ROCHELLE – During Monday night’s Rochelle City Council meeting, residents raised questions about transparency and environmental impacts tied to a proposed data center project while city officials advanced several major infrastructure initiatives.
Resident Dawn Nance questioned the city’s openness about the data center discussions, saying planning had reportedly been underway for a year without public involvement. She voiced concern about potential tax breaks, water use, limited job creation, and environmental effects, saying the community prefers businesses that bring families and steady growth instead of large corporate projects. Another resident, Daniel Van Kirk, cautioned that other communities have faced problems with data centers, including high energy use, noise, and heavy water consumption. He urged the city to require renewable energy use and water restrictions for any facility that moves forward.
City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh responded that a public meeting is planned in November to answer community questions and said any potential project would be limited to 100,000 gallons of water per day.
Also during the meeting, Electric Operations and Generation Superintendent Blake Toliver introduced three new members of the city’s electric and generation departments. Raymond Hartwig joined the generation team in April, bringing experience from Worley Custom Fabrication and a degree in diesel power technology. CJ Miskell joined in July as a journeyman lineman from MJ Electric, and Adam Merrill came aboard in September as a journeyman lineman from ComEd. All three are replacements rather than new positions.
The council also discussed issuing up to $5 million in alternate revenue bonds to fund two projects: construction of an eight-unit airplane hangar at the Rochelle Municipal Airport and electrical upgrades at the Rochelle Technology Center. The total estimated cost is $2.7 million, with about $1.2 million expected from federal grants, including funds from the 2021 infrastructure bill. The new hangar would help meet growing demand, as all current units are full, and the tech center improvements would address a lack of backup power. Financial advisors from Raymond James found the city’s existing 2009 hangar bonds remain advantageous and recommended structuring a new 10-year bond at an estimated 5 percent interest rate. A vote to authorize the bond issuance is expected at the council’s next meeting.
In other business, the city awarded a $374,069 contract to Martin & Company Excavating for Phase 1 of the North 14th Street Storm Sewer improvements. The project, part of the 2025 Capital Improvement Plan, will replace and upgrade undersized storm sewers in the area north and east of 14th Street, including portions of the St. Paul property. Road closures are expected in spring 2026 as work progresses from 15th Street near St. Paul Church to Highland Avenue. The work is funded through city sales tax dollars and is expected to be substantially complete by late May 2026. Eleven bids were received, with Martin & Company’s proposal coming in about 21 percent below the engineer’s estimate. The council also approved an additional $73,000 contingency for potential add-ons or nearby improvements.
The city also approved a collocation and VLAN transport service agreement with DNA Communications, allowing the company to lease space within the Rochelle Technology Center. The agreement will enable DNA to expand internet and phone services throughout the RMU service area using the city’s fiber infrastructure and provide customers with a redundant provider option. Officials said the partnership creates a new revenue stream for the city while repopulating unused data center space.
In another major infrastructure step, the city awarded a $6.98 million contract to Tri-City Electric Co. for construction of the Centerpoint Substation. Tri-City submitted the lowest of three bids, followed by JF Electric and L.E. Myers. The project, funded through electric funds, includes a 10 percent contingency for unforeseen conditions and supports the city’s long-term goal of improving infrastructure reliability and capacity.
