A large crowd attended a special meeting of the Minonk City Council Tuesday night to hear the council discuss the Fieldcrest building issue. Alderman Russell Ruestman, who requested the meeting, explained why Minonk is the best place for a new school building and why the city should present the school district with the advantages the city has to offer.
Alderman Ruestman said if Fieldcrest decides to build a new building, the only cost effective way is to construct the building in Minonk. He said the city owns property north of Minonk that can be given to the school saving the school at least $600,000 in cost. He stated that Minonk already has the infrastructure in place to accommodate a new school building that would cost millions for other communities. He said the city is embarking on a $2 million update to its sewer system and has 4 water wells.
Mr. Ruestman said if Minonk would lose its high school it would have a devastating effect on property taxes more so than if a school building is lost in a smaller community.
He said local volunteers have upgraded the athletic field with the understanding that the field would be there for the long term. He also cited safety concerns mentioning that Minonk has 24/7 police protection which makes it a safe community for students including a standby police force for special events. In addition, Minonk has a tornado warning system that has been recently updated.
Mr. Ruestman concluded by saying he wants to see all communities succeed but felt the high school belongs in Minonk not just because it has always been here but because it is the most cost effective place. He wants the city to submit a building prospectus to the school board to provide them with the information they need to make a proper decision. He said the city shouldn't tell the school board to build a new building, but if they do, here is what they need to know.
After Mr. Ruestman's presentation, the session was open to public comments. Minonk resident Jim Liner said the school board is putting the cart before the horse. He said instead of talking about new buildings, the school needs to get an honest study of the cost to repair the buildings. He asked why it would cost $800,000 to replace the windows in the high school at $6000 apiece. He said Washburn, El Paso and Flanagan have old buildings also but are not faced with repairs for a 10 year Life Safety study. Why Minonk? He said the University of Illinois has 100 year old buildings and they aren't tearing them down. He also said if the current life expectancy for school buildings is only 50 years, 2/3 of the buildings in Minonk would have to be torn down.
Mr. Liner said the Wenona buildings were bad to begin with. He said there is enough space in Minonk and Toluca for the lower grades and the buildings in Wenona aren't needed. He said the Fieldcrest school board is being driven by an administrator that wants new buildings. He concluded by saying the state is in no position to close any buildings, so what is the big hurry.
In response to Mr. Liner, Alderman John Marcoline who is a former MDR and Fieldcrest teacher, said he felt the community has been mislead by the school administration and board over the years but did not specifically state that is the case with the current administration.
Donna Hartzler said that Fieldcrest South has plenty of room for additional class room space if needed.
Jonthan Spears said he has been going the the Fieldcrest Board of Education meetings for 3 years and said he never could determine what direction the board was going. He asked how can the school board make decisions if they don't have the answers to the communities questions?
Christie Ruestman said she toured all the school buildings and said there is enough room to move students from Wenona to Toluca and Minonk. She said she doesn't necessarily want to remove the buildings in Wenona but it is the most cost effective way. She said we need to conserve all the money we can in order to educate our students properly with a good staff. She said good teachers are more important than new buildings. She urged people to attend tomorrow night's school board meeting to let the board know how people feel about the building situation.
At the end of the meeting, Alderman Ruestman said he hates to see any community lose a building. He said if a study indicates that a 6-12 building will not save money, we should look into keeping a building in each community. He suggested representatives from each communities town council get together to see if a common solution can be reached among the communities.
Alderman Marcoline said the school board needs to tell the city what kind of building they want and how much land they need. He said the city has offered the school land but the school said they wanted more land but never got back to the city on their plans.
Alderman Trent Ruestman said a starting point is to give the school a package on what the city has to offer. Mayor Bill Koos said he will prepare a prospectus of what the city has to offer and present it to school board within the next week. Mayor Koos said the city has a lot to offer and complemented Alderman Ruestman on his presentation.
Comments
Josh Jones: Where is the property that minonk has that is available?
Trent Ruestman: It is in the sec 6 of minonk township which is in the city limits. That is the section north of chestnut as it heads out toward the truck stop and east of 251.
Darren Swanson: The school also owns enough ground in wenona North of the current school, the ball diamond and the ffa field North of it but that's never been mentioned that I've seen
Edmund Johnson That has been mentioned it previous meetings you're going to destroy that baseball field that all the money was put into plus it's only 17 acres and they need between 40 and 120 I don't think that's enough.
Cristi Jones: Ok so put it next to a plant that has anhydrous ammonia that expands 80 times it’s size and it is a frost burn to your lungs so draws the moisture out of your body if a tank explodes and if the school is right next to it they won’t be able to evacuate fast enough...