Latest / Kendall County News - Shaw Local / Yorkville debates how many 200-year-old oaks to cut down along Blackberry Oaks Golf Course for road expansion

Transcript

Yorkville debates how many 200-year-old oaks to cut down along Blackberry Oaks Golf Course for road expansion · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Yorkville debates how many two zero zero year old oaks
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: to cut down along BlackBerry Oaks golf Course for road expansion.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Written by Joey Weslow, this article is being read by
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. Thirteen heritage
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: oaks along Kennedy Road, each around two centuries old, have
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: come to symbolize the Yorkville that was, While the city's
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: rapid growth could change the future for those trees. There's
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: a chance each of the oaks along BlackBerry Oaks golf
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Course that have provided shade far before the merger of
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Bristol and Yorkville in nineteen fifty seven, will face the
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: chainsaw to make way for the city's Kennedy Road expansion.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: While several residents have spoken out against cutting down the trees,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: the city said their removal is imperative to the roadway construction.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: The Kennedy Road expansion, which includes widening the pavement and
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: adding turn lanes to improve the intersection at Freedom Trail,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: is designed to accommodate the area's increasing traffic flow due
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: to the growing Grande Reserve subdivision. The city said several
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: factors are determining how many trees will be cut down,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: including a twenty four foot wide clear zone required by
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the Illinois Department of Transportation. Mayor John Purcell said the
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: trees pose a safety hazard as several vehicles have crashed
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: into them over the years. The size of the required
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: clear zone is determined based on traffic volumes, speed limits,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: and engineering roadway features, according to city documents. City engineer
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Brad Sanderson said safe areas are established next to all
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: roadways to minimize safety concerns if a vehicle leaves the roadway.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: The city entertained different plans for how to approach the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: clear zone, with the city council agreeing to consider two
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: plans that each remove a different number of trees. The
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: first plan removes all thirteen trees from the site and
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: would rust the city around seven hundred ninety thousand dollars.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: This plan would establish a full twenty four foot clear
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: zone in compliance with the state requirements. The plan would
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: further widen the pavement on both sides of Kennedy Road,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: including larger shoulders, with milling and resurfacing for all existing
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: asphalt pavement. The second plan, the city council and city's
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: staff are entertaining includes removing five trees, saving eight, and
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: adding a guard rail for extra safety should a vehicle
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: leave the roadway. The second plan would cost the city
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: around nine hundred forty five thousand dollars. Purcell said the
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: addition of a guard rail would itself be considered a
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: hazard that drivers could potentially hit. The two different options
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: have divided the city council. Alderman Arden Joe Plocker said
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: he was in favor of chopping all the trees down,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: saying I don't feel like spending an extra million to
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: save a couple trees that are possibly dying. Poacher was
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: referencing the city's arborist evaluation that found signs of heartwood
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: decay in many of the trees. However, heartwood decay is
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: very common in older trees because the heartwood is the
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: non living part of the tree. Mature trees can survive
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: for centuries with a hollow or decaying center as long
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: as the rest of the tree remains healthy. According to
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: the University of Florida Extension alderman Kenkoch said removing the
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: trees is the best way to eliminate liability for the city.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Alderman Chris Funkhauser was in favor of the plan with
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: the guard rail that preserves several heritage trees, saying it
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: helps the city be cognizant of the safety issues at
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: hand while trying to preserve something. We don't have a
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: lot left around here. He said. He is concerned about
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: the liability, but that it should not prevent the city
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: from moving forwardward with a guard rail and preserving as
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: many heritage oaks as possible. Funkhauser said, because the root
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: system of the oaks is so large, if the city
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: removed there a few of the oak trees, they will
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: end up killing off around another thirteen twenty trees along
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: the roadway because so much of their root systems are
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: intermingled and sensitive to disturbance. Purcell said. The two plans
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: are being sent to the city's Public Works Committee for
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: further consideration before coming back before the city council for
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: a final vote. The city said it might plant new
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: trees in another area to offset what is lost. However,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: newly planted oak trees will take decades to reach the
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: same heights as the trees facing demolition. A white oak,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the state tree of Illinois, grows at an average rate
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: of twelve to eighteen inches in height per year. Resident
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Ken Mozingo said extremely few multiple century old oaks are
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: left alive in Kendall County. Mozingo said, in addition to
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: oaks serving as keystone species providing sustenance and shelter for
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: an entire ecosystem, they connect us to our past by
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: serving acting as witnesses to the history of our towns.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Mozingo said one of the burr oaks facing destruction along
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: the roadway is around two hundred and twenty five years old,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: making it thirty nine inches in diameter. He said this
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: means the tree sprouted from an acorn around the year
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: eighteen hundred, a full thirty eight years before the first
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: survey of Kendall County. Proceeding with land acquisitions, City Administrator
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: bart Olsen said the city is proceeding with land acquisition
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: negotiations for the easements along the Kennedy Road expansion site.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: The city has been trying to acquire thirty feet along
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: the front edge of BlackBerry Oaks golf courses clubhouse area,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: at one point threatening eminent domain if an agreement wasn't made.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: The city needs zero point eight four acres of permanent
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: and temporary easement for the project. Olson said stalled voluntary
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: acquisition of the property resulted in several costly project delays.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Frank Melee of BlackBerry Oaks Golf Course previously said they
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: opposed the acquisition because losing the thirteen two hundred year
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: old oak trees would drimadically transformed the nature esthetics of
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: the front of the course. The city said it looked
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: into potentially shifting the roadway east towards the subdivision and
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: away from BlackBerry Oaks. However, they determined it would add
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: too many extra costs and delays because of the private
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: and city utilities that would need to be relocated. The
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: project to expand the Kennedy Road and Freedom Trail intersection
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: was initially estimated to cost around one million dollars. The
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: project is currently slated to begin construction in the summer
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: of twenty twenty seven.