeBe204 on Jan 16, 2008 14:47:46 GMT -6
Yes, I spend a fair amount of time getting eaten alive there  |
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Post by confused on Jan 16, 2008 14:53:25 GMT -6
"In the months since the jury's decision, officials have been in "massive" negotiations about all three options, Daeschner said. The Eola Road site became available when a previously unwilling seller, St. John's AME Church, agreed to negotiate, and Midwest Generation, a power plant, closed."
The only thing "massive" about the negotiations has been the disproportionate amount of time the district spent talking to the AME folks, compared with the amount of time spent with the owners of the other two sites. How convenient.
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Post by EagleDad on Jan 16, 2008 15:02:21 GMT -6
BTW I used to have fun taking a flourescent tube under the power lines in my friends back yard in Lisle. Ahh... that explains it ;D  ;D |
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Post by d204mom on Jan 16, 2008 15:56:49 GMT -6
Officials hope the bulk of the building will be done by August 2009, with extras like the pool and auditorium to be completed later. Freshmen and sophomores will move in first.
Back to our hoping plan. They sure are wishy washy about the 2009 date.
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;D