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Resident urges village to pursue riverfront easements to create continuous park space
Summary
At the public forum, Mr. Bredemus proposed a 'Burnham plan' for the Fox River riverfront between the 34 Bridge and Mill Road, suggesting easement purchases rather than full property acquisition and offering an illustrative cost of $100 per riverfront foot (about $528,000 for one mile). The board listened but did not take action at the meeting.
During the public forum of the March 3 Village Board meeting, resident and Aurora Beacon community correspondent Mr. Bredemus urged the board to consider a long-term plan to convert riverfront properties along the Fox River into public park space. He described a vision similar to classic municipal planning approaches and said the idea had been discussed previously with the planning commission.
Bredemus recommended buying easements from property owners instead of purchasing full parcels, arguing that easements could expand public access without the much higher cost of fee simple acquisition. To illustrate, he offered a back-of-envelope example: for roughly one mile of riverfront (5,280 feet), a payment of $100 per riverfront foot would total about $528,000. He also noted flood-plain constraints in portions of the area following the 1996 flood.
He said the plan could improve access for pedestrians and fishermen and would likely require grant funding to be feasible. The board thanked him for the presentation; no formal action or staff assignment was recorded in the meeting minutes from that public comment period.
"I'm proposing... that you go and buy an easement from the current property owners for some set price in the end," Bredemus said, offering the $100-per-foot example as an illustrative financing approach.
