ROCHELLE — At its meeting Monday, the Rochelle City Council unanimously approved a resolution from Utility Dynamics Corporation for a utility relocation project at the intersection of Flagg Road and 20th Street for $501,170. 

The utility relocation project comes as the city and Ogle County will soon be improving and widening the intersection. Utility Dynamics Corporation was the lone bid received. The bid was $435,800 with a 15 percent contingency for possible extra work. The bid was $167,190 and 27.7 percent below the engineer's estimate. 

Rochelle Municipal Utilities Superintendent of Electric Operations Blake Toliver said the utilities will be run underground and the work must be done before the intersection can be reconstructed. He said work could begin in the coming weeks and will be completed before May 1, 2025, so intersection work can be done following it. 

Moratorium

The council unanimously approved an ordinance extending a moratorium limiting the number of class B (bar) liquor licenses and the issuance of any new Class B liquor licenses until May 1, 2027. 

The moratorium was originally approved in January 2022 to address concerns over an increase seen in video gaming machines in city limits. The moratorium sought to control the expansion of gaming establishments tied to class B licenses. 

The city cannot control whether a Class B licensee can get a gaming license, but it can control the number of Class B liquor licenses in the city, which is a prerequisite to apply for a gaming license. 

"Before we put the moratorium on, we could see the numbers weren't changing as far as total dollars, they were just more spread out," Mayor John Bearrows said. "We felt we were saturated with gaming and we didn't need any more. I'd like to see this extended."

The moratorium will not impact current Class B liquor license holders, who will remain exempt from the restriction. However, should a Class B license be revoked, relinquished, or otherwise vacated, the total number of active Class B licenses within the City will remain capped at 10. The ordinance specifically pertains to Class B liquor licenses and does not impose any restrictions on the issuance or regulation of other types of liquor licenses, such as those for restaurants, hotels, or other venues.

RMU

The council unanimously approved two more expenditures for the RMU electric department during the meeting. It first approved a change order for BHMG Engineers on a power plant feeder exit design project for an additional $31,100. The total for the design work is now $117,900. The project will reroute feeder exits from RMU's generation plant underground to improve reliability. 

The council also approved the $46,865 purchase of Hylite poles and fixtures from Wesco Distribution for the Rochelle Little League softball field. The city will purchase the equipment up front, and split the cost of it three ways with the Rochelle Little League and Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District ($15,621 each). Rochelle Little League recently approached RMU about the softball field lights being in need of upgrades. 

"As part of some community outreach and engagement, we'd like to help them purchase new light fixtures and poles for the field and assist with the installation," Toliver said. "I think this will be a great project. These lights have better output and will save energy and there's no warmup time. They'll be on galvanized steel poles that will be long lasting.” 

Rochelle Little League delivered an $8,000 check as the down payment on its portion.

The city will invoice the Park District in early 2025 for their full $15,621.67 payment and the Little League in early 2026 for the remaining $7,621.67. Throughout 2025, the Little League will fundraise and submit grant applications to cover the remaining portion.

The lights will be installed in the spring of 2025, before the start of the Little League season. It will take approximately two weeks to install them and volunteers may be helpful in the process.

Truck

The council unanimously approved the purchase of a used 2020 Kenworth T880 semi truck from CIT Trucks for $78,473 for its street department. As part of that price, the city will be trading in its 2009 Freightliner Classic semi truck for $7,000. 

The city utilizes a semi truck for a variety of activities including brush collection, tree and brush removal, fall leaf collection, weekly and quarterly appliance and electronic recycling programs and events. The street department also uses a semi-truck to transport city equipment such as excavators, loaders, asphalt paver, roller, as well as, haul construction materials and supplies such as soil, rock, pipe and structures in and out of construction sites.

Anderson

Ahead of his retirement on Dec. 31, City Economic Development Director Jason Anderson made a presentation to the council recapping his 20 years of service to the city. 

Anderson’s 20 years have has included working with prospective and current businesses, working with legislators, working on improving infrastructure to attract development, and overseeing the city’s railroad and airport. The City of Rochelle has seen over $125 million in infrastructure funding over the past two decades including bridges, railroad, water and sewer in efforts to bring economic growth. 

"The city and its leadership have a great deal to be proud of," Anderson said. "It's been a privilege and a pleasure to serve you as your economic development director. The time has come to turn the page and begin to write the next chapter in Rochelle's pursuit of being probably one of America's finest cities."

Employees

During the meeting, the council heard new employee introductions for the RMU Electric Department. New to the department are Electric Linemen Sean Kessler and James Turcato, and Kaleb Knight of RMU Generation Operation/Maintenance.