Oswego OKs agreement concerning water main project

The Oswego Village Board recently approved a recapture ordinance to recoup money for public improvements needed to extend a looped water main for the Whitetail Ridge Golf Club’s planned golf dome in the village.

 Trustees earlier this year approved plans for a proposed 66- to 69-foot-high air-supported golf dome on vacant land just west of Orchard Road. Whitetail Ridge Golf Club, an 18-hole public golf course in Yorkville, was granted village approval of a special use permit and final planned unit development to build and operate an indoor golf dome and restaurant at the southwest corner of Lewis Street and Station Drive in Oswego.

The facility will offer rounds of golf played on virtual courses, practice sessions with digital ball flight analysis, a practice putting green, equipment sales, golf lessons and training, food and beverage service and more, according to information provided to the village by developers.

The Village Board in May approved an economic incentive agreement with Whitetail Ridge Golf Club to extend an 8-inch looped water main from the site to the west side of Station Road, according to a staff report to trustees. As part of the economic incentive agreement, the village agreed to pay about half of the cost of extending the water main, Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo told trustees. 

The property does not have immediate access to a water main, Di Santo said. The property is in the center of a vacant area so the developer had the burden to extend the water main across two vacant lots and its own lot, he said. 

“Because of the extraordinary public infrastructure demand, the Village Board agreed to pay half of the water main loop because it would help with development to the north and south,” Di Santo said. 

The estimated cost to the developer of the water main project is approximately $200,000 to $250,000 based on bids received for the work, village officials said.

The costs would have likely been lower if the properties to the north and south were already developed and had water already available at the property lines, village officials said.

 As part of the incentive agreement, trustees directed staff to establish a recapture ordinance to recoup $112,000 of the public investment being provided to the golf club to extend water service to the property. The recapture would apply to the properties immediately to the north and south of the golf dome site, village officials said.

Per the terms of the ordinance, the village would be able to recoup one half of the total incentive amount of $112,000 from each property to the north and south for a total of $56,000 per property. 

“It is equally proportioned for the property to the north and south,” Di Santo said. 

To ensure the village would be reimbursed from each neighboring property, staff recommended having the recapture ordinance recorded with Kendall County.

 The reimbursements would be triggered once the neighboring property owners request a change in use, permits for development or subdivision approval, village officials said.

Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.