Kendall County officials weigh contractor’s donation offer to settle dispute over bridge demolition

A resolution could be in sight for the Kendall County Forest Preserve’s longstanding dispute with the construction firm that demolished the Millbrook Bridge, with commissioners set to weigh a donation to Hoover Forest Preserve in Yorkville in lieu of a reduced bill.

Forest Preserve Executive Director Dave Guritz said “D” Construction has been unwilling to reduce a $285,000 invoice for the historic bridge’s demolition that did not go according to plan last August. County officials have claimed the construction firm placed heavy machinery on the bridge ten times the maximum weight recommended by an engineering report, prompting a collapse and emergency demolition.

County officials took issue with the unchanged bill back in January and have not yet paid for the demolition. In meetings with forest preserve officials, the Coal City-based company said it is willing to donate a project to the forest preserve district.

“We see that as a good opportunity for improving a forest preserve area and allowing potentially the charges to go through,” Guritz said during a meeting Tuesday, July 20. “That decision remains to be determined.”

The forest preserve is eyeing two potential improvements at Hoover Forest Preserve at 11285 W. Fox Road in Yorkville. The improvements could include installing an asphalt road over a gravel path near the preserve’s north parking lot. The other project would improve multi-use asphalt trails. Each improvement is estimated to cost $50,000.

“We’d like to do both,” Guritz said, adding that replacing the gravel path would be the priority of the two.

“The way to look at this is if 50,000 represents 10% of that overall cost for removing the bridge, that’s a good compromise in terms of providing something of benefit to the public for what is seen as a truncated project effort at the Millbrook bridge,” Guritz said.

While county board members who serve on the forest preserve commission did not comment on the proposal Tuesday morning, Guritz said the district would need to reach consensus on both the proposal and how to pay the existing invoice.