ROCHELLE — The City of Rochelle’s 2024 work included the addition and replacement of public safety staff, preparation for a 2025 downtown-area improvement project, the establishment of a new tax increment financing (TIF) district for the former site of Sullivan’s Foods, and new intergovernmental agreements. 

City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh spoke with the News-Leader on Dec. 18 and recapped the year that was for Rochelle. 

Along with filling slots opened by retirements and turnover within the Rochelle Police Department, in 2024 the city expanded its firefighter ranks by three in the Rochelle Fire Department utilizing a $919,368 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant. 

RFD now has six total new firefighter positions following a new collective bargaining agreement. The expansion was made due to rising call numbers in recent years. RFD also established the rank of captain in 2024 to have more safety during fire incidents and more specific professional development among RFD personnel.

“Probably one of our biggest challenges in the past two years has been turnover in our public safety departments,” Fiegenschuh said. “When you're looking to hire a police officer or firefighter, there's a lot more requirements that have to be met before you can swear them in and get them out working. I think both chiefs have worked hard and we've met the challenge successfully. It's been challenging and rewarding. Our staffing numbers are higher than they were when I started and I'm very proud of that. We have a lot of new staff and they're all great.”

The city also navigated retirements in its economic development department in 2024, with Economic Development Director Jason Anderson and Industrial Development Manager Peggy Friday departing. The city has contracted with the Lee County Industrial Development Association to have its executive director, Tom Demmer, provide economic development services for Rochelle going forward. 

With a $1.1 million grant, the city prepared in 2024 for a downtown improvement project that will include the construction of a structure with public restrooms, a stage and storage; constructing two new parking lots, and reconstructing seven existing parking lots. Plans for placing electric lines underground and constructing an urban park in the downtown area are also in the works.

“The downtown work is a lot,” Fiegenschuh said. “Undergrounding of utilities in that area has been talked about for years. The grant came and everything just kind of came together. If someone is willing to give you $1.1 million to do a project you've been talking about for quite some time, everybody just comes together to get the work done.”

In the city’s water department in 2024, a 100-percent forgivable loan was received for an iron removal plant at Well 8 on Caron Road and work took place on an expansion of Rochelle Municipal Utilities’ wastewater treatment plant and improvements and painting of the large water tower near Illinois Route 251 that will be completed in 2025 after starting in 2024.

“2024 saw a lot of work on reinvestment in infrastructure that I'm proud of,” Fiegenschuh said. “I'm excited that we continued work on our sidewalk improvement program, which is very robust for a community of our size.”

The new Eastern Gateway TIF district the city established in 2024 will look to assist in redevelopment of the Caron Ridge Shopping Center (former site of Sullivan’s) that has sat vacant for a number of years and also includes land along Illinois Route 38 from Caron Road to Dement Road for possible further development.

The city council also approved intergovernmental agreements in 2024 with the Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District for continued co-ownership of Fairways Golf Course and new lighting at the Rochelle Little League softball field, and school resource officer agreement extensions with both Rochelle school districts.

“Our partnerships with the park district and school districts have been fantastic,” Fiegenschuh said. “I haven't ever been in a community where the different taxing bodies work so well together. Those positive relationships are what I like most about my job. Just the typical stuff that government does, I'm proud of all of that.”

Fiegenschuh said the work he’s most proud of in 2024 included staff development, infrastructure upgrades specifically in the railroad and electric departments, and staffing work in public safety departments.

“We'll be hiring some new folks on the public works side as well to do more work internally, which will save the city money long term,” Fiegenschuh said. “I love the fact that my staff feels comfortable coming to me with new ideas to be more efficient and do more work. We'll continue to look at things like that to improve service for our residents. I'm very pleased with how things went in 2024. I think we've had some very positive years before, during and since the COVID-19 pandemic.”