Lyons buys property near old quarry

By Steve Metsch

The village of Lyons has agreed to pay $2,770,416 for approximately 8.56 acres just south of the former quarry on Ogden Avenue.

“This is something we talked about at previous board meetings. It’s finally coming to fruition,” Mayor Christopher Getty said at the Aug. 16 village board meeting.

Dubbed the Lyons South Property, the land is owned by Reliable Materials, which was in charge of filling the quarry.

The property encompasses land just south of the quarry, Getty said.

The village board voted unanimously in favor of the purchase. The price is $7.49 per square foot.

“It’s in the quarry, but it has never been mined,” Getty said.

In the agreement, the village is slated to receive a license fee in the amount of 2 percent of gross sales of materials or $60,000 per year, whichever is highest, Getty said.

The agreement will expire in December 2024, he said.

“The seller is going to finance this over a 20-year period,” Getty told the board. “The final payment will be due five years from the closing date. We expected to close on this sometime in November of this calendar year.”

The village agreed to deliver $5,000 in earnest money to Reliable that will be applied toward the purchase price.

This is related to the long-standing agreement with Reliable that has the company conveying to the village approximately 48 acres of land at no cost.

Reliable Materials will have 18 months after the closing in which to complete grading and the approved reclamation plan.

Clean fill has been dumped into the former quarry for several years, and the fill has been impacted with heavy machinery to make the land suitable for development.

Currently, the village is looking into options of what to do with the property bordered by Ogden Avenue, Plainfield Road and First Avenue.

Trustee Ivica Lazich called the move “a great purchase for the village of Lyons.”

“It’s an added asset that will bring a lot of value down the road for years to come,” Lazich said.

Getty said the administration and village attorney have invested “countless hours into this agreement.”

“Part of this agreement will give us additional time to make sure the site is ready, and a buildable site for developing down the road,” the mayor said.

In other business, the village recently purchased the first property in an extensive buy-back project using funds from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Getty said.

The flood mitigation plan is for the Czech Terrace neighborhood north of Salt Creek Ogden and west of First Avenue.

Twenty-six homes have been targeted for purchase and demolition. The plan is to eventually have the flood-prone land taken over by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

The purchase of 8723 Southview Avenue for $334,000 was approved unanimously by the village board. More purchases are expected in the coming months.

Two appraisals are made of properties with the price set between the two, Getty said.

The next village board meeting was scheduled for Sept. 20.