YORKVILLE – The plan to bring a greenhouse lettuce farm to Yorkville may well depend on the city’s success in obtaining a $1 million federal grant to help pay for the extension of sanitary sewer service to the property.

Grower Bright Farms wants to build the lettuce production facility on a 100-acre site at the northeast corner of Eldamain and Corneils roads on the far northwest side of the city, north of the Menards Distribution Center.

The city has applied for a $1 million federal Community Development Block Grant to help cover the cost of the $2.8 million sewer extension.

Other financial sources negotiating over the costs include the city, the Yorkville Bristol Sanitary District and Bright Farms.

At a Yorkville City Council meeting on Feb. 22, Alderman Dan Transier asked Bright Farms Project Developer Sean O’Neill the question that was on everyone’s mind: What happens if the city does not receive the grant money?

“It would cause a ripple in our budget,” O’Neill replied, but not ruling out the project if the grant is not obtained.

City officials are eager to see the lettuce farm project come to Yorkville for the jobs and property tax revenue it will bring to the community.

O’Neill told the council it will start with one of the gigantic greenhouses and then add a new one about once every two years, depending on how quickly the market absorbs the grower’s product.

When fully developed, the production facility is expected to employ about 200 workers, O’Neill said.

Beyond the new jobs, Yorkville officials want to extend the sanitary sewer line to serve other businesses they hope the city will be able to attract to the Eldamain corridor.

The city expects to recapture some of its costs when new industrial users along Eldamain pay hook-up fees for the sewer service.

Meanwhile, aldermen are keeping a close eye on the grower’s plan to drill a well to water the lettuce plants, because it cannot use chlorinated city water. A water-use study is planned.

O’Neill said the farm will use recapture methods to conserve water use, and to collect rainwater as well.

“We want to be good stewards of the water,” O’Neill told the council.

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.