Government Center  
719 S. Batavia Ave., Bldg. A  
Geneva, IL 60134  
Kane County  
KC American Rescue Plan  
Committee  
Meeting Minutes  
SANCHEZ, Kenyon, Bates, Gumz, Lenert, Molina, Strathmann, Surges & Tepe  
Wednesday, December 27, 2023  
10:30 AM  
County Board Room  
1.  
2.  
Call To Order  
Chairman Sanchez called the meeting to order at 10:30 AM.  
Roll Call  
Board Member Jarett Sanchez  
Board Member Michael Kenyon  
Board Member Mavis Bates  
Board Member Michelle Gumz  
Board Member Bill Lenert  
PRESENT  
Board Member Cherryl Strathmann  
Board Member Vern Tepe  
Board Member Myrna Molina  
REMOTE  
ABSENT  
Board Member Clifford Surges  
Also present: Co Bd. Chairman Pierog; Co. Bd. members Allan*, Berman, Ford*, Juby,  
Kious*, Lewis, Roth; ARPA Manager Fahnestock; ITD/BLD Exec. Dir. Fahnestock &  
staff Lasky*, Thompson*, Files, Kash; Fin. Exec. Dir. Hopkinson; KCHD Exec. Dir.  
Isaacson & staff Snowden*; OCR Dir. Berger*; ASA Frank, Ford; and members of the  
press and public including City of Aurora Richard Irvin, Gould & Ratner Attorney Rob  
Taylor, OnLight Aurora Executive Consultant Charles Baker, Municipal Capital Markets  
Group, Inc. Senior Vice President James (Jim) Anderson, and Managing Director Chris  
Perlitz.  
3.  
4.  
Remote Attendance Requests  
Committee Chairman Sanchez announced the remote attendance requests for today's  
meeting. He asked the Committee if there were any objections to Committee Member  
Molina attending today's meeting remotely. There were no objections.  
Approval of Minutes: November 29, 2023  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT  
Michelle Gumz  
5.  
Public Comment (Agenda Items)  
None.  
6.  
Discussion Items:  
ARP Committee Report  
A.  
No ARP Committee Report was provided.  
Other Committee Matters  
B.  
City of Aurora's Chief Information Officer, Michael Pegues, is seeking to partner  
with Kane County's American Rescue Plan Act Committee to provide funding for  
an OnLight Aurora project that would provide accessible broadband. Pegues  
introduced the Mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin.  
Mayor Irvin spoke on Broadband in Aurora. He stated his plan is to create  
citywide broadband. Therefore, every resident in Aurora would have the ability to  
access high speed internet. Irvin spoke on the broadband struggles of residents  
during the COVID pandemic. With Aurora being the largest portion of Kane  
County, it is in position to create a fiber-optic city. As Aurora expands it's  
broadband accessibility, it could be utilized by surrounding communities. Mayor  
Irvin explained that they are seeking approximately $120M in funding from  
ARPA for this expansive project.  
Michael Pegues introduced the Aurora team who will be working on the  
broadband project: Gould & Ratner Attorney, Rob Taylor, OnLight Aurora  
Executive Consultant, Charles Baker, Municipal Capital Markets Group, Inc.  
(MCM) Senior Vice President, James (Jim) Anderson, and Managing Director,  
Chris Perlitz.  
Michael Pegues provided a presentation: Internet-4-All Deployment Plan. This  
project is thought of as a forward thinking economic development strategy  
founded on the fundamental belief that growth, innovation, and community  
transformation will follow with every connection in the city and throughout Kane,  
Will, and DuPage Counties. Pegues stated that internet is now considered the  
fourth utility in households as it is seen as a necessity. This broadband project  
would enable the next generation broadband network infrastructure to support  
the public sector, telecommunications, bridge service gaps, enhance  
redundancy, and provide access to advanced telecommunication capabilities to  
enable the private sector to use shared infrastructure to better deliver broadband  
services. Pegues reviewed the benefits that accessible broadband would bring  
to the city and county. He provided information on internet service provider,  
OnLight Aurora. He provided a video depicting the benefits and uses of citywide  
broadband.  
OnLight Executive Consultant, Charles Baker, spoke on the citywide overview of  
the broadband infrastructure. He spoke on the projects deployment process.  
