LTHS Official Laments Lack Of Appraisal

LA GRANGE, IL – It's a mystery why Lyons Township High School did not seek an appraisal under current zoning for its land in Willow Springs, which set off a controversy earlier this year.

For the first time Monday, school board President Dawn Aubert, who took the helm in May, publicly indicated she wished the school had sought such an appraisal.

She acknowledged criticism of the school's decision to seek an appraisal for industrial uses for the 70 acres. Such uses are banned for the land under the village's code.

"To me, it's a big missing chunk of what we didn't do previously because we were just responding to the situation at hand," Aubert said.

She was referring to Bridge Industrial's offer of $65 million in March 2022 for the property.

The offer was unsolicited, but triggered a secret process in which the school got an appraisal for industrial uses. The school issued no engagement letter to the appraiser, so it's hard to determine how officials framed the request.

The appraiser, William Enright of Hinsdale-based Appraisal Associates, appraised the school's wooded land at $68 million for industrial uses.

But both Enright and Bridge Industrial measured the school's property at 80 acres when the actual number was about 70.

The school board kept residents and local public bodies out of the loop until late November.

By January, neighbors showed up in large numbers at board meetings to oppose industrial development of the land, which is next to houses, a school, parkland, a country club and a UPS facility. They pointed to the lack of an appraisal for residential and small retail uses, which the code allows.

At Monday's meeting, members Jill Grech and Tim Albores expressed openness to getting a new appraisal.

"It's been a big piece of missing information," Grech said.

Albores said it would be a "good starting point for the conversation."

Member Jill Beda Daniels said it was too early to do a new appraisal, given the board has not decided whether it again wants to sell.

The discussion of the appraisal was part of a larger debate over whether to hire a land-use consultant to give the board its options. Such a consultant could cost as much as $150,000, depending on what the board wants.

Aubert said she heard no consensus on the consultant and wanted the board to reconsider the issue at its meeting in two weeks.

Since its meeting earlier this month, board members have said they want to take a new approach to selling the land, this time involving residents. Previously, the board tried to keep the public out of the loop, as its closed session recordings indicated.

Also on Monday, the board cast aside its law firm, likely a casualty over the land controversy earlier this year.