November 21, 2024
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Yorkville City Council to consider next steps in Lake Michigan water project

City council will also consider tax levy for next year

By Joey Weslo
Yorkville Mayor John Purcell (second left) and City Administrator Bart Olson (far right) address the City Council at the Aug. 27 meeting.

Yorkville Mayor John Purcell (second left) and City Administrator Bart Olson (far right) address the City Council at the Aug. 27 meeting. On Oct. 8, the city council will look at upcoming development projects and the tex levy. (Joey Weslo)

The Yorkville City Council is considering steps forward on bringing Lake Michigan water to Yorkville residents at its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 8. As part of their agreements with the DuPage Water Commission, the council is voting to approve the water purchase and sale agreement, that would quantify the project costs and amounts of water directed to Yorkville, and the intergovernmental agreement between Yorkville, Oswego and Montgomery in sharing the water facilities and infrastructure construction costs.

Work on the water infrastructure is expected to begin by early 2025. The project to bring Lake Michigan water to Yorkville has been almost a decade in the making, as the city council voted back in 2016 to transition away from sourcing water from the area’s underground aquifer, because projections showed that continued unsustainable use of the aquifer would eliminate a stable long-term water source for the region’s growing population.

According to city documents, the project “sets the community up with a sustainable water source for existing residents and businesses and allows us to recruit future commercial and industrial development into the area which should lower the tax burden for residents in the future.”

The council is also moving forward two development projects that have long been in the works. The planned 228-acre data center campus by CyrusOne is progressing after the acquisition of easements from two private landowners to construct the necessary water main loop. The easement acquisition costs are to be reimbursed by CyrusOne as part of their agreement with the city.

The site of the data center campus, which will feature nine two-story buildings and an electrical substation, was previously unincorporated land in Bristol Township before recently being annexed and rezoned away from agricultural use by the Yorkville City Council.

The other project being moved forward by the council is a proposed 23-acre solar farm to be constructed by the Chicago-based solar company Nexamp. The solar array will be built on a current 73.5 acre farming property near the southwest corner of Galena Road and Route 47. When completed, the solar farm will harvest 5-megawatts of solar energy.

City officials will also consider a new tax levy proposal at the meeting. On the table is if the new levy should include only new construction, or also reflect inflation costs.