Lyons residents oppose Aurora annexation

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

While City of Burlington staff moves forward with annexing land into the city and funding sewer and water improvements for a planned Aurora Health Care surgery center, a group of Lyons residents are not happy with the proposal.

Residents of Spring Valley Road – where the planned site for Aurora’s ambulatory surgery center is located – raised a number of sore points at Tuesday night’s Plan Commission meeting.

The commission unanimously approved both the annexation of the land and the re-zoning of it, allowing the project to move forward.

City Administrator Kevin Lahner also made a presentation about the new TIF district Monday night to the Burlington Area School District School Board. The TIF district – which will be the city’s fifth and run for seven years – will fund between $3-4 million of water and sewer work to extend those utilities out to the planned site on Spring Valley Road.

However, the TIF district was one of the few things the citizen’s on Spring Valley Road didn’t bring up at the meeting Tuesday night. Those residents were concerned about everything from quality of life to losing property.

“It’s going to have a very devastating effect on my quality of life,” Lou Haske said of the proposed changes, adding that she and the other residents were against the annexation and wanted to know what they could do against it. Lahner said that she had legal rights under state statutes, but wasn’t sure of the details, and that she was participating in the process now.

Another resident, Scott Dix, then asked where the entrances will be to the surgical center. Lahner said they haven’t seen the site plan yet, and Dix expressed frustration that he didn’t know what came when in the process, and that answers weren’t available.

Lahner again said the residents would have a say during the public hearing process, but that nothing had been decided yet.

Another man questioned where the sewer and water would be going in. Lahner explained that it would, as per plans discussed earlier this year, that both Highway 36 and the parcel used by KW Precast would be used.

Lahner also added that anyone who wanted to be annexed into the city to use city sewer and water could make that request.

There were numerous concerns raised about land being purchased by Aurora, as well as additional rural land being turned into commercial uses surrounding the medical facility.

Lahner said the topic hadn’t been discussed, and then Mayor Bob Miller got involved.

“Can they? Probably. But will they? I have no idea,” the mayor said.

Haske, along with about 10 other residents, all seemed to have the same opinion.

“As a homeowner in that neighborhood, I’m very concerned,” Haske said. She asked city staff what the planned use for the facility would be.

“The plan is to build a medical complex there,” said Lahner. The woman then asked what she can do to oppose that, and whether residents could review the plans for the facility.

Both Lahner and Miller said the city has yet to receive a site plan from Aurora.

A request for comment and further information from Aurora went unanswered earlier this week.