News on Virgil Development

Northwest Herald
May 26, 2004

Pingree deal fails children

It pains me to see the future of more than 18,000 schoolchildren affected by poor decision-making.

But that's what happened Monday in Pingree Grove when the village board approved an annexation agreement with Cambridge Homes. The development will bring at least 2,330 new houses and an estimated 1,330 new students to District 300.

Board members approved the annexation over the objections of district administrators, who argued that the $2.2 million and 16 acres the developer will provide for a new school are not enough to accommodate the new students.

District officials also complained that they were excluded from negotiations with Cambridge Homes.

Pingree Grove's village board unanimously approved the deal anyway.

Ron Roeser, Pingree Grove's village attorney, declared that the deal was fair, basically said that he knew better than the school district what it needed to do its job, and wished it luck.

He also blamed district officials for not being more aggressive in getting involved.

Great, Ron. They snooze, everybody loses.

If the Northeastern Illinois Plan Commission signs off on Pingree Grove's plans May 12, people in communities from Pingree Grove to Lake in the Hills and Hampshire to Hoffman Estates will be asked to pick up slack.

And there is slack to pick up, especially if you compare the development to others of similar size.

In Hampshire, Crown Community Development wants to build 2,649 houses. After negotiations, the developer agreed to contribute land and cash valued at $8.2 million for new schools.

The equivalent of the land and cash offered by Cambridge in Pingree Grove is $3.4 million.

Cambridge is offering $4.8 million less than Crown and bringing only 319 fewer houses.

Great deal if you're a developer, but not if you're a taxpayer in the school district.

In Pingree Grove, though, the village board is worried about keeping up with Elgin in the Great North Kane County Land Grab of '04.

Pingree Grove Trustee Jon Peschke said he didn't like Monday's annexation deal, but voted for it anyway. He said he was afraid that if the development wasn't annexed, Elgin would surround the village. He called the annexation agreement a "deal with the devil."

If this is how Pingree Grove is going to do business, I'd just as soon see Elgin annex the whole town.

Perhaps the city can do a better job managing development and looking out for the local schools.

We need responsible people making decisions that affect tens of thousands of schoolchildren. Given their decision Monday, I am not sure that Pingree Grove's village officials are up to the task.

• Eric Olson is the Northwest Herald's Huntley community editor. He can be reached at (847) 669-6262, or at eolson@nwherald.com.