ROCHELLE — At its meeting Monday, the Rochelle City Council unanimously approved a special use permit for Well 13, which will be Rochelle Municipal Utilities' newest water well. The 2.04 acres of land for the well is located directly east of 915 Technology Parkway. The land is currently owned by the city and the location was chosen to mitigate pressure issues on the northeast side of Rochelle and allow for development.

At its Jan. 27 meeting, the council unanimously approved a $356,000 engineering agreement with Willett Hofmann & Associates for the project. RMU Superintendent of Water/Water Reclamation Adam Lanning has said in the past the project will cost a total of $3.5-4 million. The well could be completed by 2027. The city drilled its last well in 2013 (Well 12). 

Storm

The council heard a presentation by Human Resources Risk & Safety Coordinator Brittney Zick during the meeting on a March 15 wind storm that caused $516,236 in damage to the RMU electric system.

That expense includes the replacement of infrastructure and the cost of mutual aid help brought in to repair the system and restore power. The city has submitted the expense to its insurance carrier and is waiting to hear an update on its claim status. Zick said the city may not go through with the claim due to its potential future impact on the city's ability to procure a risk insurance package. 

The $516,236 makes up 1.3 percent of the city's electric department’s total cash on hand. 

"I would say an expense like this is why we should have $40 million in the bank at all times," City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said. "It sounds like a lot of money, and it is. But when you run the sixth-largest electric utility in the state, that's really not that much money. One storm can come through and cost a half a million dollars. And one thing people expect when they pay their bill is for their lights to be on. I'd advocate we should continue to have a strong reserve policy for this reason."

Sidewalks

The council voted unanimously to award a $340,987 bid to Bruns Construction for the city’s 2025 sidewalk/pedestrian path improvements. The approval also includes a potential $48,000 for change order/improvement add-on work and $24,000 for city materials for related work near the project.

The sidewalk work will take place on stretches of Avenue C, Avenue D, Avenue G, South 2nd Street and South 3rd Street. City Engineer Sam Tesreau said sidewalk replacement has been ongoing in that area of town in recent years and the 2025 work will connect up pieces of recent work. 

The city's annual sidewalk replacement program is primarily funded through the city's utility tax fund and has replaced over 1.2 million square feet of sidewalk and/or other pedestrian paths, concrete curb and gutter, and hundreds of accessibility ramps over 25 years.

"This is another reason why we have the utility tax," Fiegenschuh said. "A lot of communities do not have as robust of a sidewalk replacement program as we do. Compliments to the mayor and council for continuing to support that and Sam's work on it."

Bus

The council voted 5-2 against a resolution to enter into a lease agreement for a 2024 Chevrolet 3500 Starcraft bus. Mayor John Bearrows and City Council Member Ben Valdivieso were in favor of the bus lease. City Council Members Tom McDermott, Rosaelia Arteaga, Kate Shaw-Dickey, Dan McDermott and Bil Hayes voted against the lease.

The passenger shuttle bus was estimated to cost $1,500 per month and $90,000 over the life of its lease. The city considered the bus lease for potential uses such as economic development tours, city promotion tours, shuttling residents to and from events, and transportation for staff trips. The meeting's agenda packet estimated 24-30 uses a year for a bus. 

"If we used this bus 24-30 times a year, it would still be cheaper to rent a bus for $600 per time," Tom McDermott said. "City staff using personal vehicles to drive folks around is a legitimate concern. But we have 129 city-owned vehicles already including SUVs and crew cab pickup trucks."

Bearrows detailed his thoughts in favor of the bus lease.

"The uses at this point can't be measured, because we haven't had a bus before," Bearrows said. "We've had difficulties with renting a bus in the past. It would be important for showcasing our community. I truly believe it would be utilized far more than people think. I think it's truly needed. I've been very proactive with promoting our community and I think this would be an extremely important part of that."

Proclamations

Bearrows read and presented four proclamations during the meeting including for Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week of April 13-19, Linemen Appreciation Day of April 18, and Two Lights for Tomorrow on April 18-19.

The proclamations were accepted by Jessica Cash of Shining Star Children's Advocacy Center, Rochelle Police Department Dispatch staff, RMU linemen and Council Member Tom McDermott, who works as a historian for the Flagg Township Museum, which is hosting a Two Lights for Tomorrow event April 18.