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Post by title1parent on Apr 17, 2008 5:41:17 GMT -5
Metea Valley set for '09 opening District releases environmental reports for new school location
April 17, 2008 By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
It took four weeks for Indian Prairie District 204 to secure permission to release the environmental study results for the 87-acre land configuration of Metea Valley High School at Eola Road.
But, without Midwest Generation in the picture, it took just four days for District 204 and St. John AME Church to compile and release all of the pertinent environmental information for the new 84-acre plan.
How does that work? What kind of worthwhile environmental study can be done over a weekend?
District 204 board President Mark Metzger explained, saying the Phase I Environmental Site Assessments posted on District 204's Web site Tuesday were completed long before the board voted to purchase the property Monday. A portion of those results are the same as the studies released during the April 7 board meeting. The other portion is the Phase I ESA that St. John AME commissioned so it could be annexed into Aurora.
"What you have if you take the Phase I that we released today, and the Phase I that we released last week, collectively, that's an entire Phase I report for all of the 84.1 acres of the AME land, plus the Midwest Generation land," he said.
According to the e-mail Superintendent Stephen Daeschner sent to the community Tuesday afternoon, Testing Services Corporation, which conducted the studies, indicated "no environmental issues have been identified associated with the agricultural usage of the property," and "none of the off-site facilities is considered a threat to have impacted the site."
The district also has announced a construction timeline for the 3,000-seat high school, which the district still intends to open for freshmen and sophomores in the fall of 2009. The district had hoped to break ground by now, but, according to Dave Holm, assistant superintendent for finance, it has adjusted those plans by the two weeks it thinks it will take the district to actually close the land deal with St. John AME.
Having already approved numerous contracts for construction services and materials for Metea contingent upon the property's purchase, the district now plans to break ground May 7 - the same day it expects Aurora's planning commission to amended its annexation plans. Holm said the district will begin by building the classroom space needed to open the school on time, then turn its attention to the completion of portions of the building that don't have to be done when the doors open - areas such as the auditorium, swimming pool and other amenities.
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Post by JWH on Apr 17, 2008 7:16:02 GMT -5
If we really closed yesterday, I'd think they can begin grading sooner, unless they have to wait for the planning commission May 7th (Perhaps they can meet sooner?).
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 17, 2008 9:12:09 GMT -5
Metea Valley set for '09 opening District releases environmental reports for new school location April 17, 2008 By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com It took four weeks for Indian Prairie District 204 to secure permission to release the environmental study results for the 87-acre land configuration of Metea Valley High School at Eola Road. But, without Midwest Generation in the picture, it took just four days for District 204 and St. John AME Church to compile and release all of the pertinent environmental information for the new 84-acre plan. How does that work? What kind of worthwhile environmental study can be done over a weekend? District 204 board President Mark Metzger explained, saying the Phase I Environmental Site Assessments posted on District 204's Web site Tuesday were completed long before the board voted to purchase the property Monday. A portion of those results are the same as the studies released during the April 7 board meeting. The other portion is the Phase I ESA that St. John AME commissioned so it could be annexed into Aurora. "What you have if you take the Phase I that we released today, and the Phase I that we released last week, collectively, that's an entire Phase I report for all of the 84.1 acres of the AME land, plus the Midwest Generation land," he said. According to the e-mail Superintendent Stephen Daeschner sent to the community Tuesday afternoon, Testing Services Corporation, which conducted the studies, indicated "no environmental issues have been identified associated with the agricultural usage of the property," and "none of the off-site facilities is considered a threat to have impacted the site." The district also has announced a construction timeline for the 3,000-seat high school, which the district still intends to open for freshmen and sophomores in the fall of 2009. The district had hoped to break ground by now, but, according to Dave Holm, assistant superintendent for finance, it has adjusted those plans by the two weeks it thinks it will take the district to actually close the land deal with St. John AME. Having already approved numerous contracts for construction services and materials for Metea contingent upon the property's purchase, the district now plans to break ground May 7 - the same day it expects Aurora's planning commission to amended its annexation plans. Holm said the district will begin by building the classroom space needed to open the school on time, then turn its attention to the completion of portions of the building that don't have to be done when the doors open - areas such as the auditorium, swimming pool and other amenities. So which is it? Did we close yesterday? Acc to this article, we are closing in two weeks. ETA: Did we just finalize the contract yesterday and not actually close? Seems pretty quick to announce on Friday and close on Wednesday. House closings take longer than 3 business days.
