LTHS Member-Elect Breaks With Allies On Willow Springs

LA GRANGE, IL – Tim Albores, the top vote-getter in Tuesday's Lyons Township High School board election, may find himself alone on the board on at least one issue.

In an email to Patch on Wednesday, Albores weighed in on the issue of selling the school's 71 acres in Willow Springs to an industrial developer.

In the beginning, he said he hesitated to commit to a position without all the information.

"I spent my campaign listening to the community and looking at all sides," Albores said. "There was passion in those conversations from both the pro-sale to industrial and the anti-sale to industrial. In the end, I did come out and say that I would not support a land sale to an industrial bidder. I stand by that now."

Board members have been unanimous in their decisions on the land. In December, they agreed to set a $55 million minimum price. That was based on an appraisal of the property for industrial uses. The board kept that secret from the public at the time.

Willow Springs bars industrial uses on the property, though the school's lawyer in January indicated remedies existed to get around that requirement.

The land is next to a school, a park, houses, a country club and a UPS facility.

Willow Springs, Pleasantdale School District 107 and other public bodies oppose industrial development on the land. They said they were kept out of the loop.

In the election, Albores was seen as allied with board President Kari Dillon and member Jill Beda Daniels, who were re-elected Tuesday. The teachers union and another political committee backed them. They defeated their conservative opponents in a landslide.

Albores is set to take office May 1 as one of seven board members.