RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD Also serving North Riverside ONLINE AT rblandmark.com
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Vol. 31, No. 41
October 12, 2016
@R @RBLandmark
Down on the farm
D95 clarifies S.E. Gross renovation plan PAGE 3
LTHS Transition program teaches students to raise food
Brookfield man charged with stalking PAGE 5
PAGE 6
Brookfield makes final bid to end RBHS suit
BAT-TASTIC
High school has until Nov. 25 to take or leave parking lot deal By BOB UPHUES Editor
Brookfield’s village board voted Oct. 10 to have its attorney convey what is essentially a take-it-or-leave-it offer to settle the lawsuit Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208 filed against the village last year over the village’s denial of a parking lot to be built on school-owned land north of Hollywood School. At Monday night’s village board meeting Brookfield President Kit Ketchmark publicly outlined the terms of the village’s offer and put an expiration date of Nov. 25 at 5 p.m. on it. After that date, said Ketchmark, the “legal process, started by the high school, will play itself out.” The village is offering to allow the school to build a 45-space parking lot and enter into a long-term lease on the 108-space Rockefeller Avenue parking lot. In addition, the village would expedite the planning and zoning process needed to approve a zoning variance and a special use permit. In a phone interview Tuesday morning, Ketchmark said the offer is timed to avoid what will start to be very costly litigation once the formal discovery process begins. “The reason is simple,” said Ketchmark. “Costs are really going to start going up for everybody. The idea is to come to the agreement before the costs start going up.” See LAWSUIT on page 9
WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer
Russell Cunningham gets up close and personal with a fruit bat during the Flying Fox Conservation Fund’s presentation on the importance of bats and their contributions to the ecosystem at the Brookfield Public Library on Oct. 8. For more photos, visit online at www.RBLandmark.com.
D96 zeros in on facilities master plan
School board aims to choose architectural firm later this month By TOM VOGEL Contributing Reporter
School board officials remained split last week over a choice between two architecture firms vying to devel-
op a Master Facilities Plan for Riverside Elementary School District 96. The school board faces a host of lifesafety and ADA accessibility issues at its five schools. In addition, with enrollment continuing to crowd class-
rooms, the school board is also pondering ways to accommodate students. The discussion comes two weeks before a formal vote, which is expected See D96 on page 9
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