ROCHELLE — At its meeting Monday, the Rochelle City Council unanimously approved a resolution earmarking $3.7 million in Northern Gateway tax increment financing (TIF) funds for a future Illinois Route 251 reconstruction and expansion project. 

The deteriorating portion of the state-owned Illinois Route 251 will see a widening to five lanes with bidirectional turn lanes from Fairview Drive south to the location of Starbucks in coming years. City officials meet with the IDOT quarterly to discuss the future project. The IDOT owns and maintains the route and city officials hope to see it reconstructed as soon as possible. City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said Monday the hope is for the project to start in 2027. 

The city’s portion of the work detailed Monday included $65,000 in roadway lighting engineering costs, $90,000 in water main improvements/replacement engineering design costs. $925,000 in water main replacement construction, $1.225 million in roadway lighting construction, $640,000 in city participation in sidewalk/shared use path construction, $295,000 in city participation in new traffic signals, $225,000 in construction engineering costs, $330,000 in construction contingency funds and $6,324 in banners. 

Well 13

The council unanimously approved a resolution designating a parcel for the future drilling and development of a new water well (Well 13). Rochelle Municipal Utilities currently owns and operates five wells. When all are in commission, RMU has the capability to pump 9.6 million gallons of water per day. The city’s max peak consumption is 4.5 million gallons per day. EPA guidelines require that with the largest pump offline, a city would be able to meet their peak demand. 

Currently the city’s largest pump, located at Well 8, is offline as it builds an iron filtration plant at that site. If another well pump or equipment experienced a failure requiring a well to go offline, RMU would narrowly meet its max peak demand. To confidently meet this demand, increase redundancy, and relieve other well pumps and equipment, the city has chosen to drill an additional well. Well 13 would allow for future development on the northeast side of Rochelle and mitigate pressure issues from dead-end water mains in the area. The two-acre parcel is currently owned by the city and has been sitting vacant for approximately 15 years.

RMU Superintendent of Water/Water Reclamation Adam Lanning said Monday that the well could be completed in 2027. On Monday the council also unanimously approved a $356,000 engineering agreement with Willett Hofmann & Associates for the project.

Bus

The council held discussion Monday on the possibility of purchasing a 12-passenger bus with capacity for two wheelchairs for city operations in the future. The city has $35,000 budgeted for a possible bus purchase.

City officials said Monday that the bus could be used for transportation of city personnel to meetings and trips, economic development tours for interested developers, as a warming center for the Rochelle Fire Department and RMU personnel, and shuttling for events. It was estimated Monday that the bus could be used 24-30 times per year and possible sponsorship space could be sold on the bus. The bus would cost $850 a year to insure. The council will hold a vote on the possible purchase in a month.

LOEZ

The council voted unanimously to approve three amendments to the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone (LOEZ) that would see it grow in size to include future projects in the area. 

The LOEZ is designed to stimulate economic growth and businesses located or expanding in the zone may be eligible for certain state and local tax incentives, such as sales tax exemptions and property tax abatements. The expansion of the LOEZ to include the land for the three projects will be considered by many boards and councils within the zone over the next several weeks.

One of the amendments is for the Byron Nuclear Plant and would total 171.92 acres. Constellation is planning to invest more than $355 million in the Byron Nuclear Plant to increase its capacity and is seeking support from the LOEZ. 

The Byron Nuclear Plant produces 2,347 megawatts of electricity each year and employs over 600 full-time employees. Constellation's investment to increase power output will include six low-pressure turbines, two high-pressure turbines, and electrical system improvements. The capacity expansion project is slated to start in spring 2026 and be finished completely by 2029. The improvements will extend the life of the Byron Nuclear Plant until approximately 2080. 

The project will be done in four separate windows and each window will increase employment by 500-600 contractual employees.

The council also approved an amendment to the LOEZ that would see 17.21 acres of land added into it for a project at HA International in rural Ogle County west of Oregon. The anticipated $10 million project will create 17 new manufacturing jobs in the short term with a hope for 56 new jobs over about 10 years. 

The final approved expansion amendment involves a project called Fun on 52 and Pub & Patio in rural Lee County on sites between Amboy and Sublette totaling around 10.61 acres. The same ownership is developing the separate entertainment sites in an area of Lee County with heavy visitor traffic including Woodhaven Lakes and many campgrounds in that area. 

Fun on 52 would be a family-oriented amusement complex with golf activities and go karting. Pub & Patio would be a bar and grill restaurant near the gate to Woodhaven Resort. The timeline for the completion is late 2025 for Pub & Patio and late 2027 for Fun on 52 with about 20 new jobs at each location. Both projects total $6 million. 

The LOEZ currently has 1,516.67 acres of unused space available for expansion amendments. If the three expansion amendments are approved, 1,316.93 acres will remain available in the LOEZ for future amendments. 

Liquor licenses

The council approved a resolution recognizing a change in stock ownership of a Class R-3 liquor license for The Blackstone Bar & Grill at 406 Cherry Ave. by a vote of 6-0 with Mayor John Bearrows abstaining.

Shane Erdman, the current owner of the Blackstone Bar & Grill, has relinquished the business's Class R-3 liquor license as part of the sale of the stock ownership. Daniella Swaab, the new stock owner of the business, is the new liquor license holder. 

The council also unanimously approved an upgrade in liquor license from Class C to Class P-2 for the Shell Station at 505 W. Illinois Route 38. That business will now be able to sell packaged liquor after previously only being able to sell beer and wine.

RMU

The council unanimously approved an extension to its RMU utility assistance program through April 2027. The utility assistance program offers a $500 bill credit to residential households in need once per year. To qualify, combined gross income for all adults permanently living at the residence must be at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines for the previous 30 days.

In 2024, the city assisted 216 households with $108,000. The program is funded through the sale of renewable energy credits.