A recent land swap between a prominent landowner and the Crown Point Community School Corporation stirred discussion between residents and board members at the latest public hearing.
Residents approached the Crown Point Schools’ Board of School Trustees on Dec. 15 to voice their concerns, raising questions about the circumstances surrounding the deal.
In November, the school corporation traded its previously owned 53 acres at 3615 E. 129th Ave. for an 80-acre property at 12501 Iowa St. belonging to Edward J. Hein. Both pieces of land are undeveloped and lie about a mile apart. The property on 129th Avenue is surrounded on the north, west and east sides by more property purchased by Hein, who is the owner of a large trucking and dairy business.
Superintendent Todd Terrill defended the land trade at the meeting, stating the school corporation followed the correct procedures.
“We followed every transparent process that we’re required to do by law to make sure that this was listed appropriately,” Terrill said at the meeting. “We went through all the proper places.”
According to information on the school corporation website, the district purchased the 129th Avenue property nearly 20 years ago as part of a long-term plan to acquire multiple pieces of land in the Winfield area in anticipation of growth.
In May, the board released a newspaper advertisement seeking trade or sale of the 3615 E. 129th Ave. property. Terrill said the decision was a result of traffic safety concerns, because the property on 129th Avenue faces U.S. 231.
“There are some real challenges that go with that land that were not necessarily a concern in 2006, one being school safety,” Terrill said. “ As you guys know, if you’ve driven on 231 headed to Hebron, that is a racetrack at times, people are flying on that road, and we would, at best, get two entrances onto that road. We had an opportunity to pursue some different land that would give us access north, south, very quickly to the east or to the west, and would allow us to have additional space.”
Terril said school officials hoped to find a parcel of land that was 70 acres or more when they listed the property for trade or sale.
“ As far as who bid and what that looked like, we followed the legal processes and that’s where we ended up with the board resolution that was passed, allowing us to pursue that,” Terrell said in the meeting. “We feel really good about the property that we’re getting and the possibilities in the future. If we need to add another school or schools or other different possible facilities, we’ve got the land now out there in a spot where we can do that.”
But some residents still feel there is something else to the story, such as Susan McKendry, of Crown Point, who gave public comment at the meeting.
“I still feel that we do not have the whole story about how the land swap occurred,” said Susan McKendry. “After the meeting, Mr. Terrell told us that he directed the school corporation attorney to start looking for a piece of property to trade for, and that’s how this all came about. But I have questions about all of that, given the history of some other dealings with (Hein) and the city of Crown Point. Property was given to the city from that same buyer (Hein), to build a new wastewater treatment plant less than a mile from that new property the school just bought from him. That gentleman has some kind of business relationship that I still don’t understand with John Lotton, which is LBL development.”
According to official documents, Hein is linked to major local developer John Lotton, in which the two men are referred to collectively as LBL Development in an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission petition filed in April 2024.
The petition references a donation of a 44-acre land plot from LBL Development to Crown Point to construct new wastewater treatment plants. The site of the proposed wastewater treatment plant lies at 121st and Iowa Street, just north of the 12501 Iowa Street property. The documents state that a donation agreement was made to ensure the wastewater treatment plant would serve LBL Development’s surrounding properties.
A dispute began when the town of Winfield petitioned to make the area a territory within Winfield’s Municipal Sewer system. However, LBL Development filed a petition to stop this from happening, citing the donation agreement between LBL Development and the city of Crown Point. The dispute is ongoing.
“And I don’t understand how the school corporation got caught up in whatever is going on with all of that dealing. The timing is very suspect,” Susan McKendry said. “Why now? Why, if they don’t have plans to build a school on that property, right now? Why did they feel they needed to trade the property right now?”
An assessment on both properties found that the 54-acre site was valued at just over $1 million and the 88-acre site was valued at about $1.4 million, which means the school corporation gained $400,000 for its real estate portfolio, Terrell said at the meeting.
However, Sam Kozaitis, of Crown Point, said he doesn’t believe the schools benefited the way they think they did. Kozaitis also raised questions at the public hearing portion of the Dec. 15th meeting.
“I think the biggest issue that I feel is deceptive is the land value between those two properties,” Kozaitis said. “I think the school got the short end of the stick on that deal because again, you’re talking about 54 acres of a prime location on 231 that could be easily developed into commercial property. Are there plans around there for development? Yes, some of which Lotton has already submitted. Lotton already submitted plans to Crown Point, 4,000 homes and 256 commercial properties, all thrown in that area because he and Hein own all that property. There’s over 1,000 acres they own between the two of them. So I think the school board took a major loss on that property exchange. I think that property, the 54 acres, was easily worth twice as much as Hein’s property, even though they keep saying, ‘Well, we got, we got 30 extra acres in a better developed area, for the school would fit better.’ But value-wise on the land, I think they lost half of their value and they only received one bid. And that was the bid Hein made.”
Dan McKendry, of Crown Point, said in light of the land swap optics, he wants to see more transparency from the school administration and city officials.
“This has been my thing: Ethics, integrity, and transparency, that’s the bottom line,” Dan McKendry said. “I don’t know if (Hein) and Lotton got together and they approached the school system and they said, ‘Hey, we want this.’ And they made a deal ahead of time, but to make it look legit and official, then they put together this bid package and, you know, quote, ‘pretend’ to take a bid. That is all just speculation, though.”
The Crown Point School Corporation said there are no current plans to build on its newly acquired property, but officials stated “the land exchange supports the district’s long-term planning and future growth needs.”
Anna Ortiz is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.