September 28, 2024
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Yorkville city council sending Rice Park equipment to the Dominican Republic

Council also moves forward with Lake Michigan water plans

By Joey Weslo
The Yorkville City Council approved final plans at their Sept. 24 meeting for a state grant to help transform the downtown district, providing greater safety and mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The Yorkville City Council approved final plans at their Sept. 24 meeting for a state grant to help transform the downtown district, providing greater safety and mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists. (Provided by The City of Yorkville)

With Yorkville High School students in attendance taking notes for civics class, the Yorkville City Council moved ahead multiple projects, including bringing Lake Michigan water to town, planning new recreational parks, and celebrating the opening of BrightFarms agricultural facility.

At the meeting Sept. 24, Mayor John Purcell celebrated the council’s approval to donate Rice Park’s playground equipment to Kids Around the World, a non-profit who refurbishes older equipment and installs it in underprivileged areas across the globe.

“This is the same firm we used with Sleezer Park, and that turned out really well,” said Purcell. “They’re going to take this out for us, save us a lot of time, and then take it to the Dominican Republic.”

The council also moved forward plans for the new inclusive playground replacing Rotary Park. Inclusive parks feature horizontal designs, as opposed to the more traditional vertical playgrounds, to enable children with disabilities greater accessibility to enjoy the playground.

“It gives kids of all abilities, their parents, their grandparents, the ability to interact in a safe environment,” said Tim Evans, Yorkville director of Parks and Recreation. “It will offer more features with a more-than-double the size play area of what we currently have there.”

Providing his own civics lesson for the students, the mayor explained why city staff are hammering out engineering agreements to transition away from Yorkville’s unsustainable water usage of the underground aquifer, and to a better solution for the town’s growing population.

“We need to figure out a long-term water plan,” Purcell said. “Our long-term water plan is to get water through Lake Michigan, but through DuPage County and the DuPage Water Commission. They’ve had Lake Michigan water for about 40 years. We’re going to tap into that and share the water.”

The city council approved engineering agreements with the DuPage Water Commission regarding approved materials and locations of water mains that will be shared by all three Waterlink Communities, Yorkville, Oswego, and Montgomery, who are jointly sharing the project’s costs.

The council also approved final plans for their Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program (ITEP) grant application, including constructing a one-way street in the downtown district to increase safety for pedestrians. The plans further include multi-use paths, enabling bikers and pedestrians greater connectivity to the area’s already established travel path system.

Sharing with the students some of the fun aspects of public policy, Purcell said what a joy it was to finally be able to tour the 100-acre BrightFarms agricultural facility after city staff had been involved with the planning.

“We did a tour about two weeks ago, it’s pretty amazing,” said Purcell. “I can’t believe how automated and clean it is. We had to put on these little outfits, I felt like I was a doctor. We wore little booty things over our shoes. We even got to take home some lettuce.”