Kaneland dirt pile might be permanent

The Kaneland school board is now thinking about keeping its big dirt pile behind Kaneland High School.

Monday night the board decided to have its construction consultant figure out how the pile affects drainage, if at all, for the campus, and what it would cost to fix any problems. It also asked the consultant to figure out how the hill could be fenced, to keep people from climbing it.

The dirt is left over from the 2007 expansion of the high school. The district kept the dirt, thinking it could be used if fill was required during the construction of Harter Middle School. However, the district didn't need as much fill as it thought, and the high school pile was of poor quality for fill anyway.

Staff Monday recommended having it trucked to a landfill, at an estimated cost of $319,770.

The district did consider spreading the dirt out throughout the campus and an adjacent 40 acres. The consultant reported that, due to drainage concerns, the dirt could only be put in certain spots. He recommended against spreading it on the athletic fields, since that would eliminate their use for nine months.