Lyons Township High May Sell Land To Elementary District

LA GRANGE, IL – This time, Lyons Township High School is keeping other public bodies in the loop, rather than out.

School board members said they are considering selling seven acres of the school's Willow Springs land to the local elementary school district.

The board is also mulling swapping land with the park district.

Officials said this was the result of discussions with officials from the two entities.

This is a far cry from 2022. Back then, the school board purposely kept its plan to sell the entire 70 acres to an industrial buyer secret from the other public bodies.

The land is next to an elementary school and houses. After word of the school's plan got out in January 2023, an outcry ensued. The board abandoned the idea a couple of months later.

At Monday's school board meeting, members said they wanted to look at swapping seven acres with the Pleasant Dale Park District.

The district said that it would make its wooded property more rectangular and thus more attractive to a developer.

The park district previously said it wanted land near its White Buffalo Park, which is next to Pleasantdale Elementary School.

Board members also said they would like to give the elementary district a chance to make an offer for another seven acres.

The elementary district has expressed an interest in building a preschool. Earlier this year, it was considering buying Burr Ridge Village Hall for the preschool, but decided against it.

Board President Tim Albores suggested setting a deadline of Aug. 30 for the school and park districts to come back with replies.

As for selling to the elementary district, Albores said, "If it gets us revenue and we can be a good steward to the community as well, that's a win-win."

The board later held a 22-minute closed meeting. Beforehand, members said they would discuss setting the price for the seven acres for the elementary district.

It was believed to be the first time the board had met behind closed doors about the Willow Springs property since early 2023.

The board met in closed sessions for 10 months in 2022 and early 2023 about the Willow Springs property.

Members were allowed to talk about setting the price behind closed doors, but state law required the rest of the discussions to be open.

It was later discovered that the board repeatedly violated the law. Under pressure from the attorney general, the board released the recordings, which showed members trying to keep their plan secret from the public as long as possible.

In early 2023, the board heard many residents at meetings opposed to selling the land for industrial development, which local zoning banned.

One of the board's supporters back then was resident Nancy Bramson of Brookfield, who praised members' "transparency" about the issue.

On Monday, she was the only person to speak during the public comment period.

Bramson asked the board to consider holding onto the property and rethink the timeline for setting the price.

She spoke before the board's discussion. At that point, it was unclear whether the board was setting the price for the entire 70 acres or a part of it.

"I get that the Willow Springs property has become an albatross for the district. Selling it may seem like a logical next step to remove the headache it has caused," Bramson said.

But she said she feared selling the property now when it could become more valuable down the road.

"The connections of the previous two interested industrial prospects with the (other) governing entities are too coincidental," Bramson said. "It should really give you pause to consider those interested and how this potential sale will be carried out."

She did not explain the connections. (In a closed session in early 2023, then-board member Michael Thomas presented what he called a conspiracy theory that involved the top bidder for the land, Bridge Industrial, and local public bodies.)

Board members have indicated they no longer have an interest in selling to an industrial buyer.