Hillside Elementary Sale

This Tuesday the Elmbrook School board will be selling the property that was formerly used by Hillside Elementary.  This property is on the western side of Brookfield near the border of the Town of Brookfield.

Fiscally, this is a good decision as the annual maintenance to upkeep the building and grounds is over $30k and some capital improvements will need to be made in the near future to prevent collapse and create a health hazard.  These capital improvements could exceed $1 million.

In addition, the demolition cost of the building would range between $700k – $1million and we would still have some annual maintenance costs.  

The current best offer on the table is for $900k with little contingencies and should close before the end of the year.

The only caveat was the original request was to add a permanent deed restriction that the property could never be used for any 4k-12th grade school and this could include 4k day care.  

I believe that it is unfair to the community to prevent future use of this property and limit what the community and how the buyer can use this property.  

I agreed to a 10 year deed restriction, but some on the board are pushing for a longer restriction.  

Fortunately, we already voted 5-2 to attach the 10 year deed restriction with a sale, but I have a feeling that some board members will try and change the vote.  

Lastly, our other current Elementary schools have space to grow and add more students (Tonawanda with the smallest space) and the school district also owns a 30+ acre parcel just south of Swanson that could be used for a future school.