Mooseheart site annexation delayed

Action on the proposed annexation of Mooseheart land to Batavia has been postponed.

Batavia officials were aiming for a June 6 city council vote on an annexation agreement and annexation of the land. But the developer has made a new request, something the city’s community development committee doesn’t like.

That something is a clause giving the owner, Moose International, the ability to disconnect land from the city if Moose International doesn’t like the terms of a sewer connection agreement with the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District, or if Fox Metro refuses to annex the land to its district.

The area south of Mill Creek would be served by Fox Metro, not the city of Batavia’s sewers. The grade of the land in that area would make it difficult to pump sewage up to Batavia’s plant, in downtown Batavia near the Fox River, said Joel Strassman, the city’s planning and zoning officer.

Several weeks ago, Mooseheart wanted the ability to disconnect, but the issue was the cost of extending electrical service by the city to the portion south of Mill Creek. Committee members were not inclined to agree to that. And Alderman Jim Volk, who isn’t on the committee, said he would not approve an agreement with a disconnection clause because the south area has the largest commercial site in the development. The point of annexing the land and allowing the development is so Batavia could benefit from sales taxes from the commercial areas, he said.

A compromise was reached on the electrical construction, and the disconnection language was to be removed.

Moose International proposes to build single-family and multifamily housing, offices, hotels and shopping on 470 acres between Mooseheart Road and Main Street, most of it east of Randall Road. Mill Creek is the southernmost boundary of Batavia’s sewer planning area.

The Mooseheart school and Moose International office campus to the east of the proposed development has its own sanitary sewer treatment plant by the Fox River, but Strassman believes it is not big enough to handle more sewage.

He said Fox Metro won’t annex the land unless it is in a municipality.

Strassman said what is likely to happen is that city officials will vote first on the annexation agreement, and put off voting on the actual annexation until the matter with Fox Metro is settled. He anticipates the committee will talk about the matter again at its June 14 meeting, and that the council could vote on the annexation agreement June 20. A draft of the proposed agreement will likely be posted on the city’s website, cityofbatavia.net, by June 15.

Moose International intends to keep ownership of the land, and lease it to stores, hotels, offices and residents. Documents about the proposal, including zoning maps, are available at cityofbatavia.net under “Mooseheart project.”