Wheatland Officials Want to Take New Building Plan to the Voters

Last year, code violations forced Wheatland Township to completely gut its existing building on 91st Street.

Now — two years after voters directed the township to renovate the existing building and abandon a plan to build a new facility — a newly elected board wants residents to consider another option they say is even more cost efficient. 

Supervisor Chuck Kern said he wants the township to move into the highway department building, 4232 Tower Ct. in Naperville.

With the current building unusable, Kern said the township is spending $60,000 per year to rent space in the strip mall anchored by Nevin’s Brewing Company. Currently, one employee for the supervisor’s office and the entire assessor’s office staff are working out of space at 12337 S. Route 59. 

On Wednesday, Kern said township officials hope to approve a resolution to host a special meeting to ask voters for directions on how to proceed after the code violations rendered the township building unusable. 

“We will present a plan to voters to sell or lease it and remodel [the highway department],” Kern said.  “We think they’re going to like [the plan] because it’s the most economical.” 

In 2011, outraged voters held a special meeting to overrule the previous township board’s plans to build a brand-new $1.5 million facility on a parcel of property on 103rd Street at Route 59.

Read: Wheatland Residents Reject All Plans for a New Town Hall

Voters instead directed the township to renovate the existing space and sell the land. The 2.2-acre property is currently listed for sale, Kern said.

Officials believe it would be cheaper to share space with the highway department, rather than renovating the old building. That’s an option that wasn’t a possibility under the previous administration, according to Highway Commissioner Mark Troyanowski.

“When they electors made their decision, they highway building wasn’t an option,” Troyanowski said. “We’re all in agreement to come together,” he said of the new township board, which was elected in April.

The voters were also not aware of the existing building’s code violations when they directed the board to remodel it, Kern said. Those issues came to light last fall. 

Kern said the township hopes to hold the special meeting of electors sometime in September.

While all required repairs have been completed on the old township building, “It’s been gutted,” Kern said. “It’s just a shell.”

Rather than spending the money to renovate it, Kern said he’d rather see the property back on the Wheatland Township tax rolls.

“It makes a lot lot of sense to put that building in the hands of someone who can use it,” he said.

Troyanowski said the highway department building, completed in 2009, can be renovated, converting surplus garage space into offices for the supervisor and assessor.

“As you can see, we have plenty of room,” he said of the 11,000-square-foot building.

Kern said his office has one staffer who plans to move from the space in the Nevin’s strip mall in the coming weeks. 

The assessor’s office, which has seven employees, would move after renovations are completed on the highway department building. Kern said the township has contracted an architect to come up with designs and cost estimates, but said the renovations could be completed by July 2014. 

Kern said voters will be presented with all the options, along with the cost estimates. 

The board is scheduled to vote Thursday on a proposal to set a date for a meeting of electors.