LTHS Official Questions Willow Springs Stance On Land

LA GRANGE, IL – A Lyons Township High School board member this week questioned Willow Springs' handling of the school's effort to sell its land in the village to an industrial developer, contrary to local zoning.

She also suggested the village consider rezoning the property.

The member is Paula Struwing, a Willow Springs resident who was appointed in May to fill a vacant seat.

"There's a large contingency of our residents, my neighbors, who want to be heard and feel as though decisions were made by the village without consulting with the people who live next to that property," Struwing said at Monday's board meeting.

Opening a dialogue with Willow Springs residents, she said, might allow other local voices to be heard.

"This way, we can possibly have a discussion about rezoning," Struwing said. "Is there a possibility for a shift in the purpose of who purchases the land and what would go there?"

In 2023, village officials and residents near the high school's land opposed selling to an industrial developer. The land, which is zoned for residential and light retail, is next to houses, a school, a park and a UPS facility.

For her part, Struwing is no stranger to Willow Springs politics. Before the April 2023 village election, she was an administrator for the Facebook page, "Willow Springs Voice."

With that platform, Struwing criticized the village's ruling Integrity Party and sided with the challenger, the Alliance Party. In the election, Integrity's candidates prevailed. The Village Board and president are all Integrity members.

In one Facebook post, Struwing said it seemed the Integrity Party was withholding information about village issues. She said that was either because voters would not like what they heard or that the party did not want to reveal information showing it acted immorally or unethically.

At Monday's school board meeting, members generally agreed school officials should meet with Willow Springs leaders before putting out a new request for bids on the 70 acres of land.

"We would not want to write anything in the terms and conditions that would be outside of what Willow Springs would approve," school board President Jill Grech said.

She and others said the school would not go out to bid anytime soon.

In early 2023, residents in Willow Springs and nearby towns became upset when word leaked that the school was trying to sell to an industrial user, although zoning bars such uses.

Through much of 2022, school officials privately courted developer Bridge Industrial. Closed session recordings showed the school board purposely kept other public bodies such as the village of Willow Springs and Pleasantdale School District 107 out of the loop.

Just weeks before the April 2023 election, the board abandoned its effort to sell to an industrial developer. It later ousted its attorney involved in the process.

A month after the election, the attorney general's office found the board broke state law by holding most of its discussions of the land sale behind closed doors. That resulted in the release of recordings from two January 2023 closed sessions.

The school bought the land six decades ago for a third campus. But enrollment growth slowed in the ensuing years, so the school never developed the property.

School officials said they want to sell it to generate income to pay for improvements to the two campuses. They said that was preferable to raising property taxes.

On Wednesday afternoon, Patch left an emailed messages for comment with Struwing.

In an email to Patch, Village Administrator Ryan Grace said the positive takeaway from the meeting was that board members seem to want dialogue with the village this time if they choose to sell the land. He said he had not spoken with Struwing, so he was unsure of her position on the property.

"I feel that our process has been open and inclusive with our community since we initially learned of the potential land sale," Grace said. "We engaged the public via town hall meetings, official board meetings, attended many Lyons Township high school board meetings, and hired a land use consultant to review the current development plan. During that process, we were met with an overwhelming community response that an industrial use was not appropriate for the area."

Grace continued, "If Lyons Township High School chooses to attempt to sell their land, we will once again engage with our community on this topic and listen to all feedback received. I remain hopeful that this time Willow Springs will have a seat at the table and be able to help guide the sale process so that we can serve our constituents together."