LA GRANGE, IL – For the time being, the Lyons Township High School board is stopping its effort to sell the school’s land in Willow Springs.
But one board member on Tuesday advised his colleagues to keep the focus on the property. He said the school needs the proceeds from a sale because it lacks the money to complete construction projects.
Last month, the school board received the bad news that the bids for its projects were much higher than expected.
At Tuesday’s board meeting, board members said they wanted to halt the conversations about the 70 acres of wooded land until they have a full board. Earlier in the day, board President Dawn Aubert abruptly resigned, saying she was moving out of state.
Board members Kari Dillon and Jill Beda Daniels said the board was “in flux” and needed to focus on the issues before it, namely the planned construction projects.
“We have a lot going on where we’re at with all the new things happening,” said Daniels, who was connected by phone to the meeting.
Member Tim Albores said the board had no urgency to take action on the Willow Springs property.
But member Michael Thomas disagreed. He said there was urgency because the board lacked the money to complete projects.
Superintendent Brian Waterman seemed to agree, saying the school’s architect wants to have conversations on the coming projects in the next couple of months.
Jill Grech, who became board president upon Aubert’s departure, said she wanted certainty with the Willow Springs land. Member Elvia Nava was the only member who did not weigh in.
Grech and the others concluded that they should wait until they appoint a new member. The deadline for applications is April 19.
Early last year, residents in Willow Springs and nearby towns became upset when word leaked that the school was trying to sell to an industrial user, although zoning bars such uses. The land is next to houses and Pleasantdale Elementary School.
Willow Springs resident Fred Whiting told the board Tuesday that it should apologize for trying to turn the land into “an industrial dumping ground.”
“It was one of the most disrespectful things you could do to a feeder (school) district. And you sit there as if nothing happened and time will dissolve it. It won’t,” Whiting said.
In previous meetings, board members said it was important to get an appraisal on the land for allowed uses, which are mainly residential.
The school received the document last month, but denied Patch’s request to see it.
“The whole community has anticipated the results of the appraisal, and for some reason, it’s being stonewalled to provide that to the community,” Whiting said.
Under its policy, the board does not respond to public comments.
Through much of 2022, school officials privately courted developer Bridge Industrial. Closed session recordings showed the school board purposely kept other public bodies such as the village of Willow Springs and Pleasantdale School District 107 out of the loop.
Just weeks before last April’s election, the board abandoned its effort to sell to an industrial developer. It later ousted its attorney involved in the process.
Last May, the attorney general’s office found the board broke state law by holding most of its discussions of the land sale behind closed doors. That resulted in the release of recordings from two January 2023 closed sessions.
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