Post by sushi on Mar 19, 2008 5:07:19 GMT -6
D204 counters group's claim on Metea's cost
Says it could save $17M with Eola site
March 19, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Indian Prairie School District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner is bothered by the circulation of "misinformation" regarding the district's decision to build Metea Valley High School on 87 acres at Eola and Molitor roads, instead of on the 80-acre Brach-Brodie site.
"I'm very frustrated by some of that stuff," he said. "I'm kind of amazed at it, in all honesty.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Stephen Daeschner gives a presentation at a recent District 204 meeting. The superintendent says he's aggravated over an ad that appeared in the Naperville Sun.
(Sun file photo)
COMPARING PRICES
This table indicates what District 204 officials believe it would cost to build Metea Valley High School on the Brach-Brodie property it originally picked, compared to the Eola-Molitor site it is now pursuing.
Brach-Brodie Eola-Molitor Land Costs $31,003,750 $16,547,500
22-acre parcel $6,437,500 $0
Lawsuit Costs $0 $3,000,000
Lawsuit Damages $0 $0
Wetland Mitigation $50,000 $900,000
Expediting Costs $5,250,000 $5,250,000
TOTAL $42,741,250 $25,697,500
Difference $17,043,750
Tuesday's issue of The Sun contained a "good example" of this aggravation, he said. A full-page advertisement paid for by Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, which has filed a lawsuit against District 204 demanding that Metea be built on the Brach-Brodie property - is found on Page 39 of Tuesday's edition. The ad calculates the costs associated with each site. It concludes that building the school on the Eola site will end up costing $16.7 million more than it would to build on the Brach-Brodie property.
Daeschner and other District 204 officials reacted Tuesday by sharing with The Sun their own calculations, which indicate Eola is a cheaper by roughly $17 million.
The math
The jury ruled in District 204's condemnation suit that the 55 acres of Brach-Brodie property would cost $31 million - roughly twice what the district expected. So it set out to explore cheaper options, and settled on the Eola-Molitor location, which it believes will cost about $16.5 million.
NSFOC's ad got those numbers right, said David Holm, District 204's assistant superintendent of business. The ad also stated the district's court costs associated with the abandoned Brach-Brodie condemnation lawsuit will total $3 million. Holm said that number is not yet determined but agreed with the estimate.
But from there down, "it's a whole different ballgame," he said.
In its advertisement, NSFOC estimates the district will have to pay $17 million in damages to the Brach-Brodie trust because it abandoned the condemnation suit. Lawyers for both sides of the dispute said Tuesday there's no precedent for a ruling in favor the trust's claimed damages. So a court will have to determine what, if anything, District 204 owes in the way of damages.
"We, at this point, believe there are no damages in relationship to walking away," Holm said.
The advertisement also states it will cost the district $10 million to speed up construction of Metea at the Eola site so that the school can still open to freshmen and sophomores in the fall of 2009. The district estimates those costs will come in at around $5.25 million, and "the kicker" is that those costs also would be associated with the Brach-Brodie property, Holm said.
"So we think it is a wash," Holm said of the overtime and added shifts contractors will need to work to have the school ready in time.
What isn't a wash is the $6.4 million District 204 already spent to purchase 25 of the 80 acres of Brach-Brodie property originally selected as the site of Metea. If the district moves forward at Eola, it can sell that property to offset costs associated with the Eola land purchase, Holm said.
The totals
According to the district's numbers, building at Brach-Brodie would cost $42.7 million, where as the expenses at Eola would total $25.7 million. The district maintains that building at Eola would cost $17 million less than building at Brach-Brodie.
"They're painting this as if we haven't done due diligence, as if the site's unsafe. All of those kinds of things are not true," Daeschner said. "We've gone very deliberate, and we've relied on the experts."
Shawn Collins, NSFOC's attorney, could not be reached for comment on District 204's reactions.
Todd Andrews, who has at times acted as NSFOC's spokesman, said he had "absolutely nothing to do with putting the ad together."
