Yorkville mayor looks ahead to 2024

Yorkville officials have been working to keep up with the city’s growth and provide services for the increasing population, which will continue to be the main focus in 2024, Mayor John Purcell said.

The population of Yorkville, officially pegged at 21,533 in the 2020 Census, was up to about 25,000 in 2023, an increase of more than 16% in the past three years.

Residential development has been booming in Yorkville, with between 300 and 400 new home permits per year since 2020. Purcell said he expects this trend to continue in 2024, with many neighborhoods still being built out and plenty of space for new developments.

Purcell said because of the rapid growth, the city’s biggest challenges are staffing and keeping up with the demand for services. He said the people and businesses of Yorkville don’t want city officials interfering too much, so he sees the city’s role as maintaining a healthy environment that continues to foster that growth.

“To me, it’s kind of simple,” Purcell said. “Our job is to keep the place safe, take care of the roads and provide services.”

Since Purcell was elected mayor, city staff has increased from 70 full-time employees to almost 90. Of the services provided, the city has improved several of its parks and added some new ones. Currrently, Kiwanis Park is having its playground equipment replaced, and should be open for the summer along with the newly constructed playground at Countryside Pavilion Park.

Purcell said the city also has worked hard in recent years to create more community events, festivals and holiday celebrations, as well as ramp up police services.

To keep up with the growth, the city has been working to improve its infrastructure in several ways, including tapping into Lake Michigan water. Yorkville is working along side Oswego and Montgomery municipal officials to obtain a permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to tap into Lake Michigan for its drinking water supply through the DuPage Water Commission.

The Lake Michigan water sourcing project has been in the works for years and the city recently received IEPA approval, but the lake water still is several years from reaching Yorkville faucets. While residents will not notice any changes this year, the city expects to receive more accurate cost estimates, chose a preferred route and acquire land for the deal in 2024.

Purcell said there are many road repairs scheduled for 2024, the biggest of which is the widening of Route 47 from Kennedy Road to Sugar Grove. The IDOT project will be done in segments, and residents should see utility work begin along the route in 2024.

One of the biggest recent developments is the new municipal building and police station at 651 Prairie Pointe Drive, which was completed last year. The police department and city officials moved in last April, and Purcell said only minor additions such as A/V systems are left to be installed.

Purcell said the building cost about $10.5 million to build, and provides plenty of space for city staff, the police department and the future growth of each. He said he expects the building to accommodate both departments for the next 30 years, and the adjacent city-owned vacant lot will allow for future expansion when that time comes.

Another big undertaking for the city is the construction of a new public works facility. The first step of the project was the city’s purchase of a vacant 12-acre lot at the west end of Boombah Boulevard, just west of Route 47 on the city’s north side, for $1.35 million. Construction is expected to cost about $30 million.

Currently, the city’s street and water department operate from the crowded buildings at 610 Tower Lane. The new lot still is vacant, but Purcell said they are hoping to finalize a design agreement this spring, approve a construction bid by fall and possibly start foundation work by the end of the year. Once construction begins, work is expected to take about 18 months to complete.

Purcell said the quality business owners in town and staff such as community development director Krysti Barksdale-Noble make his job easy when it comes to development. He likened Noble to the city’s matchmaker, pairing interested businesses with available locations in the city.

Purcell said one of the most common requests the city gets from residents is for new restaurants. The highly anticipated restaurant The Vault recently opened downtown, and Station One Smokehouse, a popular BBQ restaurant, expanding from Plainfield is expected to open before spring.

New farming practices have been making their way into Yorkville, and they look very different from the corn and soy bean fields Yorkville was built on.

Bright Farms 100-acre lettuce farm began construction last year and is expected to be complete and operational this summer. The farm features four 8-acre greenhouses on Eldamain Road.

Residents also can expect to see work on the recently approved solar farm development off Beecher Road begin this summer. New Leaf Energy will construct the 9,700-panel solar farm just north of the BNSF Rail Road on the northwest side of the city.