YORKVILLE – The city of Yorkville is planning to issue general obligation bonds to finance the cost of land acquisition and construction for a new Yorkville Public Works facility.

Late last year, the city 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.

Construction of the facility is estimated at between $23 million and $30 million, depending on the size and design of the new building, which will become home to the city’s public works and parks and recreation departments and their vehicle fleets.

The Yorkville City Council on Jan. 24 approved a resolution declaring its intent to issue bonds for the project.

Yorkville Finance Director Rob Frederickson said passage of the resolution will allow the city to use proceeds from the bond sale to reimburse the city’s Building and Grounds Fund for the $1.35 million land purchase price. Furthermore, the resolution allows the city to issue the bonds at any time through July 2024.

“As currently drafted, the reimbursement resolution shows a proposed principal amount of $32 million, which includes an estimated $30.1 million for construction,” Frederickson said.

However, the amount of the bond issue could be smaller depending on the council’s decisions on the size of the project.

Aldermen now are considering two proposed designs for the facility. The principal difference between the two proposals is the size of the vehicle garage space and the cost.

Architect Chris Hansen of Aurora-based Kluber Architects and Engineers recommends that aldermen decide between the two and be ready to 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.

The first proposal, dubbed the “combined” plan, would be a 87,540-square-foot building and have a total construction cost between $28 million and $30 million. 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 100 of the public works and parks departments’ vehicles and equipment and 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.

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

Under both plans, vehicles would be driven into the garage at one end and out through the other.

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, 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.

Currently, the city’s street and water department vehicles operate from crowded, worn out buildings at 610 Tower Lane, a location 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.