Eola supporters angry at collapse of land sale
Say 'elitism,' not safety concerns, behind reversal
The subject line of the e-mail District 204 resident Chad Martinson sent to friends and family Thursday afternoon said it all: "utter disappointment."
That's the feeling that prevailed among supporters of Indian Prairie School District 204's plans to build Metea Valley High School on 87 acres at Eola and Molitor roads in Aurora.
Those plans were dashed Thursday when Midwest Generation backed out of a deal to sell 37 acres of the selected school site to the district. One of the largest independent power producers in the United States, Midwest Generation said it walked away from the sale because "serious opposition and a deep division within the community" regarding the use of the property as part of the school's site "represent a threat to both the business interests and reputation of Midwest Generation."
"The CHILDREN of (District 204) have become the victim of an unconscionable power play by a very small group of elitist and selfish residents who have been successful at derailing the purchase of land set to be the location of the third high," Martinson wrote in his e-mail.
Martinson then translated the letter Midwest Generation sent District 204 to notify it of the decision from what he called politically correct language to more frank, factual speech.
He said Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, the group of District 204 residents who have filed a lawsuit demanding that District 204 build Metea on the 80-acre Brach-Brodie site originally selected as the school's location, has "lied about the facts, slandered the good name of Midwest Generation, and defamed the local school board." And, he added, "they have worked through highly paid lawyers and with lobbyists through back-door political channels to endanger our ability to do business in the state of Illinois."
Moving forward, Martinson said he hopes District 204 will "find something that allows them to live by the contract that they had with the community, which is to build a third high school and stay within budget."
But that won't be easy, he said.
"Pray for our school district. Pray for our administrators. Pray for our board," he said. "That's what I'm doing, because I don't have the answers. They're in a tough spot now, and it's a real shame because I think they had a good solution for the long-term viability of the district, but the best interests of the district were dashed by the selfish few."
Jennifer Streder said she has received a flood of e-mail, and that her phone has not stopped ringing since this news broke Thursday afternoon.
"Every phone call that I've received, every e-mail has not been about 'I'm so upset that my kids don't get to go to Metea,'" Streder said. "It's about 'I cannot believe racism and elitism is going to prevail in this.' People are absolutely disgusted."
Streder insisted that NSFOC's driving motivation has, from the beginning, been to make sure their kids don't attend Waubonsie Valley High School. Consequently, she said, she hopes Midwest Generation rethinks its decision.
"I would like for them to know that there is an entire community that would love for them to know that their voice has not been heard, and that 200 or 300 people is not representative of the 18,000 families in this district, and that we think under all of this there's a very ugly motivation by this group," she said.
Brian Pierce has already made his feelings known to Midwest Generation in a letter he sent to both the company and The Sun. In the letter, Pierce suggests that Midwest Generation's decision to terminate the deal will anger more people than it will appease.
"I find it unconscionable that you would elect to appease a litigious few - whom your company recognizes has been disseminating misinformation regarding this property - at the expense of many thousands of children deserving of a quality education," states Pierce in the letter.