ROCHELLE — On Tuesday, Dec. 5, the Rochelle Municipal Utilities Customer Service and Finance Departments hosted an open house highlighting recent renovations at the RMU building at 333 Lincoln Highway. 

The building recently reopened to the public following a short period of work that included security upgrades, improved handicap accessibility, and a new workstation for RMU billing employees, RMU Utility Billing Manager Autumn Hernandez said. Security upgrades include higher-quality glass and framing at the customer service windows.  

“Mainly it was done to be [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant,” Hernandez said. “The upgraded glass is bulletproof, so it was also done for improved security. The biggest part for us is being able to have the workstations that are easier to use. The added workstation will let us help more customers at once. And if we have a customer in a wheelchair, we can easily help them there. Before, we weren't able to.”

During the renovations, RMU billing employees worked out of City Hall. Hernandez thanked staff and customers for their patience during the transition and said her department was happy to be back at 333 Lincoln Highway.

The RMU customer service building allows residents to pay their bills in person and ask questions of RMU staff. 

“We're a small-town utility,” Hernandez said. “This place is for customers to be able to come in and ask us questions about their bills. We're here to help with anything that comes up. They can make their payments here in person. We have the option to go online, but I know a lot of customers do prefer that human-to-human interaction. To be able to have a space that they can come in where everyone is safe, and we can service everyone is really important to us. We're really glad we were able to do all of these upgrades and hopefully the customers appreciate it too.”