Yorkville City Council OKs $3 million sewer extension project to serve lettuce farm, Eldamain Road corridor

YORKVILLE – With construction underway for an industrial-scale lettuce farm at Eldamain and Corneils roads, plans are moving ahead to extend sanitary sewer service to the area.

The Yorkville City Council on Oct. 25 approved a $3 million contract for the construction of the sewer line, which will extend along Corneils to Eldamain from a point more than a mile to the east.

The city will kick in $150,000 for the cost of the project and the Yorkville Bristol Sanitary District also will make a contribution, but the bulk of the cost will be paid by lettuce grower Bright Farms.

The 100-acre site at the northeast corner of Eldamain and Corneils is being developed into a greenhouse lettuce production facility.

Bright Farms ultimately plans to build four 8-acre greenhouse “modules” and employ about 200 people to grow the salad greens, which it will sell to restaurants and other retailers in the area.

The first of the four gigantic lettuce greenhouses is expected to be in operation next year.

How quickly the company builds out its greenhouse plan will depend on how rapidly the market absorbs the tons of lettuce that the grower expects to produce.

The grower is expected start with one of the mammoth greenhouses and then add a new one about every two years, depending on sales.

For Yorkville officials, the sanitary sewer line extension is considered critical not only for the lettuce farm project, but to attract and serve other businesses along the Eldamain Road corridor.

City leaders view Eldamain Road as a future economic engine for the community, especially with a Fox River bridge to the south expected to open next year.

The city plans to recapture some of its cost for the sewer project when new industrial users along Eldamain Road pay hookup fees for the sewer service.

Bright Farms will be required to improve Corneils Road between Eldamain and Beecher roads. Access to the lettuce farm will be from Corneils Road.

Under the agreement, Bright Farms will complete the Corneils improvement between Eldamain and its access driveway before the facility opens. The section between the access point and Beecher must be finished within three years of the opening.

Bright Farms started in rural Pennsylvania with a business model of growing fresh, local lettuce and herbs to be shipped directly to retailers within 24 hours for a longer shelf life and smaller carbon footprint.