Government Center

719 S. Batavia Ave., Bldg. A

Geneva, IL 60134

Kane County

KC Agriculture Committee

Meeting Minutes

JUBY, Roth, Allan, Lenert, Penesis, Sanchez, Williams and ex-officio Pierog (County Chair)

Thursday, August 21, 2025 10:30 AM County Board Room

Call To Order

Chairman Juby called today's meeting to order at 11:03 AM.

Roll Call

Board Member Leslie Juby

Board Member Bill Roth

PRESENT

Board Member Deborah Allan

Board Member Bill Lenert

Board Member Ted Penesis

Board Member Rick Williams

Board Member Jarett Sanchez

REMOTE

ABSENT

Ex-Officio County Board Chair Corinne M. Pierog

Also present: Co. Bd. members Bates*, Lewis; KCFB Mgr. Arnold; Dev. Planner

Tansley and staff Castro; ITD staff Peters; and members of the press and public

including U of I Extension Educator for Local Food Systems and Small Farms Alexis

Barnes.

Remote Attendance Requests

Chairman Juby announced the remote attendance requests for today's meeting. She

asked the Committee if there were any objections to Committee Members Penesis and

Williams attending remotely. There were no objections.

Approval of Minutes: July 17, 2025

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Deborah Allan

Public Comment

None.

Partners

Kane County Farm Bureau Updates (Steve Arnold, Manager)

Kane County Farm Bureau (KCFB) Mgr. Steve Arnold announced the

re-confirmation of Joe White as the KCFB's representative for the Farmland

Protection Commission. A group of young farmers hosted a successful Kane

County Fair Pedal Tractor pull. This event attracted more than 3 dozen kids in

four weight classes. The farmers also participated in the National Night Out

Activities event in Campton Hills. On July 20, Arnold announced that the KCFB

concluded a truckload, homegrown fresh peach sale. The peaches are from the

Rendleman Orchards, a southern Illinois grower. He announced that the KCFB

recently started hosting monthly meetings of the Fox Valley Beekeepers

Association. The KCFB also hosted a lunch for the Soil and Water Conservation

District, and the Illinois Extension for a cover crop field day. The KCFB will

collaborate with Tony and Sharon Pferschy of Garlic Breath Farms to launch a

new advertising campaign about the advantages to Kane County farmers. The

KCFB Foundation will host live and silent auctions at the DrawDown fundraiser

in Elburn to help support college scholarships, and agricultural literacy programs

at Elburn Lions Park on Saturday, November 22. The 13th Fay's Drive-Thru

BBQ will be tonight from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. held at the KCFB. Next week,

the KCFB will host a pilot pollinator event for young adults from the PEACE

Center in St. Charles to help maintain the KCFB pollinator garden. The Kane

County 4-H Blue Ribbon Sale was held at the conclusion of the Kane County

Fair. A handcrafted lamp made by the late Scott Horton, raised $4,500 between

silent and live auctions. In regards to the Evans farm, Arnold stated that

Jonathan Koepke, President of the Environmental Consultants and Planners

(Encap) Inc., met with KCFB Board of Directors last month to discuss the

wetlands mitigation banking in agricultural areas. Koepke wrote a small feature

on wetlands for the Kane County Farmer publication. He believes the Evans

Farm is a good area for wetlands mitigation banking. Lastly, Arnold stated that

promotions for the Master Urban Farmer training course were published in the

Kane County Farmer publication for those seeking an update on the program.

U of I Extension Educator for Local Food Systems and Small Farms, Alexis

Barnes, stated that there were a total of ten applications submitted for the

program. Due to the recent large volume of orchard production and market

gardens, Barnes is looking to add additional marketing opportunities, and offer a

Hobby Farm course for residents looking to produce local food for their

community.

Presentations/Announcements

Amendments to Agricultural Conservation Easements (Sarahy Castro, Farmland

Preservation Administrator)

Farmland Preservation Admin. Castro indicated that the current owner of the

Evans Farm, Carol O'Brien, has found it challenging to find single-buyers

interested in operating both land uses of the farm. She is seeking County

approval to subdivide the parcel in order to sell the two pieces of property

separately. There are currently two potential local farmer buyers who are

interested in the land. Upon agreeing to the terms, one buyer will continue with

the crop land, and the other buyer will continue with the livestock on the pasture

lands. An approval to the amendment of the Agriculture Conservation Easement

agreement for the Evans Farm through the Kane County Farmland Protection

Program (KCFLP) was recommended to the Board Members. Castro added that

this resolution authorizes the County Board to approve an amendment to the

Deed of Agriculture Conservation Easement for the Farm, permitting subdivision

in accordance with the Statement of Purpose, and the requirements of

Ordinance 01-67.

