Yorkville City Council considers plans for new public works facility; cost estimates range from $23M to $30M

Yorkville officials have shelved a space needs analysis for potential improvements to the city's public works facility on Tower Lane, above, due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

YORKVILLE – Aldermen are considering two concept plans for construction of a new Yorkville Public Works facility.

The city recently completed the $1.35 million purchase of a 12-acre site at the west end of Boombah Boulevard in a business park just west of North Bridge Street (Route 47) on the city’s north side.

The nearly 100 dump trucks, snowplows, trailers, mowers, end loaders and other pieces of heavy equipment operated by the Public Works Department and the Parks and Recreation Department would be housed at the new garage.

The building will include administration offices, meeting rooms, a locker room and changing areas, a vehicle maintenance area and storage space. A salt dome and a fueling station also would be constructed on the property.

Architect Chris Hansen of Aurora-based Kluber Architects and Engineers presented the Yorkville City Council with the two concept plans at its Dec. 13.

The principal difference between the two proposals is the size of the vehicle garage space and the cost.

The first proposal, dubbed the “combined” plan, would be a 87,540 square foot building and have a total construction cost of between $28 million and $30 million, Hansen said.

The second, “blended” proposal would be a 70,325-square-foot building with a total construction cost of between $23 million and $25 million.

Both plans would accommodate all of the public works and parks department vehicles and equipment.

The larger, combined plan would allow for a 20% increase in the two fleets, accommodating the city’s anticipated growth over the next 20 to 30 years, while the blended plan would not.

“The blended plan doesn’t allow much room for growth,” Hansen said, explaining that any additional vehicles would have to be parked outside.

Under both plans, vehicles would drive into the garage at one end and out the other, Hansen said.

The combined plan includes a large area for parks department equipment allowing for long trailers with lawn mowing equipment to remain hooked up to the trucks pulling them, for a more efficient operation.

Under the blended plan, the linear shape of the garage would require parks and recreation crews to disconnect the trailers when parking in the building.

The city could build the blended plan first and then in perhaps 10 years construct an addition to the garage, but projected price escalation would make the total project more expensive in the long run.

Hansen recommended the council select a concept, have plans drawn and seek construction bids next summer in anticipation of starting construction in 2024.

Work on the project would take 14 to 18 months to complete, he said.

Currently, the city’s street and water department vehicles operate from crowded, worn out buildings at 610 Tower Lane, a location easily identified by the water tower that looms over the center of the city.

Meanwhile, the parks department vehicles are based in a garage at 185 Wolf St. in an industrial park just east of Route 47 and south of the Bristol-Kendall Fire Station No. 1.

Public Works Director Eric Dhuse said the public works and parks department vehicles can be operated and maintained more efficiently at a single location.

Dhuse said he favors the larger, combined plan. So did Mayor John Purcell.

“I’d like to do the bigger one if we can afford it, but the smaller option is better than what we have now,” Purcell said.