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Blackberry Oaks Golf Course says agreement near on land sale to Yorkville · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: BlackBerry Oaks golf Course says agreement near on land sale
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  to Yorkville. Written by Joey Weslow, This article is being
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  read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett.
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  When negotiations hit a rough patch, the City of Yorkville
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  approved eminent domain to acquire a strip of land along
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  Kennedy Road belonging to BlackBerry Oaks Golf Course. With one
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  last swing at an agreement, it appears both sides have
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  cleared the final hazard. As part of the Kennedy Road expansion,
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  which includes widening the pavement and adding turn lanes to
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  improve the intersection at Freedom Trail, the city has tried
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  to acquire thirty feet along the front edge of the
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  clubhouse area. The city said it needs or zero point
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  eighty four acres of permanent and temporary easement for the project.
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  City administrator Vard Olsen said the city offered the golf
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  course a fair market price of eighteen hundred dollars for
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  the stretch of land. He said the project is imperative
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  to accommodate the growing Grande Reserve subdivision. We've been trying
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  to work with them on voluntary acquisition of the property
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  for about two years, which has resulted in project delays
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  through two construction seasons at the cost of the public
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  of around seventy five thousand dollars two one hundred thousand dollars.
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  Olsen said. During the January twenty seventh City Council meeting,
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  on a split vote, the city Council authorized eminent domain
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  with the stipulation the city would try one last round
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  of negotiations with the golf course. Frank Maley of BlackBerry
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  Oaks Golf Course said attorneys for both sides are coming
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  to an agreement that should soon be concluded. He said
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  central to the golf course's initial opposition to the city's
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  request is trying to protect the front of the course
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  property from construction crews. They want to take a temporary
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  easement which would involve cutting down thirteen of our large,
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  two hundred year old oak trees. That's what we don't like.
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  Melly said. It is not even for the new road.
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  It's just a temporary easement to move their equipment. We're
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  having a hard time agreeing with that. The city is
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  going to do what the city needs to do. We
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  just want to be fairly compensated. The city said it
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  would buy new trees for the property, but losing the
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  two century year old oaks would dramatically transform the aesthetics
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  of the front of the course. The city said it
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  looked into potentially shifting the roadway east towards the subdivision
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  and away from BlackBerry Oaks. That option would add two
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  extra costs and delays because of the private and city
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  utilities that would need to be moved, the city said.
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  As part of past negotiations, the city said it offered
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  a free water hookup if the golf course agreed to
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  annex into the city. The golf course said they did
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  not want to annex into the city because of all
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  the additional taxes and expenses. Melli said the golf course
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  is looking for more than the eighteen hundred dollars offer,
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  but does not know what the final sum will be
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  for the land. The project to expand the Kennedy Road
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  and Freedom Trail intersection was initially estimated to cost around
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  one million dollars. In twenty twenty one, the city received
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  around two point eight million dollars from the developers of
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  the Grande Reserve subdivision for reconstructing Kennedy Road. Due to
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  the influx of new traffic from residents moving to the area.
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  Nearly planted oak trees will take decades to reach the
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  same heights as the trees facing demolition. A white oak,
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  the state tree of Illinois, grows at an average rate
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  of twelve to eighteen inches in height per year.