Government Center

719 S. Batavia Ave., Bldg. A

Geneva, IL 60134

Kane County

KC Energy and Environmental

Committee

Meeting Minutes

BATES, Tarver, Allan, Kious, Penesis, Strathmann, Young, ex-officios Roth (County Vice

Chair) and Pierog (County Chair)

Friday, June 13, 2025

9:00 AM

County Board Room

2025 Committee Goals

• Pursue funding to improve energy efficiency in Kane County Government-owned

buildings

• Upon passage of the Tree Protection Ordinance, develop budget and implementation

strategy for the Ordinance and an educational program to promote Tree Protection

• Develop Client Action Implementation teams and assist team in prioritizing action items

and development strategies

• Increase education and improve overall recycling in Kane County buildings

• Community outreach to education about the CAIP

_______________________________________________________________________

Call To Order

Chairman Bates called today's meeting to order at 9:00 AM.

Roll Call

Board Member Mavis Bates

Board Member Bill Tarver

PRESENT

Board Member Deborah Allan

Board Member Chris Kious

Board Member Ted Penesis

Ex-Officio County Board Vice Chair Bill Roth

Board Member David Young

REMOTE

ABSENT

Board Member Cherryl Strathmann

Ex-Officio County Board Chair Corinne M. Pierog

Also present: Co. Bd. members Juby*, Molina*; Environ. & Water Res. Dir. Wollnik;

Recycling Coordinator Ryan; Sustainability Mgr. Hinshaw* and staff Powell; ITD staff

Kash; and members of the press and public including Progressive Energy Group Mgr.

Arnie Schramel.

Remote Attendance Requests

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

asked the Committee if there were any objections to Committee Member Young

attending remotely. There were no objections.

Approval of Minutes: May 16, 2025

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Chris Kious

Public Comment (Agenda Items)

Committee Member and Kane County resident Young spoke on the poor air quality due

to the wildfires in Canada. He stated that in 2023, Canada's wildfires released a

record-breaking amount of Co2, potentially exceeding the emissions of coal-fired power

plants. While not a direct cause, Canada's coal-fired power plants contribute to climate

change, which in turn exacerbates the conditions that lead to more frequent and

intense wildfires. He stated that this has been an ongoing natural disaster, with over 8M

acres burned so far in 2025. Young explained that there are 233 coal-fired plants in the

United States. From these Canada wildfires, there is an equivalent of 600 co2

emissions coal-fired power plants. Young expressed his concerns with the county's lack

of urgency to prevent wildfires and the increasing Co2 levels.

Environmental (J.Wollnik)

Environmental & Water Resources Mandates and Budgeting

Environ. & Water Res. Dir. Wollnik presented the Environmental and Water

Resources mandates and budgeting. As the 2026 budget is being evaluated,

Wollnik highlighted the Environmental & Water Resources total salary and over

time. Department salaries did not increase between 2014 and 2023 due to

elimination of the Assistant Director position, and a part-time Administrator,

which offset cost of living increases. In 2024, an equity adjustment was made.

Wollnik stated that potential fee increases and additional fees are being pursued

to help support salaries. The sub-department is averaging $250K in electrical

savings at the Judicial Center due to the installed solar field for the next 25

years. A total of $60K in rebates were collected for hybrid and building

management vans and chargers in 2024. The LED conversion savings to the

county are anticipated to be $100K in total with an annual savings of $50K. The

General Fund for contracts and commodities have been reduced by 30% over

the past ten years. This partially reduced the conferences and meetings, as well

as eliminating the mileage paid out to employees. Wollnik stated that the Kane

County Board reduced the 650 Fund minimum balance to $3M to free up funds

for the construction of the Cross Country Course. The department is

recommending a resolution to increase the minimum fund balance to $4M to

ensure sufficient funds are available post-closure. By maintaining the fund

balance in 650, the Department is able to use the interest earned on the fund to

pay for salary, contractual services, and commodities for mandated Recycling &

Water Recovery programs, which reduces the Department budget in the

General Fund. Further discussion ensued.

Recycling/Solid Waste (C. Ryan)

Recycling Coordinator Ryan announced that the United States Department of

Agriculture (USDA) Composting and Food Waste Reduction Grant Funds have now

been released. She thanked the Committee for all their support. (Committee Member

Allan arrived at 9:32 a.m.) The first shredding and recycling collection event was held at

the Circuit Clerk's Office on Saturday, June 7. A total of 725 cars participated.

Sustainability (S.Hinshaw)

Electrical Aggregation Civic Contribution Program Review

Progressive Energy Group Mgr. Arnie Schramel provided information on the

Electrical Aggregation Civic Contribution Program. The county's current

aggregation electric supplier is Mc2 Energy. The contract will end in December

2025. There are 8,920 unincorporated houses that are a part of the program.

The county receives $80K per year of unrestricted Civic Contribution. Residents

are able to leave the program at anytime with zero cancellation fees. The

county's aggregation program is only available for residents and small business

in unincorporated Kane County. This does not include Aurora and Dundee

Townships as they have their own aggregation program. Schramel stated that

the goal for the month of July will be to have the County Board review the

program recommendations made by the Energy and Environmental Committee,

and approve the renewal contract. The County Chairwoman will then approve

the contract by the last week in July 2025. Mc2 Energy and the County will send

out letters explaining the new program to eligible county residents by September

2025. ComEd will then send out notification of the supplier change to impacted

residents by October 2025. Residents will start the new program by December

2025. Schramel addressed questions and comments from the Committee. Much

discussion took place.

Midwest Climate Summit Conference

Sustainability Mgr. Hinshaw provided information on the Midwest Climate

Summit Conference she attended. She stated that the Midwest Climate

Collaboration envisions a carbon neutral, climate resilient, interconnected

Midwest region. The mission is to facilitate the development of a coherent

Midwestern response to the climate crisis through acceleration of climate action,

knowledge generation, and leader development led by a cross-sector

collaboration of key organizations throughout the Midwest. She introduced the

Director of the Collaboration, Heather Navarro, who started the organization

three years ago. Hinshaw highlighted a few of the sessions she attended at the

conference including Engaging Businesses in Climate Action, Making Clean

Energy Work, Midwest Climate Change, and Making the most of Clean Energy

Funding Opportunities. She visited the Henry Vilas Zoo and the Madison

Children's Museum. Both locations are Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Design (LEED) certified, which is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability

achievement in building and construction. The zoo contains geothermal heating,

composting, and a large underground water storage saving 2M gallons a year.

The children's museum was awarded a LEED Gold certification for an existing

building in 2014.

Sustainability Coordinator Powell stated that he visited two locations outside

Madison, Wisconsin. He visited Forest Edge Elementary School and the Village

of McFarland Public Safety Center. The McFarland Safety Center has an

Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station for the police vehicles. The safety center

also has heat pumps, and a radiant floor heating system. Forest Edge

Elementary has solar panels installed on the roof, and it is the first all-electric

building in the U.S. Further discussion took place.

Authorizing Signature on the Master Power Supply Agreement for the Kane

County Electrical Aggregation Program

KC Executive Committee

RESULT:

TO:

MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE

KC Executive Committee

Ted Penesis

MOVER:

Chris Kious

SECONDER:

Mavis Bates, Bill Tarver, Deborah Allan, Chris Kious, Ted

Penesis, and David Young

AYE:

Cherryl Strathmann, and Corinne M. Pierog

ABSENT: