Wheaton parks to take on Hubble maintenance costs

Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 officials say they remain hopeful of closing the sale of the old Hubble Middle School site early next year.

In the meantime, they’re working to shift all expenses for maintenance and utilities at the site to Wheaton Park District.

The school board is expected on Wednesday to approve an amendment to its intergovernmental agreement with the park district. The park district is expected to follow suit in mid-August. The two agencies had been splitting the costs.

Superintendent Brian Harris said the move is a natural step following the late-June sale of the property to Bradford Equities LLC, which has said it will bring a Mariano’s Fresh Market grocery store to the property in early 2013.

The park district, which has been sharing the site at Naperville and Roosevelt roads with District 200, also is expected to share it with the developer.

“The park district is now the sole user of that site,” Harris said.

The school district also will move a facilities and maintenance trailer from the site, most likely to Monroe Middle School.

“What the school district is saying is, since they have sold the property, they feel that if we are the ones that want to continue to use the building, we should be responsible for the utilities,” park board President Ray Morrill said. “That only makes sense and is only fair.”

Under the present agreement, the school district pays 75 percent of electricity and gas bills, as well as half the water bill.

Park district Executive Director Mike Benard said the change will mean roughly $104,500 in additional expenses from Sept. 1 to June 1, 2012, when construction should begin. That estimate includes $15,500 set aside to repair and maintain an aging boiler in the former school.

Harris estimates the school district will save about $200,000 a year by ridding itself of the structure.

But first, officials must wait for Bradford to conclude its inspection of the site.

“The sooner we close, the better,” Harris said.

As the owner of the site, other expenses, such as liability insurance, will remain with the school district until the property officially exchanges hands.

Early this summer, District 200 announced the sale and said Bradford had agreed to work closely with the park district to decide what to do with 13 acres not suitable for development because it’s in a flood plain.

The park district coveted that land because it provided space for thousands of user hours and officials feared it would be lost. A land swap has been mentioned as a possible component of a final deal between Bradford and the park district.

“It’s a slow process, slower than I would like to see,” Morrill said. “But it obviously needs to take place to do it right. I feel very comfortable with where we are at and with our discussions with Bradford.”

What: Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200

When: 7:30 p.m. tonight

Where: School Service Center, 130 W. Park Ave., Wheaton, IL

Info: Board will discuss an IGA with Wheaton Park District, its goals and its 2011-2012 budget