With a changed recreation area in the city center on the horizon, the long circulation of pollution in Yorkville is making progress.
In May, the city received a subsidy for transport improvement of 3 million US dollars in the amount of US dollars to revive the city center, including new hiking and bike paths, improved security features and aesthetic improvements such as lighting outdoors, decorative paving stones and inputs.
The improvements are part of the planned plan for the district in the city center of hydraulic district, which hopefully hopefully mix the city planners and mix commercial developments near the Fox River.
A music stage, an event place and renovated companies and sidewalks are part of the vision for a rejuvenated district in the city center.
Before a construction begins, the area must go through a significant environmental cleaning or a renovation. The city tried to start cleaning up in 2016 and was finally able to find ahead after the purchase of the city center of FS in 2024.
The entire area is located west of Illinois Route 47 between the East Hydraulic Avenue and the East van Emmon Street.
The required clean -up work is large, with the city council on August 12, 100,000 US dollars in advice fees at Terracon Consultants, Inc. for the renovation work, including some fees for the environmental protection authority in Illinois.
The environmental impurities in the soil come from decades of agricultural and industrial use of the properties of the area.
The FS properties included a wooden hat, a feed mill, the repair of devices, the fertilizer supply, animal supply, the diesel fuel supply for local farmers and a dealer of kerosene, oil and gasoline. New pollutants from these services heard in 2004, but chemical, metal and organic contaminants remain in the soil that requires renovation.
A large part of the area has a public parking space that was first paved in 2000. As part of the rejuvenation project, the parking lot would be reduced with extended parking spaces in adjacent areas, including along the river.
Also in the hydraulic district is the former building of the Kendall County Farm Bureau, which was used as a cooling store, slaughterhouse, food supply chamber and meat processing facility. The city still has to reach an agreement with the private building on the cost sharing and planning of environmental cleaning and the rejuvenation of the location.
The city has worked with various private and public owners for decades and was looking for funding for grants to plan a procedure, said city administrator Bart Olson.
“The property that includes Ostgasse (parking lot), the FS property and parts of the Farm Bureau building have been dirty for decades,” said Olson during the meeting. “In order to clean the pollution and then receive a letter with the no-Further remediation from IEPA, the next step is to drill a series of fountains, to test the soil, the water, air in the area and then to present this report to the IEPA.”
As soon as the Iepa Yorkvilles has been reported, the city will either receive the release, move the contaminated soil or to clean it further.
“At the end of this process, we should have a plan to develop the FS ownership basically while we bought it, which makes it safe for public use,” said Olson.
The $ 100,000 approved does not include the total costs of the actual adjustment and environmental renovation solutions proposed by IEPA for the area.
The severity of environmental pollution, which was discovered in floor, gas and groundwater studies, will determine the extent of the necessary cleanup and the schedule of the rejuvenation project of the Hydraulic District in the future.