ROCHELLE — At its meeting Monday, the Rochelle City Council unanimously approved a $251,984 change order for its renovation work at its 1030 S. 7th St facility. The building was purchased in recent years and was the former site of Johnson Tractor. City and Rochelle Municipal Utilities staff occupy the space and it is being fitted to their needs.

The change order work will include adding a trench drain for equipment bays, more lighting, additional break room space, garage door location adjustments, flooring, and new windows. Renovation work is currently ongoing and space issues and additional needs were found during construction.

"It's our forever home," City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said. "This work is not for a building we're going to have for five years. This is a building that will be there for hopefully longer than any of us will be around that other departments can utilize in the future. I think we owe it to our employees too. If we would have built a new building, it would have cost five times what we've spent."

Garbage

The council unanimously approved a resolution amending its annual waste collection rates with Northern Illinois Disposal. The resolution will increase the monthly charge for residential solid waste, recycling, and yard waste collection from $12.48 per dwelling unit to $12.98 per dwelling unit.

Fiegenschuh said the increase was made in kind with one Northern Illinois Disposal raised for the city and the city's landscape waste charge will not increase. The city plans to buy down rates in the future after increased revenues due to more usage at the landfill.

"I don't want to nickel and dime our residents," Fiegenschuh said. "I think it's important to try to keep our rates as stable as possible. And one way to do that is if we have other revenue sources related to the landfill coming in, maybe we can use it to buy down some of the rate increases on our residents in the future."

Airport

The council unanimously approved a resolution for an interfund loan from its landfill fund to its airport fund to pay for the purchase of property located at 13800 E. Gurler Road near the Rochelle Municipal Airport.

The council previously approved the purchase of the property known as Large Car Rebuilders on April 24, 2023 for $655,000. The airport fund did not have the revenue to make the purchase, so the fund transfer was made. The city will be reimbursed for 95 percent of the purchase by federal entitlement dollars through the FAA and IDOT.

While the property is planned to be incorporated more into the airport in the future, short-term plans for the building include leasing it back to the current owner at a rate of $5,800 per month for five years.

Land

The council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the purchase of 7.25 acres of property for $225,000 from Rick and Doris Kennay for its planned new RMU electrical substation project off Illinois Route 38 west of town. The property will house the new substation and access road. The total purchase also includes funds for a three-acre easement.

Demolition

The council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing a memorandum of agreement with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office to facilitate the final steps to demolish the vacant building located at 509 and 509.5 Lincoln Ave.

Back in July, the city closed on the purchase of the former bank drive-up facility properties for $165,000. The structures on the land will be demolished and a parking lot will be constructed. The properties are in the Downtown Historic District, which required extra steps that were taken, including a public hearing and developer's workshop on historic tax credits.

Swearing in

A swearing-in ceremony was held for Phil Frankenberry of the Rochelle Police Department, who has been appointed deputy police chief. Frankenberry has been with RPD since 1998 and most recently served as the administrative sergeant of the department’s patrol division. The deputy chief position had been vacant since Terry Inman’s retirement.

LOTS

A presentation was made at the meeting by representatives from the Lee-Ogle Transportation System (LOTS), which is studying the feasibility of providing scheduled-route public transit service within Rochelle. Public meetings will be held on the topic at city hall on Wednesday, April 17 from 1-2:30 p.m. and from 5:30-7 p.m. The process will likely end with at least one fixed bus route in Rochelle. The new service would be offered in addition to LOTS’ current services.