Oswego OKs land purchase pact with SD308 for Wolf’s Crossing traffic roundabout; village officials compare it to extortion

The Oswego Village Board voted unanimously Aug. 23 to approve an option to purchase a 2.95-acre parcel of land from Oswego School District 308 for $75,000.

But the board’s favorable vote came only after they declined an amendment to the purchase agreement drafted by the school board, and village trustees compared the purchase to extortion because, they said, village taxpayers will pay twice for the parcel.

The Village Board must acquire the parcel at the intersection of Wolf’s Crossing and Harvey roads from the school district for the planned construction of a traffic roundabout at the busy intersection near Oswego East High School.

The village plans to seek contractor bids for the roundabout project in November. The land will be used for stormwater and water retention adjoining the roundabout.

Whether the village would purchase the land from the school district or whether the school district would agree to donate it to the village proved a point of contention between officials with the two government agencies over the past several months.

Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo previously sent a letter to the school district requesting the land be donated to the village by the school board, rather than purchased for the appraised value of $75,500.

In addition, the school district previously committed to contributing 25% of the cost for a traffic signal at the Wolf’s Crossing and Harvey Road intersection under the terms of a 2003 annexation agreement between the two entities for the adjoining Oswego East High School campus. The high school opened in 2004 and is a factor in the increased traffic volume at the intersection.

The village, however, has since revised its initial plan to install traffic signals at the intersection and now plans to build a traffic roundabout at the intersection.

Earlier this year, Village President Troy Parlier and Di Santo met with school district officials, presented the annexation agreement that estimated the school district’s 25% contribution to the roundabout project at $162,000.

Parlier and Di Santo asked the school district to donate the land to the village and that they direct $162,000 in developer impact fees from an adjoining subdivision to cover the cost.

At an Aug. 8 school board meeting, Di Santo and Public Works Director Jennifer Hughes asked the board to approve the donation of the land to the village. The school board subsequently voted to allow the village to acquire the property under two conditions:

• Both the school board and Village Board approve a second amendment to the annexation agreement that would credit the school district with $75,500 for any amount owed to the village for the traffic signal.

• If both boards don’t approve the second amendment by Aug. 30, the village still could purchase the land, but would have to pay $75,500.

Since Aug. 8 the meeting, the school district sent a second amendment draft to the Village Board in which it added the sentence: “Only to the extent that the village installs traffic signalization at the intersection of Harvey and Wolf’s Crossing roads.”

Di Santo said that if the village were to sign that amendment, it would be acknowledging that the school district’s contribution would be limited to a traffic signal. He said because the roundabout is the functional equivalent of a traffic signal, the village would ask that the school board to still honor the 25% contribution requirement contained in the 2003 annexation agreement.

“By the language that the school board proposed to us, If we were to sign that, we are effectively relieving the school district of a $162,000 contribution that we believe is owed,” Di Santo said.

Trustee Tom Guist said that both of the school district’s options were completely disappointing.

Trustee James Marter said he doesn’t appreciate being “essentially extorted” out of $75,000.

“It’s disappointing for a lot of reasons,” Marter said. “It just adds to the disappointment with the lack of intergovernmental cooperation and lack of unity within the community.”

Trustee Kit Kuhrt agreed with Marter’s assessment comparing the deal to extortion.

“The taxpayer is going to pay twice for that land,” Kuhrt said. “The taxpayer paid for that land originally; now we’re going to pay twice for a ditch, essentially.”

The board voted unanimously for option 2, to purchase the land from the School District for $75,500.