Yorkville City Council selects ward remap plan

YORKVILLE – Some Yorkville residents will find themselves in a different City Council ward when they go to the polls to vote in next spring’s municipal election.

The Yorkville City Council will hold a public hearing on June 28 to consider a proposed ward boundary map to reflect changes in the community’s population distribution.

The purpose of the adjustment is to make the population of each of the city’s four wards as nearly equal as possible.

Aldermen reviewed three proposed maps at their June 14 meeting and selected one of boundary plans.

“They all spread out the population evenly,” City Administrator Bart Olson told the council.

None of the proposed maps, all prepared by the city administration, would have moved a sitting aldermen from one ward to another.

The eight-member council approved a plan which shifts boundaries, primarily in the central and southern portions of the city, in order to bring the wards into compliance with the Constitutional principle of one person, one vote.

In the 2020 Census, Yorkville’s population increased to 21,533, up dramatically from the 16,921 tallied 10 years earlier.

Much of the population growth was on the north side of the city, particularly in the Grande Reserve subdivision.

The biggest changes are in store for Ward 2, which is the only ward to span both sides of the Fox River and covers the central part of the city. The ward would give up some areas and gain others.

A large portion of Ward 2 that extends to the southeast will become part of Ward 1, which is located solely south of the river.

The filing period for the spring 2023 municipal elections is expected to be in December of this year, with candidates able to circulate nominating petitions in September.

The new ward map must be approved 30 days before the start of the nominating petition process, meaning the city is running out of time.

“I just want to get it done,” Mayor John Purcell said. “We’re pushing the clock.”