Carol Stream, parks finalize land deal
Carol Stream Park District will buy six acres of village-owned property at Town Center for use as part of a planned indoor recreation facility.
Officials from the village and park district previously indicated support for the purchase, but an intergovernmental agreement between the two bodies formalizes the deal. The village board voted to approve it on Tuesday, following the park district board’s approval Jan. 10.
The park district will pay the village $1.6 million for the parcel, located on the south side of Town Center at Gary Avenue and Fountain View Drive.
The parcel is being purchased in “as-is, where-is” condition, with no environmental warranties being provided to the park district by the village, according to the agreement.
The park district will reimburse the village for 75 percent of the costs of stormwater management improvements on the remaining land at Town Center. That includes pond shoreline maintenance every three years and catch basin cleaning, dredging, mowing and aeration operations as needed.
In addition, the district will reimburse the village for 45 percent of the costs related to maintenance of parking areas on the village’s portion of land. That includes crack filing, sealing and striping every four to five years.
Those obligations go into effect in May of 2012.
Construction on the recreation center will begin by September, with completion expected in March 2013. The two-story, 88,000-square-foot facility is the marquee project of a $37 million park improvements plan that voters approved last year in a referendum proposal.
Also this week, the village board approved another agreement with the park district for use of the Simkus Recreation Center at 849 Lies Road as an emergency shelter.
The village already has 12 agreements with public schools and churches to use their facilities in the event of an emergency, but none of those buildings have shower facilities, which is a “highly sought-after capability in an extended emergency event (beyond 48 hours),” wrote Christopher Oakley, assistant to the village manager, in a memo to the village board.