Says it could save $17M with Eola site
March 19, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Indian Prairie School District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner is bothered by the circulation of "misinformation" regarding the district's decision to build Metea Valley High School on 87 acres at Eola and Molitor roads, instead of on the 80-acre Brach-Brodie site.
"I'm very frustrated by some of that stuff," he said. "I'm kind of amazed at it, in all honesty.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Stephen Daeschner gives a presentation at a recent District 204 meeting. The superintendent says he's aggravated over an ad that appeared in the Naperville Sun.
(Sun file photo)
COMPARING PRICES
This table indicates what District 204 officials believe it would cost to build Metea Valley High School on the Brach-Brodie property it originally picked, compared to the Eola-Molitor site it is now pursuing.
Brach-Brodie Eola-Molitor Land Costs $31,003,750 $16,547,500
22-acre parcel $6,437,500 $0
Lawsuit Costs $0 $3,000,000
Lawsuit Damages $0 $0
Wetland Mitigation $50,000 $900,000
Expediting Costs $5,250,000 $5,250,000
TOTAL $42,741,250 $25,697,500
Difference $17,043,750
Tuesday's issue of The Sun contained a "good example" of this aggravation, he said. A full-page advertisement paid for by Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, which has filed a lawsuit against District 204 demanding that Metea be built on the Brach-Brodie property - is found on Page 39 of Tuesday's edition. The ad calculates the costs associated with each site. It concludes that building the school on the Eola site will end up costing $16.7 million more than it would to build on the Brach-Brodie property.
Daeschner and other District 204 officials reacted Tuesday by sharing with The Sun their own calculations, which indicate Eola is a cheaper by roughly $17 million.
The math
The jury ruled in District 204's condemnation suit that the 55 acres of Brach-Brodie property would cost $31 million - roughly twice what the district expected. So it set out to explore cheaper options, and settled on the Eola-Molitor location, which it believes will cost about $16.5 million.
NSFOC's ad got those numbers right, said David Holm, District 204's assistant superintendent of business. The ad also stated the district's court costs associated with the abandoned Brach-Brodie condemnation lawsuit will total $3 million. Holm said that number is not yet determined but agreed with the estimate.
But from there down, "it's a whole different ballgame," he said.
In its advertisement, NSFOC estimates the district will have to pay $17 million in damages to the Brach-Brodie trust because it abandoned the condemnation suit. Lawyers for both sides of the dispute said Tuesday there's no precedent for a ruling in favor the trust's claimed damages. So a court will have to determine what, if anything, District 204 owes in the way of damages.
"We, at this point, believe there are no damages in relationship to walking away," Holm said.
The advertisement also states it will cost the district $10 million to speed up construction of Metea at the Eola site so that the school can still open to freshmen and sophomores in the fall of 2009. The district estimates those costs will come in at around $5.25 million, and "the kicker" is that those costs also would be associated with the Brach-Brodie property, Holm said.
"So we think it is a wash," Holm said of the overtime and added shifts contractors will need to work to have the school ready in time.
What isn't a wash is the $6.4 million District 204 already spent to purchase 25 of the 80 acres of Brach-Brodie property originally selected as the site of Metea. If the district moves forward at Eola, it can sell that property to offset costs associated with the Eola land purchase, Holm said.
The totals
According to the district's numbers, building at Brach-Brodie would cost $42.7 million, where as the expenses at Eola would total $25.7 million. The district maintains that building at Eola would cost $17 million less than building at Brach-Brodie.
"They're painting this as if we haven't done due diligence, as if the site's unsafe. All of those kinds of things are not true," Daeschner said. "We've gone very deliberate, and we've relied on the experts."
Shawn Collins, NSFOC's attorney, could not be reached for comment on District 204's reactions.
Todd Andrews, who has at times acted as NSFOC's spokesman, said he had "absolutely nothing to do with putting the ad together."
