WILLOW SPRINGS, IL – The two political parties in Willow Springs – Integrity and Alliance – were unified in early 2023 in opposing Lyons Township High School’s attempt to sell its land in the village to an industrial developer.
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But that’s not the picture school board member Paula Struwing has been trying to paint.
At a board meeting three weeks ago, Struwing, a Willow Springs resident who supported the Alliance Party, said a “large contingency” of residents believed the village was making decisions on the land without consulting with the public.
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Struwing, who was appointed to the board in May, also suggested the village discuss rezoning the school’s 70 acres, which are zoned for housing and small retailers.
Her statement set off an uproar on local social media. Residents said Struwing left the door open to industrial development next to houses, a school and parkland.
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At a board meeting last week, Struwing, a high school teacher in another district, said some residents were “spinning a narrative” about her use of one word – “rezoning.” She then said she had never stated she favored industrial uses on the property.
“I’m not going to respond in any manner other than to state that I believed that the party that I supported during the election aligned more closely with my pressing issues such as the sale of this land than the other party,” Struwing said in a prepared statement.
But the evidence shows the two parties were on the same page on the land: Both loudly opposed it.
Integrity, the ruling party, prevailed in the April 2023 election over the challenging Alliance Party.
In early 2023, the Integrity-controlled Village Board adopted a resolution in favor of the land’s current zoning.
At a school board meeting in February 2023, Frank Bianco, an Alliance candidate running for the Village Board, agreed with the village’s position. He accused the school board of greed.
“You didn’t look past the greed to see the community that would be destroyed, the property values that would be destroyed, the children’s families that would be destroyed,” he said.
He called for the resignation of Superintendent Brian Waterman, who had worked behind the scenes for months to sell the land to an industrial developer.
Minutes before Bianco’s comments, Village President Melissa Neddermeyer, an Integrity member, made the same demand about Waterman.
Another Alliance candidate, Patrick Murray, expressed his support for the Village Board’s position, even as he was running against its Integrity members.
“The Village Board from Willow Springs passed a resolution: It’s going to continue to stay residential in the way it is zoned now,” Murray told the school board. “They are not going to entertain industrial use, but yet you continue to try to sell it to an industrial bidder.”
After Struwing’s comments three weeks ago, Bianco said on Facebook he opposed rezoning.
“As a candidate of the Alliance Party, myself and other Alliance Party candidates have had differences of opinions with the current administration on some issues; the one thing we were aligned on was not rezoning the LTHS land,” Bianco said on the “Neighbors of Pleasantdale” Facebook page. “We also applauded the effort the Village Board took in having a comprehensive land study done with the same result as to not rezone the land. Our views have not changed on this issue.”
During public comments in early 2023, school board members remained stone faced and said little about plans for the land.
But members talked plenty during closed meetings, with one member coming up with what he called a conspiracy theory about the opposition.
A few months later, the attorney general’s office determined the board broke the law in holding the closed sessions.
With released recordings, the public heard board members agreeing that industrial development would hurt neighbors.
Members also strategized about keeping information about the possible sale from the village of Willow Springs and Pleasantdale School District 107, whose elementary school is next to the land.
The board later ousted its law firm. The firm’s attorney advised the board to close the doors and that the high school would likely prevail in suing to overturn the current zoning.
In March 2023, the board said it abandoned its effort to sell to an industrial developer. It has since promised an open process.
Struwing has not replied to three emailed messages for comment.
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