After trying for almost two years to purchase part of Blackberry Oaks Golf Course for expanding Kennedy Road, the city of Yorkville is reaching for another club in its bag – eminent domain.

The impasse between the city and club centers on 0.84 acres of perspective right-of-way and 0.11 acres of temporary easement of the golf course’s property. The proposed easement is 30-feet by 1,225-feet.

The city has offered the golf course $1,800 which the city says is based on an “estimated fair market value cost,” according to city documents.

The city’s total project to expand Kennedy Road and Freedom Trail intersection was initially estimated to cost around $1 million. The project includes widening the pavement and adding turn lanes to “improve the safety of the intersection.”

The city argues the near two years of failed negotiations with the golf course has resulted in added costs of $75,000 to $100,000 because of pushed back construction dates and inflationary costs.

“As a result of the ongoing project delay, status of fixed funding for the project, and need to improve the capacity and profile of the roadway to improve safety, staff is requesting authorization to proceed to eminent domain on the total of 0.95 acres parcel, if necessary,” staff said in city documents.

The city said in addition to the money, it has offered “accommodations for tree replacement and free water service to the property,” according to city documents.

Staff is undergoing one more final round of negotiations with the golf course “for a voluntary acquisition before proceeding,” if the request for eminent domain is approved by City Council during its Jan. 27 meeting.

In 2021, the city received around $2.8 million from the developers of the Grande Reserve subdivision for reconstructing Kennedy Road due to the influx of new traffic from residents moving to the area.

In the wake of the initial failed negotiations with the golf course, the city looked at potentially shifting the roadway east towards the Grande Reserve subdivision and away from Blackberry Oaks.

The city deemed that option less desirable because it would come into contact with many private and city utilities that would need to be moved. This would add costs and delay the project another one to two years, adding even more inflationary costs.

Even shifting the roadway east would require a chunk of the golf course’s property.

For the ordinance to pass it requires a majority approval from City Council.