Government Center

719 S. Batavia Ave., Bldg. A

Geneva, IL 60134

Kane County

KC Agriculture Committee

Meeting Minutes

KENYON, Roth, Allan, Juby, Lenert, Sanchez, Williams, ex-officios Pierog (County Chair) and

Tepe (County Vice Chair)

Thursday, October 17, 2024

10:30 AM

County Board Room

Call To Order

Chairman Kenyon called today's meeting to order at 10:30 AM.

Roll Call

Board Member Michael Kenyon

Board Member Bill Roth

PRESENT

Board Member Deborah Allan

Board Member Leslie Juby

Board Member Bill Lenert

Board Member Rick Williams

Board Member Jarett Sanchez

ABSENT

Ex-Officio County Board Chair Corinne M. Pierog

Ex-Officio County Board Vice Chair Vern Tepe

Also present: Co. Bd. members Molina*; Dev. Dir. VanKerkhoff and staff Tansley and

Thavong; ASA Spec. Shepro*; ITD staff Peters; and members of the press and public.

Remote Attendance Requests

There were no remote attendance requests for today's meeting.

Approval of Minutes: September 19, 2024

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Bill Lenert

Public Comment

None.

Partners

No report was made.

Presentations/Announcements

Food and Farm Resiliency Grant Program Updates (Matt Tansley, Planner)

Dev. Planner, Tansley, provided an update on the Food and Farm Resiliency

Grant Program. He stated that the application period opened on Friday October

20. The application period will remain open for 18 days. Staff has conducted a

review of applicants to determine their eligibility for funding and individual award

amounts. The marketing promotion included the Growing for Kane E-newsletter,

Kane County Connects, Kane County Farmer Bureau publication, Kane-Dupage

Soil and Water Conservation District E-newsletter, and hand-delivered program

flyers. Tansley also indicated that direct e-mail and phone calls were made to

70+ Kane County food growers. He reviewed the criteria used to determine

applicant eligibility and the requirements. (Committee Member Allan arrived at

10:47 a.m.) Tansley reviewed the core elements of the grant application,

including a series of questions. The last section of the application asks

applicants to itemize their expenses. Applicants have the opportunity to request

reimbursements for expenses acquired dating back to March of 2021. Applicants

can also request future reimbursements for expenses expected to incur up to

September of 2025. There were 29 total applications received, and a total of

$1,093,783 in funding requests. The amount of requests received ranged from

$10K to $50K. After all applications were reviewed, it was determined that

nineteen applicants met the eligibility requirements. The next steps will be for the

American Rescue Plan (ARPA) Committee to submit a resolution to approve the

program recipients and their award amount at the October 30 meeting. The

County Board will consider the resolution in November. Individual grant

agreements will be executed between the county, and each recipient no later

than December 31, 2024 to obligate the program funds. Lastly, the approved

grant recipients may submit eligible claims for reimbursement after January 1,

2025.

Historic Preservation - Announcement of $750,000 National Park Service Paul

Bruhn Rural Revitalization Grant (Julia Thavong, Preservation Planner)

Preservation Planner, Thavong, stated that Kane County received $750K from

the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant from the National Park Service. The

purpose of the grant is to support economic development through the

preservation of historic buildings in rural communities across the country. This

grant supports improvements to historic buildings to preserve America's cultural

resources while benefiting local economies. This year, $12.125M was awarded

to seventeen sub-grant programs in fifteen states. Thavong stated that the

program will provide sub grants to property owners in rural agricultural areas of

Kane County. The program will make a visible impact on those buildings that

receive funding. Each recipient will be able to better utilize buildings, drawing

more visitors, and generate revenue that can be invested for future development

and rehabilitation in the future. The eligibility requirements for the program are

that the property must be in a rural part of the county, and the property must be

listed on the National Register of Historic Places by conclusion of program in

2027. In an effort to have as many structures eligible to apply for the grant

program, staff will develop a Kane County multi-property nomination for the

National Register. The project requirements will be that the work done must

adhere to the Secretary of the Interiors Standard for Rehabilitation of Historic

Structures. Upon completion, there will be either a covenant or a preservation

easement on the building, which will be based on the amount of the grant

received, and a project sign must be installed. Thavong noted that staff will

develop sub-grant program guidelines, application materials, an agreement

template, and a project sign template. Applicants will create their own scope of

work and hire their own architect, if needed, and their own contractor.

Discussion ensued.

New Business

None.

Reports Placed On File

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Bill Lenert

10.

Executive Session (if needed)

None.