Written by Paul & Eileen Schwake, who live on Amberwood Drive in Crystal Lake, this is Part Three of
THE BERLIN WALL OF STEEL CRYSTAL LAKE SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL’S NEW MEGA BLEACHERS
Then to add insult to injury when the 5 purple portable potties appeared for the first football game under the bleacher side facing the homeowners.
Port-a-Potties behind the new Crystal Lake South School bleachers.
And, of course, no school administrative personnel took blame for the portable potties being placed there.
Strange to say the least, because the portable potty company when delivering them will place them where they are instructed to place them.
The District 155 has completely failed in its responsibility to the surrounding community to do what is right for all concerned.
No one is above the law which includes District 155.
Only 4 to 5 football games are played at Crystal Lake High School in the fall. Only twice in our residence of over 25 years, we observed 2 games where the old grandstands where full.
Track and soccer do not draw many spectators to justify for these new mega grandstands.
A side view of the new South High School football bleachers.
Further, there is only activity on the football field during fall and spring. The football field remains empty during winter and summer months.
With Statistics like these, the new grandstands that will seat approximately 3900 spectators at a
cost of $1.18 MILLION taxpayer’s money is not justified.
To date, NO 3900 spectators attended the recent scheduled football games here at Crystal Lake South High School.
Further, we taxpayers are paying for District 155 to transport school buses round-trip from their parking lot to Central High School’s parking lot and surrounding area in the event more parking spaces at CL South High School is needed for spectators attending their football games.
We have been residing on Amberwood Drive for 25 years plus and as retirees with aging health issues, depression, anxiety and stress prevails due to our home now becoming unsalable when the
economy improves in the housing industry.
School District 155 must be held accountable for the dishonesty in not properly notifying Amberwood homeowners who are affected by this monstrosity Berlin Wall of Steel by letter before construction of the bleachers began.
Their newspaper notices never conveyed the truth of their anticipated plans just that the bleachers are to be replaced due to safety concerns.
Before the morning sun was completely blocked for neighbors of the new South High School bleachers.
Homeowners ultimately assumed the old ones would be replaced with similar bleachers along with providing seating for handicap spectators.
Not The Berlin Wall of Steel they replaced the old bleachers with.
School District 155 must be held responsible to reimbursing each and every Amberwood Homeowner $150,000 who has been affected with property value loss and the anxiety and stress they are encountering due to THE BERLIN WALL OF STEEL in our backyards.
Paul and Eileen,
although I do not know you it needs to be said I am sorry this has happened to you and your neighbors.
you know, the hobbie of “Bat Watching” can be very relaxing.
here is how you do it.
early evening u and your neighbors line your entire back property lines with massive high beamed spot lights.
point them all at another light source, are u following me?
make sure you get the angles aimed just right!
I believe u can rent such lights on an as needed basis too!
make sure u get those very tall lights like u see on the interstate when they are doing construction.
like magic, those bats will begin to swarm and fly between the light sources…..it can be very scary and chases people away and the lights can make havoc I on sporting events.
I wish u the very best.
Dave
Lol, a round of applause for you sir.
Fortunately, I do not live in this school district; but this just sounds like another school district that has way too much money available for them to spend.
When will it end?
My real estate taxes are still going up even though my property values continue to crater.
If you are mad as hell, it’s time for you to attend the school board meetings to find out what the heck they are doing.
Once again, you will note there is no video archive of school board meetings on the District 155 website.
That is indicative of an administration and/or school board which values secrecy.
Many school boards with a much smaller budget than District 155 tape their meetings and archive them on their website.
If board meetings were taped, you could see what if any discussion transpired regarding the bleachers.
Now all you have is board minutes.
Demand to the school board that District 155 tape and archive board meetings on their website.
How to Attend a School Board Meeting.
For those opposed to District 155 board approving the Tall Outdoor Bleachers very close to the property line of neighborhood residents, without providing a neighborly notification the issue was being considered.
For those whom are wondering why the height of the Tall Outdoor Bleachers was not reduced, and the width increased, so neighboring residents would not have such a Tall structure looming over their backyard.
How about attending the next District 155 School Board meeting to learn how they operate.
All that is required is to show up, sit in a chair, and listen.
You’ll get some looks from the Administration and Board, because they are not used to new citizens show up at school board meetings, but they are generally pleasant folks.
The next meeting is 7:30PM on October 22, 2013 at the Board Room, District 155 Center for Education, One South Virginia Road, Crystal Lake, IL 60014.
http://www.d155.org/SchoolBoard/Board%20of%20Education%20Posted%20Documents/BOECal2013-2014.pdf
That is a verbose URL, so here’s the path.
http://www.d155.org > School Board > Board Home Page > Board of Education Meeting Calendar.
A few days prior to the meeting, the Board will publish the agenda.
Here’s the path to the agendas.
http://www.d155.org > School Board > Board Home Page > Board Meeting Agendas.
Some days after the meeting, the Board will publish the minutes from the meeting.
Here’s the path to he meeting minutes.
http://www.d155.org > School Board > Board Home Page > Board Meeting Minutes.
If you read District 155 Board Agendas, attend District 155 Board Meetings, and read District 155 Board Minutes, you will eventually understand how they operate, even if you don’t know a single thing about District 155 or how a school board operates.
Do the same for the elementary school district.
Don’t assume anyone with a critical eye is consistently doing that on a consistent basis over an extended period of time, including the press.
What typically happens is someone shows up for awhile, gets discouraged that nothing changes, and stops attending.
In the meantime, nothing changes, salaries increase, benefits increase, spending increase, taxes increase, a referendum gets placed on the ballot, tall bleachers get installed with no warning to neighboring residents, etc.