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Yorkville saving eight 200-year-old oak trees along Blackberry Oaks Golf Course; five trees will be cut down · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Yorkville saving eight to zero zero year old oak trees
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  Speaker 1: along BlackBerry Oaks golf Course. Five trees will be cut down.
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  Speaker 1: Written by Joey Weslow, This article is being read by
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  Speaker 1: an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. With thirteen
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  Speaker 1: heritage oaks along BlackBerry Oaks golf Course facing the axe
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  Speaker 1: for the Kennedy Road expansion, the City of Yorkville devised
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  Speaker 1: a compromise. Five trees will be demolished while eight trees
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  Speaker 1: will be saved. The Yorkville City Council also agreed not
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  Speaker 1: to install a rail guard, using the money save to
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  Speaker 1: plant around fifty one hundred new trees throughout town. The
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  Speaker 1: issue proved contentious over the past few months, as several
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  Speaker 1: residents and the golf course spoke out against cutting the
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  Speaker 1: trees down. The city said that to adhere to designed
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  Speaker 1: standards established by the Illinois Department of Transportation, any hazards
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  Speaker 1: within the twenty four foot clear zone from the pavement's
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  Speaker 1: edge should be removed. The city said the i DOOT
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  Speaker 1: standards are to maximize safety. During the August eleventh City
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  Speaker 1: Council meeting, city officials agreed the new plan would still
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  Speaker 1: increase safety in the area while also preserving as many
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  Speaker 1: trees as possible. The uncertain path the trees faced was
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  Speaker 1: highlighted by Alderman Arden Joe Plocker's desire to cut down
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  Speaker 1: all thirteen trees to ensure no liability is put on
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  Speaker 1: the city. Plocher's desire for destruction was not echoed by
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the city council, with many supporting keeping
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  Speaker 1: as many trees as possible, including Alderman Chris Funkhauser, who
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  Speaker 1: previously argued for trying to preserve something. We don't have
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  Speaker 1: a lot left around here. Alderman Rusty Corneills also supported
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  Speaker 1: removing the least amount of trees. The informal discussion was
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  Speaker 1: to provide the city guidance on the direction it wishes
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  Speaker 1: to pursue. The project involves widening the pavement and adding
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  Speaker 1: turn lanes to improve the intersection at Freedom Trail. The
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  Speaker 1: project is designed to accommodate the area's increasing traffic flow
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  Speaker 1: due to the growing Grande Reserve subdivision. Before construction, the
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  Speaker 1: city must acquire thirty feet along the front edge of
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  Speaker 1: BlackBerry Oaks Golf Courses clubhouse area. The city at one
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  Speaker 1: point threatened eminent domain if an agreement wasn't made. The
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  Speaker 1: city needs zero point eight four acres of permanent and
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  Speaker 1: temporary easement for the project, according to city documents. The
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  Speaker 1: city previously looked into shifting the roadway east towards the subdivision. However,
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  Speaker 1: it determined that option would add too many extra costs
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  Speaker 1: and delays because of the private and city utilities that
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  Speaker 1: would need to be relocated. City administrator bart Olsen said
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  Speaker 1: with the area's topography, safety concerns, and the construction footprint,
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  Speaker 1: at least five trees have to be removed. The city
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  Speaker 1: originally estimated killing all thirteen trees would cost seven hundred
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  Speaker 1: ninety thousand dollars versus removing five trees and installing a
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  Speaker 1: guard rail for nine hundred and seventy thousand dollars. With
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  Speaker 1: the guard rail now mixed by a city council majority,
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  Speaker 1: the budget will stay the same and the leftover money
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  Speaker 1: that would have paid for the guard rail will go
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  Speaker 1: toward planting new trees. It's the path of lease resistance
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  Speaker 1: because it saves the most amount of trees and still
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  Speaker 1: reduces costs, which then we can use to plant new
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  Speaker 1: trees elsewhere, Olson said. Olson said within Eedot's standards, Fewer
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  Speaker 1: things within the crash zone like a guard rail, are
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  Speaker 1: better for the motoring public overall. City engineer Brad Sanderson
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  Speaker 1: of Engineering Enterprises, Inc. Of Sugar Grove said the agreed
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  Speaker 1: plan will make the roadway safer for drivers. He sees
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  Speaker 1: the added turn lanes and wider shoulders will help the
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  Speaker 1: channelization of traffic. That's crucial given the proximity of the
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  Speaker 1: school and the influx of housing being built in the area.
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  Speaker 1: The city's park tree budget for the year is currently
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  Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars. Olsen said the extra money will go
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  Speaker 1: to buying thicker and older trees to plant, which are
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  Speaker 1: more expensive to purchase. Olsen thinks the golf course will
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  Speaker 1: want some trees planted on its property as part of
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  Speaker 1: future negotiations. Construction on the project is expected to start
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  Speaker 1: in the summer of twenty twenty seven and was originally
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  Speaker 1: estimated to cost around one million dollars. Newly planted oak
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  Speaker 1: trees will take decades to reach the same heights as
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  Speaker 1: the trees facing demolition. A white oak, the State tree
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  Speaker 1: of Illinois, grows at an average rate of twelve to
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  Speaker 1: eighteen inches in height per year. Resident Ken Mozingo previously
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  Speaker 1: said extremely few multiple century old oaks are left alive
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  Speaker 1: in Kendall County. Mozingo said, in addition to oak serving
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  Speaker 1: as keystone species providing sustenance and shelter for an entire ecosystem,
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  Speaker 1: they connect us to our pass by serving acting as
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  Speaker 1: witnesses to the history of our towns.