This project will be spilt into three phases to minimize disruptions in  
neighborhoods, and to target the areas that are in need of this kind of  
infrastructure. The goal is to bypass fiber to every resident and business in  
Aurora. Baker provided a map of Aurora and highlighted those areas that would  
be included in phase one.  
Pegues continued speaking on the City of Aurora's demographics. The number  
of potential subscribers would be approximately 63K. He provided a Deployment  
Timeline for the project's phases. Pegues noted that 1G of internet service  
would cost the subscriber approximately $59.95 per month.  
MCM Managing Director, Chris Perlitz, provided the capital and operation costs  
of this project. He spoke on the benefits of citywide broadband to citizens and  
businesses. From an economic perspective, he stated that these networks take  
time to build. Therefore, this project will be spilt into increments. Perlitz  
explained that the full build of this capital project could potentially cost  
$122,204,798.22. MCM Senior Vice President, James (Jim) Anderson,  
explained what the grant money would help cover costs throughout the project.  
Perlitz stated that once the net work is built, it would bring a cash flow, which  
then could be utilized for numerous benefits and be used in areas within the City  
of Aurora and Kane County.  
ITD/BLD Exec. Dir. Fahnestock stated that discussion has been had on  
numerous occasions on the expansion of fiber optics throughout the County.  
The County's investment in fiber optics has been looked at as a wholesale of an  
asset or long distance connection. Currently, the County's fiber optic footprint  
does not support residential homes and business. He reviewed the number of  
government services that utilize the County's fiber optics. Fahnestock explained  
that this capital project would be a good opportunity to expand the fiber optic  
infrastructure. The Committee provided their questions and comments. Much  
discussion ensued.  
7.  
New Business  
Authorizing Amendment to 23-357 Authorizing the Use of the State and Local  
A.  
Fiscal Recovery Funds to Hire Two Staff Members for the American Rescue  
Plan Program and Fund Associated Expenses  
Madam Chairman Pierog inquired about the reasoning of the pay increase.  
Committee Chairman Sanchez stated the increase would help to stay  
competitive within the job market.  
KC Executive Committee  
RESULT:  
TO:  
MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE  
KC Executive Committee  
Mavis Bates  
MOVER:  
Michael Kenyon  
SECONDER:  
Jarett Sanchez, Michael Kenyon, Mavis Bates, Michelle Gumz,  
Bill Lenert, Myrna Molina, Cherryl Strathmann, and Vern Tepe  
AYE:  
Clifford Surges  
ABSENT:  
Authorizing Amendment to Res 23-356 Authorizing the Use of Revenue  
Recoupment Funds Under the American Rescue Plan Act for the Countywide  
Water Monitoring Network Project and the Water Sustainability Mapping Project  
for the Kane County Department of Environmental and Water Resources  
B.  
Committee Chairman Sanchez provided additional information on this resolution.  
KC Executive Committee  
RESULT:  
TO:  
MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE  
KC Executive Committee  
Mavis Bates  
MOVER:  
Cherryl Strathmann  
SECONDER:  
Jarett Sanchez, Michael Kenyon, Mavis Bates, Michelle Gumz,  
Bill Lenert, Myrna Molina, Cherryl Strathmann, and Vern Tepe  
AYE:  
Clifford Surges  
ABSENT:  
Discussion: Public Health Facility  
C.  
Committee Chairman Sanchez provided a presentation on the decision making  
flow for the Public Health Building project. He stated that funding would be a  
combination of funding through APRA and County funds. On the County side,  
there will be multiple revenue sources utilized and approvals from multiple  
committees. He spoke on the proposed timeline of the project's planning  
process. Sanchez reviewed the list of all projects submitted to date categorized  
by allocation status. He spoke on the "under consideration" projects. He asked  
the Committee for their input on accepting the Public Health Building project and  
annexing other projects that are still "under consideration". Much discussion  
ensued.  
The Committee entered into a recess due to technical difficulties at 11:48 a.m.  
The Committee returned at 11:54 a.m. for further discussion on the Committee's  
input on the proposed Public Health Building capital project.  
8.  
Old Business  
None.  
9.  
Executive Session (if needed)  
None.  
10.  
11.  
Public Comment (Non-Agenda Items)  
None.  
Adjournment  
RESULT:  
APPROVED BY VOICE VOTE  
Michael Kenyon  
MOVER:  
Cherryl Strathmann  
SECONDER:  
This meeting was adjourned at 12:03 PM.  
Savannah Valdez  
Recording Secretary