Politics & Government
Yorkville Poised to Reject Kennedy Trail Grant
Aldermen in the city's Public Works Committee voted 3-1 to reject a $1.38 million grant that required a $357,320 match from the city.
City leaders are moving forward with along route 47 , but a committee voted to halt plans for a bike trail along Kennedy Road, where a woman was killed in 2009 biking with her daughter.
The City Council’s Public Works Committee voted 3-1 Tuesday not to accept a $1.38 million state grant for a trail along Kennedy Road. The grant would have required the city to provide $357,320 for the project.
City leaders were researching on Friday if a City Council vote was needed to reject the grant or if the committee vote accomplished it, according to The Beacon-News.
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Voting against accepting the grant were Public Works Committee Chairman George Gilson Jr., Committee Vice Chair Jackie Milschewski and Committee Member Larry Kot. Committee Member Diane Teeling cast the lone vote in favor of accepting the grant money.
State officials were asking city leaders to agree to pay for engineering work associated with the project, with the state paying up to $190,240 and the city paying $47,560, according to a memo by City Administrator Bart Olson.
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Gilson, a Ward 1 alderman, did not immediately return a call for comment Saturday morning.
Teeling, a Ward 4 alderman, said she voted in favor of paying for the engineering and accepting the grant largely because many Autumn Creek subdivision residents she spoke with during the spring campaign supported it.
“We got an 80 percent grant; there were other grants we could have applied for to help with that 20 percent,” Teeling said. “I think people in that area wanted the trails, and it’s in my ward.”
Residents also supported the trail in light of the fatal accident in which a woman was struck and killed along Kennedy Road while biking with her daughter, according to The Beacon-News.
The city, which won the grant in October 2010, was among 120 projects to receiving funding in that grant cycle, according to The Beacon-News. Almost 400 projects were considered, The Beacon-News reported.
The 2.72-miles of trail would have run along Kennedy Road from Route 47 to Mill Road, which is just south of Galena Road.
There is a sidewalk along a portion of that section of Kennedy Road. The sidewalk sits on the south side of Kennedy Road from Route 47 to near Christy Lane.
Agenda materials and a voice recording of the Public Works Committee meeting are available on the city's website here.