Committee Member Roth made a motion to move the amendment forward.

Motion was seconded by Lenert. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

Farmland Preservation Admin. Castro provided information on the amendment

for the Peterson Farm. With significant reflection of over 100 years of continuous

family ownership, Castro stated that the farm qualify's as a sentential farm. In

2002, when the Kane County Board approved the Conservation Easement, the

Peterson brothers excluded 1.7 acres from the conservation easement. The

Peterson's are proposing to subdivide the five acre parcel within the

conservation easement, in order to begin renovations. The owner seeks to

potentially purchase the remaining portion of the conservation easement

agreement in the near future. This resolution authorizes the County Board to

approve an amendment to the Deed of Agricultural Conservation Easement for

the Peterson Farm, permitting subdivision in accordance with the Statement of

Purpose, and the requirements of Ordinance 01-67, subject to approval by the

Zoning Board of Appeals for the proposed Rural Residential zoning.

Committee Member Roth made a motion to move the amendment forward.

Motion was seconded by Allan. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

Growing for Kane Program Updates (Matt Tansley, Planner)

Dev. Planner Tansley provided updates on the Growing for Kane Program. He

highlighted that the Soil Health Impact Assessment is an ongoing project

including New Venture Advisors and the Delta Institute for project consulting.

The focus of the project is to identify the relationship between adopting different

types of soil health strategies, and identifying how they translate to business

profitability and operational farm benefits. The soil health study was held on July

9 at the Kickoff meeting for the project team to discuss and review the work plan

put together by the consulting team. The study group will include between five to

ten Kane County farmers for sample testing of their soil health conditions using

Cornell University's soil health testing service. Commodity corps including

soybean, and corn will constitute the majority of the population sampled at the

soil health testing. Tansley recapped the Drone Field Day Flight Demonstration

event. This event was held at the St. Charles Horticulture Research Center, and

hosted by the Kane-DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District, including U of

I Extension. The primary focus of the event was to demonstrate how aerial

drones can be used for agricultural seeding and fertilizer applications. These

drones are battery powered with a 3K foot signal range, and can be route

programmed with autonomous settings. The second portion of the event

included a Cover Cropping Workshop hosted at the KCFB, which featured a

discussion by local farmers sharing their experience with cover cropping. Lastly,

he stated that Ellen Kamps has published an article series for Kane County

Connects featuring the farmers participating in the American Rescue Plan

(ARPA) funded farmer grant programs. Tansley addressed questions and

comments from the Committee. Further discussion ensued.

New Business

Approving an Amendment to the Deed of Agricultural Conservation Easement

for the Peterson Farm through the Kane County Farmland Protection Program

KC Executive Committee

RESULT:

TO:

MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE

KC Executive Committee

Bill Roth

MOVER:

Bill Lenert

SECONDER:

Leslie Juby, Bill Roth, Deborah Allan, Bill Lenert, Ted Penesis,

and Rick Williams

AYE:

Jarett Sanchez, and Corinne M. Pierog

ABSENT:

Approving an Amendment to the Deed of Agricultural Conservation Easement

for the Evans Farm through the Kane County Farmland Protection Program

KC Executive Committee

RESULT:

TO:

MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE

KC Executive Committee

Bill Roth

MOVER:

Deborah Allan

SECONDER:

Leslie Juby, Bill Roth, Deborah Allan, Bill Lenert, Ted Penesis,

and Rick Williams

AYE:

Jarett Sanchez, and Corinne M. Pierog

ABSENT:

Executive Session (if needed)

None.

10.

Reports Placed On File

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Deborah Allan

11.

Adjournment

RESULT:

APPROVED BY VOICE VOTE

Bill Roth

MOVER:

Bill Lenert

SECONDER:

This meeting was adjourned at 11:58 a.m.

Rachel Santora

Recording Secretary