The Aurora City Council voted Tuesday to purchase the site of a recycling company along North Broadway and the Fox River.
The City Council voted 11-1 to buy the property at Pierce Street and Broadway – between North Broadway and the river – to clean up what city officials say are environmental issues there.
The parcels involved are part of Get Green, a recycling company that is currently in a bankruptcy liquidation. The city has had a federal lawsuit against Get Green since May 2023 to “clean up and stop them from discharging into the Fox River,” said Alex Alexandrou, Aurora’s chief management officer.
“We are trying to reclaim valuable riverfront,” he said.
After the lawsuit was filed last year, the company went into bankruptcy reorganization. In November 2023, a federal judge said the city could continue with its lawsuit forcing clean-up of the property.
Earlier this month, that reorganization was changed into a bankruptcy liquidation, which means the company is moving toward going out of business.
Get Green deals in a lot of different kind of metal recycling, but has a large scrap metal yard on the property. A worker at the company said Wednesday that they are not currently accepting scrap metal.
Alexandrou said the action will allow the city to make an offer for the property to the bankruptcy trustee. The ordinance says the city would use eminent domain if necessary, but likely only as a last resort.
The lawsuit the city filed against Get Green was similar to the one it filed against Fox Valley Iron and Metal across Broadway to the east. A federal judge has been supervising the issues surrounding clean-up of that property.
Alexandrou said Wednesday Fox Valley Iron has done a lot of clean-up of its site, but still has some to go.
The property on the west side of Broadway, from RiverEdge Park all the way to Illinois Avenue, has long been on the city’s master plan as mixed-use residential, retail, open space and park space along the river.
It includes the property across Illinois on the northeast corner of Illinois and Broadway where part of the city’s Public Works Department sits at the moment. That site eventually will be vacated for the new Public Works facility on the city’s far East Side.
slord@tribpub.com
