City council annexes land for YMCA

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Following an 80-minute public hearing, the Morris City Council agreed Monday night to annex 77.6 acres between U.S. 6 and Interstate 80, west of Saratoga Road.

The Ron Evenson and Mark Jorstad families have dedicated about 15 acres of the land along U.S. 6 for the future site of a Joliet YMCA. The YMCA lot was zoned commercial (B-3).

A slightly smaller lot, just west of the YMCA lot will be zoned commercial (B-3) for future development.

Two lots will be immediately north. One will be a school site for Nettle Creek District 24C, and the other will be a city park. Both of those lots will remain zoned single family residential.

A 22-acre parcel along Interstate 80 was zoned for three and four unit townhouses (R-3A).

During the regular portion of the meeting, the council approved the zoning for the YMCA lot, the commercial lot and the townhome area on 6-0 votes.

Several representatives of Nettle Creek school district attended the annexation hearing and complained the city had not worked closely enough with the school.

Demitra Turman said the board first heard about it on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and the city was not willing to make minor changes in two paragraphs of the annexation agreement.

The paragraphs concern the school facilities impact fee and the school site donation ordinance.

Mayor Richard Kopczick said the school facilities impact fee was developed with several neighboring communities and area builders to ensure it was the same throughout the area. The fee is paid when a building permit is issued.

The school site donation ordinance has existed as part of the Morris ordinance for more than 35 years. It is also paid at the time a building permit is issued. Because Morris has separate grade school and high school districts, the fee is split between the relevant grade school district and Morris Community High School.

The fee is based on a formula that includes the value of an improved acre of land, currently set at $65,383. It increases at 3 percent each year. The school site donation runs from $977 to more than $1,700 for a single family house, which is split between two school districts.

When the final plat for the development is approved, the per acre value is frozen. No final plat for any this land has been presented.

Nettle Creek’s attorney Walt Zukowski of Peru said, “all we are trying to do is have clear provisions that the things offered will come to fruition.”

He said the section concerning the school facilities impact fees states that, if it is waived for another developer, it would not have to be paid in this case.

He said there was also a concern that a developer could pay either the facilities impact fee or the school site donation ordinance, but not both.

City Attorney Scott Belt said developers have to pay both. Concerning the school site donation, the school gets either land or the money, but not both.

Nettle Creek Superintendent Peter Pastaris said the fees are critical.

“When a house is built, we get the children, but we don’t get the taxes for two years,” he said. “ We have the costs up front.”  

Attorney Zukowski said the district was also concerned about the requirement of obtaining a conditional permitted use to build on the donated land.

When the issue of building a bus barn on the donated land was raised, attorney Paul Root, representing the Evenson and Jorstad families, said that would be opposed because it would destroy the benefits of having a YMCA, school and city park adjacent to each other. If a school is constructed on the land, ancillary buildings would also be considered.

Mark Jorstad said he met with the Nettle Creek board four years ago and has kept them informed.
“I met with the superintendent two or three times,” he said.

Mayor Richard Kopczick said the plans for this land were on hold for a portion of the four years because the Prairie Parkway could have intersected with Interstate 80 at this location.

“This annexation is about the YMCA,” Ron Evenson said. “I don’t give a hoot about the 77 acres. The Y will be here long before any houses.”

The annexation agreement also requires the developers to pay $269,500 in water and sewer fees, plus $24.31 per front foot for sewer fees, $19.45 per foot in water main fees and the fire protection district impact fees.

Following the public hearing, Attorney Belt said the annexation agreement requires a yes vote of two-thirds of all aldermen and the mayor, or six of nine votes. Aldermen Randy Larson and Don Barkley were absent. The annexation agreement was approved on a 7-0 vote. The actual annexation was also approved on a 7-0 vote.