ECC trustees OK purchase of Burlington site for new center

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Updated: March 3, 2012 11:30AM

ELGIN — The Elgin Community College District 509 Board of Trustees has approved the purchase of a site in Burlington for its Public Safety and Sustainability Center.

But according to Sharon Konny, the college’s vice president of business and finance, there still are several hurdles before the ECC owns the land and can start construction on the center.

And in the meantime, Konny told trustees Tuesday night, “We don’t have a final price until we have the final acreage.”

The center is budgeted at $15 million in the college’s Facilities Master Plan.

ECC has completed appraisals on the land, the vice president said. That includes two parcels totaling about 120 acres, according to college spokesman Jeff Julian.

But, Konny said, it still needs to be surveyed. That should be done “pretty soon,” she said.

ECC also needs the approval of the Illinois Community College Board for the purchase.

That approval is needed for any land or building purchase or renovations — “anything that changes the square footage of academic space,” Konny said.

She said there still is “a lot of work that needs to be done with the village” of Burlington, including discussions about the project and the necessary zoning for the site. During the last month, the college has focused on discussions with the property owners, she said.

“It’s a unique project, so there will be a lot to talk about,” she said.

The board of trustees agreed to an undisclosed price per acre in their unanimous vote Tuesday. Only Trustee John Dalton was absent from the meeting and did not vote.

Konny declined to put a number to that price because, she said, there are no “signatures on the contracts.”

In May, ECC announced it had chosen about 98 acres of land on the north side of Burlington Road, between the Canadian National/Illinois Central Railroad tracks and Romke Road for its Public Safety and Sustainability Center.

That property was owned by Kenyon Bros. Corp.

But Julian said after Tuesday night’s meeting that deal had fallen through. The two parcels trustees agreed to purchase Tuesday belong to two different owners the college has not named.

The May announcement came after nearly a year of review of proposals, not only from Burlington, but also from Elgin, South Elgin, East Dundee and Hampshire.

The center will bring together facilities for a number of community college programs, including training for firefighters, police and other first-responders. It also will house the college’s truck driving and energy management and sustainability program.

The center is the last of the projects in the college’s Facilities Master Plan, paid for by a 2009 referendum.