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we4
Junior
Let's Go Yankees......Let's Go Yankees
Posts: 204
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Post by we4 on Apr 17, 2008 9:20:54 GMT -5
So which is it? Did we close yesterday? Acc to this article, we are closing in two weeks. ETA: Did we just finalize the contract yesterday and not actually close? Seems pretty quick to announce on Friday and close on Wednesday. House closings take longer than 3 business days. I will actual believe the hs will open in 2009 when I see buses dropping kids off there. Until then, you just never know.
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Post by sleeplessinnpvl on Apr 17, 2008 9:23:59 GMT -5
Yep, still a lot of hurdles and opposition to overcome.
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Post by momto4 on Apr 17, 2008 12:02:48 GMT -5
So which is it? Did we close yesterday? Acc to this article, we are closing in two weeks. ETA: Did we just finalize the contract yesterday and not actually close? Seems pretty quick to announce on Friday and close on Wednesday. House closings take longer than 3 business days. Closed yesterday around noon.
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Post by momto4 on Apr 17, 2008 12:03:29 GMT -5
So which is it? Did we close yesterday? Acc to this article, we are closing in two weeks. ETA: Did we just finalize the contract yesterday and not actually close? Seems pretty quick to announce on Friday and close on Wednesday. House closings take longer than 3 business days. I will actual believe the hs will open in 2009 when I see buses dropping kids off there. Until then, you just never know. I agree, but for the kids caught in the middle of it all, I hope and pray that it will really happen for fall 2009.
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Post by wvhsparent on Apr 17, 2008 12:43:47 GMT -5
Truthfully I was questioning an 09 opening even with BB.
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Post by momto4 on Apr 17, 2008 13:55:00 GMT -5
I just took a look at the Sun online to see if they had anything about the land closing - and was pleasantly surprised by their photo showing of the AME land. Finally, something that is a bit more of an accurate depiction of the farm land where the building will be. The house is probably right in the way of seeing exactly where the school will be, but it still shows the parcel for what it is.
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Post by kansas12008 on Apr 17, 2008 15:55:56 GMT -5
Long time reader new poster. I have been reading the blue board off and on since '06? and this board since it started. My neighbor got me started. Again though, I have been off and on as I was working then. Now that I am no longer working I wanted to post and signed up today. I decided to join the green board because of my possible future ties to MV. We live in the MV area now but may relocate closer to Fox Valley in May when our lease is up. We could then rent from my former boss. This would put us at WV when our kids are old enough. They are at Prairie Children's now, so we have a lot of time but this would be a rent to buy and i don't want to buy in the wrong area.
My question for the board is that I heard from my neighbor that the new Principal for MV is fantastic and he is busy "recruiting" all the award winning teachers out of WV. She said they are all going to move with him when MV opens. She said we should not move because all the good teachers that have won awards will be going to MV. She said that this is already in the works and that's why they named him Principal so far ahead of time. She said that WV won't have bad teachers, it's just that WV won't have any of the good award winning teachers.
Could this be true? I would like to move closer to the mall from here but if WV is left with the dregs for teachers, maybe we should stay put. This board always seems to find out the best information.
Let me know when you can.
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Post by JWH on Apr 17, 2008 15:58:59 GMT -5
Long time reader new poster. I have been reading the blue board off and on since '06? and this board since it started. My neighbor got me started. Again though, I have been off and on as I was working then. Now that I am no longer working I wanted to post and signed up today. I decided to join the green board because of my possible future ties to MV. We live in the MV area now but may relocate closer to Fox Valley in May when our lease is up. We could then rent from my former boss. This would put us at WV when our kids are old enough. They are at Prairie Children's now, so we have a lot of time but this would be a rent to buy and i don't want to buy in the wrong area. My question for the board is that I heard from my neighbor that the new Principal for MV is fantastic and he is busy "recruiting" all the award winning teachers out of WV. She said they are all going to move with him when MV opens. She said we should not move because all the good teachers that have won awards will be going to MV. She said that this is already in the works and that's why they named him Principal so far ahead of time. She said that WV won't have bad teachers, it's just that WV won't have any of the good award winning teachers. Could this be true? I would like to move closer to the mall from here but if WV is left with the dregs for teachers, maybe we should stay put. This board always seems to find out the best information. Let me know when you can. Welcome to the board, Kathy Birkett was at a recent Hill PTA meeting to answer questions about Metea, and when this was asked, she explained staff would be pulled not only from WV but also from NV when Metea opens. This same process was done when NV was opened (teaching talent moved from WV as well as from a few middle schools). There will not be a big discrepancy between teaching talent within the district. They will do their best to make the transition as smooth as possible. Perhaps someone who experienced the NV opening can add more insight.
