The first committee of the whole meeting for 207-U lasted more than three hours and entailed some big discussions and bringing the new board up to speed.
Just last week, board President Rick Uthe suggested a committee of the whole meeting format for all board members to have discussions regarding pending issues. They wasted no time getting one on the books, as some decisions need to be made with a quick turnaround.
After public comments, in which some spoke in favor of the future sports complex and some against, the first topic was lunch cost.
Lunch Costs
While the tool from the state to calculate reimbursement costs for school lunches hadn’t been released, the district still needed to make a decision regarding cost. Business manager Adrian Fulgencio said he used last year’s calculator and came up with a suggested increase. Previously, the district had not increased the lunch cost by the full amount, therefore 207-U was behind the average. Board member Mark Jones was concerned about the impact and had inquired and discovered that the impact to local families was minimal, and there had been corporate donations to assist, including assistance from Helping Hands. Board member Tim Stoub said he couldn’t get behind increasing the cost until he saw the impact, but the board agreed to add it to the May 19 agenda.
Baseball and Softball Fields
Even though the bonds were pulled in 2023 for three capital projects, one in particular seemed to be the topic of debate. Building a sports complex behind the high school to include baseball, softball fields, a soccer field, and concessions has cost the district more than half a million in design plans and engineering and stalled when plans had to be revamped, government entities dragged feet, and objections regarding flood waters arose.
Initial plans after review by the engineers indicated that because the complex would be in a floodplain, it would need an additional stormwater detention and 1-1/2 times more volume fill, plus the approval of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Army Corps of Engineers. Fast forward a year, and more engineering determined that an additional detention pond couldn’t be added to the west side, and there were utilities in the way, so new plans were designed to move the detention pond to the east side of the building. While original renderings for the high school included a possible football field in that location, there were never any formal plans to build a football field there. Ironically, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit, with restrictions, for the first set of plans after the second set was developed.
All in all, if the ball fields were built by the high school, there’d be almost no buildable ground left for anything else.
Discussion evolved around options with every single board member contributing for almost an hour. Conclusive options were to discuss a deal with the park district regarding their fields, continue with the current plan, or fit test other possible locations for the fields.
Stoub said, “My suggestion moving forward with any additional decisions is to get public thoughts. What does the public want to see?”
Moe suggested the board receives public input at the board meetings, and said there’s people who support the building of the ball fields, they’re just not the loud ones.
Fulgencio offered a town hall/open house with stakeholders to garner interest for the direction the district should move.
Board member Mark Jones said he was under the impression that the ball fields would be built at the high school, with the football fields to be constructed also at the high school in the future. With the changing of the plan, he thought it would be beneficial to gain public input.
“If all the athletic facilities aren’t going to be here at the high school, do we look at other spaces then? Does it really matter if it’s here then with the ongoing issues? Is it going to cost us or save us money to look at another space?”
“I think we should explore an option that would encompass all of the athletics at the high school, if it’s possible,” said board member Ashley Stachniak.
Stoub suggested entertaining an entire master plan that encompasses all.
Board member Dawn Love said she would love to see new fields at the high school. Jones agreed. Moe said the district has been kicking the can down the road for years and something has to be done. She added she wasn’t interested in putting money into property the district doesn’t own.
Uthe agreed the public hearing was a good idea and meeting with the park district to discuss options was a good step forward.
Ironically, the park district had met the night before to discuss maintenance of the ball fields and wanted to approach the school district for reimbursement of expenses with the maintenance of the ball fields.
Stoub said he’s not interested in spending any more money prior to a discussion. Moe suggested the district architects look at the property prior to the discussion. Owens said the fields would need some moving. Moe said drainage issues would need to be addressed.
Stachniak asked why all this wasn’t discussed before all the money was spent. Moe retorted she thought the best plan was still to build the ballfields at the high school.
Collaboratively, the board agreed their next step would be to have a discussion with the park district regarding options.
Manhattan-Monee Road
Will County is moving forward with their decision to improve Manhattan-Monee Road, and it’ll affect the intersection at Center, which will affect Peotone Intermediate Center.
The county is shifting the road several feet northeast and creating turn lanes. Because the county has deemed the Green Garden Township building has the potential to be an historic building and using federal funding, it’ll affect the school more than originally thought.
The district likely will incur costs to reconfigure the well and septic, parking access, and possibly even make noise proofing measures due to the proximity of the road to the building.
The county will potentially offer a purchase for the land but no restitution for costs incurred with the reconfigurations needed due to the construction. And the district has to pay for a site assessment before the county will offer any money for the land acquisition.
In the board brief, a timeline of discussions was reviewed, and Stoub inquired who authorized Supt. Owens to offer PIC for purchase to the county. He said it raised a red flag for him. Owens said it came from the Building and Grounds committee meeting earlier this year and a consensus of the committee to explore the option, not an intent. Stoub asked for the minutes of that meeting.
Jones asked if there was a plan where the classrooms at PIC would be relocated should the building sell. And Stoub agreed; his first concern was who authorized the sale of district assets, and his second concern was where would those classes be relocated. He reiterated the need for a master plan.
Turns out there’s eight classrooms at PIC with just under 140 students. The original high school plans were designed with the possibility of a buildout of the high school. Discussion of land acquisition and a possibility of building all were entertained. None of the board members expressed disinterest in selling PIC. Board member Jennifer Moe said that ultimately money would need to be spent to ensure the safety of the students. Stoub agreed, “Make no mistake, I want kids out of there.”
With the proposed traffic pattern being brought to the fence line, no dedicated school zone or reduction in speed with a stop opposed to a light, or a dedicated lane for bus drop off, the board has some big decisions to make moving forward.
The next regular school board meeting is May 19. It was proposed that committees of the whole be held the regular scheduled board meetings moving forward.