The Rochelle City Council held a discussion Monday about power line construction from its Ritchie Road electrical substation to its Centerpoint substation, which is currently in preliminary stages of construction west of town.

Rochelle Municipal Utilities has long been planning the construction of the substation and line, which will total about $20 million.

The new substation will improve power redundancy on the western edge of RMU’s service territory. MightyVine, a greenhouse tomato farm at 222 Centerpoint Drive, currently is supplied with power by two of RMU’s existing feeders, which are more designed for commercial and residential load.

RMU recently got bids back for the line construction portion of the project and RMU Superintendent of Electric Operations Blake Toliver said the low bid from Helm Electric brought about concerns from RMU and project consultant BHMG Engineers due to the contractor’s qualifications for the project that will see 4 miles of line run on large steel poles and underground.

BHMG Consulting Department Manager Ben Klene said Helm Electric was the low bid by $1.9 million, but does not have enough experience with line and pole size and undergrounding. He advised the city to go with the next lowest bidder, Michels Power, for the work, due to qualifications. The council will consider the bids at its Jan. 26 meeting.

The line construction project saw four bids received, all of which were higher than an engineer’s estimate in 2023. The under-grounding portion of the project added $3 million in cost, Toliver said.

The council on Monday also unanimously approved the $1.475 million purchase of steel poles for the project from TAPP, Inc.

The new steel utility poles will run from Ritchie Road to Steward Road to South Main Street to Jack Dame Road to Illinois Route 38 to Centerpoint Drive. The portion that runs along South Main Street behind the Lake Lida subdivision will be run underground.

MVA Power provided the low bid for the poles at $1.297 million, but the city opted against it due to the fact that the poles would be manufactured in China, presenting potential concerns including “material quality control, overseas shipping reliability, and exposure to potential tariff cost fluctuations.”

Also relating to the substation project, the council unanimously approved a temporary construction easement with the Richard and Doris Kennay Trust for $3,900 for 4.876 acres for two years to allow for the material storage and construction of the Centerpoint substation.

Bonds

The council unanimously approved a parameters ordinance for a potential issuance of bonds for projects at the Rochelle Municipal Airport and Rochelle Technology Center.

A bond issuance would not exceed $5 million and the interest rate would not exceed 5.5%.

The projects include a new hangar at the airport and electrical upgrades at the tech center. The airport project will cost about $2 million and the tech center will cost about $700,000.

For the airport portion, the city plans to receive a federal grant to reimburse it for close to $1 million and hangar rentals would support the rest of the debt service.

At its Dec. 8 meeting, the council approved a $1,736,696 bid from Bruns Construction for the construction of the eight-unit hangar with concrete floors and bi-fold doors, lights and receptacles.

All current city-owned hangar space at the airport is currently full with waiting lists. The Rochelle Municipal Airport currently has seven different hangars with about 40 aircraft based there. Monthly rent and property leasing are the biggest sources of revenue at the airport. The new hangar would result in about $2,000 or more in monthly lease payments to the city.

The Rochelle Technology Center work would involve electrical upgrades to the system that supports RMU fiber service customers, city data center customers, and the information technology system of the city itself. Having multiple power feeds and redundancy in the case of outages would differentiate the Rochelle Technology Center from other small data centers.

RMU late fees

The council unanimously approved an ordinance suspending RMU late fees for residential customers through Dec. 31, 2026. The city has not charged late fees for RMU bills since the COVID-19 pandemic to assist customers who may fall behind on payments. Customers also have the option to utilize short and long-term payment plans as well as an assistance program offered through RMU.

“It’s worked out well,” City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said of the suspension of late fees. “I think it’s been a blessing to our residents.”

Fiegenschuh

The council presented a plaque and a key to the city to Fiegenschuh in honor of his eight years of service to Rochelle as city manager. The Jan. 12 meeting was Fiegenschuh’s last in Rochelle, as he prepared to depart Jan. 15 for the role of city administrator in Washington, Illinois. City Engineer Sam Tesreau was appointed by the council last month to serve as interim city manager as Rochelle searches for a new top staff member.

“It’s been an honor to be the city manager of Rochelle,” Fiegenschuh said. “I love this community. It’s a beautiful community. Thank you everyone and God bless Rochelle.”