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Post by warriorpride on Apr 17, 2008 16:14:31 GMT -5
Long time reader new poster. I have been reading the blue board off and on since '06? and this board since it started. My neighbor got me started. Again though, I have been off and on as I was working then. Now that I am no longer working I wanted to post and signed up today. I decided to join the green board because of my possible future ties to MV. We live in the MV area now but may relocate closer to Fox Valley in May when our lease is up. We could then rent from my former boss. This would put us at WV when our kids are old enough. They are at Prairie Children's now, so we have a lot of time but this would be a rent to buy and i don't want to buy in the wrong area. My question for the board is that I heard from my neighbor that the new Principal for MV is fantastic and he is busy "recruiting" all the award winning teachers out of WV. She said they are all going to move with him when MV opens. She said we should not move because all the good teachers that have won awards will be going to MV. She said that this is already in the works and that's why they named him Principal so far ahead of time. She said that WV won't have bad teachers, it's just that WV won't have any of the good award winning teachers. Could this be true? I would like to move closer to the mall from here but if WV is left with the dregs for teachers, maybe we should stay put. This board always seems to find out the best information. Let me know when you can. Welcome to the board, Kathy Birkett was at a recent Hill PTA meeting to answer questions about Metea, and when this was asked, she explained staff would be pulled not only from WV but also from NV when Metea opens. This same process was done when NV was opened (teaching talent moved from WV as well as from a few middle schools). There will not be a big discrepancy between teaching talent within the district. They will do their best to make the transition as smooth as possible. Perhaps someone who experienced the NV opening can add more insight. I was around WV when NV opened, and I can say that the result of the split was some experienced and some newer teachers at each school - some experienced staff want the challenge of opening a new school, while others don't, so I'd expect natural selection to take care of a lot of this. I can also say that the SD goes to great lengths to have equality, as best as possible, in terms of facilities and opportunities between WV and NV, and I would expect the same with 3 HSs. My daughter will continue to go to WV while my son will go to MV, and I am not concerned about what the staff will be at either.
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Post by rural on Apr 17, 2008 16:30:34 GMT -5
Welcome to the board, Kathy Birkett was at a recent Hill PTA meeting to answer questions about Metea, and when this was asked, she explained staff would be pulled not only from WV but also from NV when Metea opens. This same process was done when NV was opened (teaching talent moved from WV as well as from a few middle schools). There will not be a big discrepancy between teaching talent within the district. They will do their best to make the transition as smooth as possible. Perhaps someone who experienced the NV opening can add more insight. I was around WV when NV opened, and I can say that the result of the split was some experienced and some newer teachers at each school - some experienced staff want the challenge of opening a new school, while others don't, so I'd expect natural selection to take care of a lot of this. I can also say that the SD goes to great lengths to have equality, as best as possible, in terms of facilities and opportunities between WV and NV, and I would expect the same with 3 HSs. My daughter will continue to go to WV while my son will go to MV, and I am not concerned about what the staff will be at either. That is my recollection also. I think all three HSs will have some growing pains at the beginning, but after the dust settles I believe we will end up with three equally awesome schools that will make this district proud.
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sushi
Master Member
Posts: 767
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Post by sushi on Apr 17, 2008 18:03:01 GMT -5
It is very interesting to read the responses to Kansas' question. It has been cut and pasted somewhere else with an entirely different reaction from the responders.
It only makes sense to take SOME of the experienced teachers. What sense does it make to take all?
Welcome, Kansas!
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Post by rj on Apr 17, 2008 18:36:23 GMT -5
If we really closed yesterday, I'd think they can begin grading sooner, unless they have to wait for the planning commission May 7th (Perhaps they can meet sooner?). It looks to me like warriorpride already started the mass grading without us. Nice D5, but you really need a couple of D9's if you want to get done quicker ;D They won't be able to start the dirt work until the engineering for the new site is done and approved by the City and County, unless of course the SD had the foresight to have that done previously as a contingency.
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