Gas station proposal divides Warrenville candidates

Warrenville's mayoral candidates sharply disagree on whether the city should buy a shuttered gas station at the corner of Warrenville and Batavia roads.

The station, which closed last summer, is on one acre near the west branch of the DuPage River. City officials are considering purchasing the land to spur its redevelopment.

The property, however, is in a floodplain and was contaminated about 20 years ago by a leaking underground storage tank.

Alderman Michael Hoffmann, who is challenging longtime incumbent Mayor David Brummel in the April 4 election, says the city shouldn't acquire the site.

Instead, he suggested the city take legal action against the company that owned the station when the land was contaminated.

The company replaced the faulty tank, but never addressed the contamination, city officials said.

Hoffmann said he doesn't want the city to buy the land because he's concerned the contamination may have spread beyond the property.

"If we get involved in it, who knows what our liability will be," said Hoffmann, a retired business owner and electrician. "I think the more prudent thing to do would be to get after the people who contaminated it."

He said the previous owner should do the environmental cleanup.

Brummel, however, says the city has a better chance of getting the site cleaned to a "residential standard" if it owns it.

"This is a perfect example of the city doing something in the long-term best interest of the community that can't be done or won't be done by the private sector," Brummel said.

He said the property's current owners "are highly motivated" to sell.

In a memorandum of understanding with the city, the property owners said they would remove fuel tanks and help clean the site before the city buys it. The asking price is $320,000.

The seller is working with the city to determine the extent of the contamination and whether it has spread to neighboring properties.

So far, tests have revealed there's more than just petroleum in the soil, city officials said. Heavy metals also have been detected.

It's possible both sides could walk away from the proposed sale if the cleanup proves too costly.

If the city buys the land, officials said the eastern portion of the site that's in the floodplain would be used for parking or a public open space with a trail. The west side of the property would be redeveloped along with two adjacent properties the city owns to the north.

Brummel said he believes the property won't be redeveloped without the city's help.

"If we leave it to the private sector," he said, "we'll have a poorly maintained gas station forever."