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, September 18, 2025 10:30 AM County Board Room

Call To Order

Chairman Juby called today's meeting to order at 10:41 AM.

Roll Call

Chairman Juby announced that an in-person quorum was not established. No votes

could be taken. The Committee continued on to presentations and reports for

informational purposes only until a quorum is established.

Board Member Leslie Juby

Board Member Bill Roth

PRESENT

Board Member Deborah Allan

Board Member Bill Lenert

Board Member Ted Penesis

REMOTE

ABSENT

Board Member Jarett Sanchez

Board Member Rick Williams

Ex-Officio County Board Chair Corinne M. Pierog

Also present: Co. Bd. members Linder; KCFB Mgr. Arnold; Dev. Dir. VanKerkhoff and

staff Tansley and Castro; Spec. ASA Shepro; ITD staff Peters; and members of the

press and public including SNAP-ED Director Deanna Roby and Educator Cristine

Birns; Kane DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District Senior Resource Analyst

Isabelle Borzeka, Kane-DuPage Soil & Water Conservation District Admin. Coordinator

Kat Gerdts; Former Board Member Mike Kenyon.

Remote Attendance Requests

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

asked if there were any objections to Committee Member Penesis attending remotely.

There were no objections.

Approval of Minutes: August 21, 2025

Public Comment

Kane County resident Ginger Romano spoke on her concerns of county fiscal

responsibility, and property tax increases. She shared her concerns on commercial,

industrial, and solar continuing to cover valuable farmland.

Partners

Kane County Farm Bureau Updates (Steve Arnold, Manager)

Kane County Farm Bureau (KCFB) Mgr. Arnold thanked Ellen Kamps for her

story on Growing for Kane highlighting Wilte's Farm Market celebrating 60 years.

It was the lead article in the September Kane County Farmer publication. He

recognized development planner Matt Tansley for the information on soil health

impacts, and economic assessment. Arnold announced that the 131st Annual

Big Rock Plowing Match will be held from Friday, September 19 to Sunday,

September 21. This event is a celebration of farming traditions featuring plowing

competitions, and includes an array of activities for everyone in the family. He

stated that the Eat, Join, Win promotion will continue through Thursday, October

9, 2025. This promotion includes weekly Fay's BBQ drive-thru's and the Annual

Vintage Truck raffle. The KCFB Foundation will be distributing wallet-sized

punch cards at each drive-thru BBQ. Each meal purchased will earn one special

character punch. Arnold added that the month of September is the deadline for

County Farm Bureaus to establish goals for 2026. In addition to the long-range

farm bureau goals, the Board of Directors have added fifteen new goals to reach

for next year. He announced that tonight will be a Fay's BBQ fundraiser at the

KCFB. On Friday, September 19, the farm bureau is inviting the public to help

maintain the pollinator garden. A total of forty new plants were acquired from

Kane-DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District, and will be planted over the

weekend. On Saturday, September 20, there will be a mums sale displayed on

the KCFB's lawn and parking lot area. An assortment of mums, straw bales,

small gourds, and all sizes of pumpkins will be available. On Thursday, October

9, there will be a giveaway of a Vintage 1948 Willys Jeep pickup truck. Arnold

noted that on Sunday, November 16, there will be a draw down fundraiser for

college scholarships held at Lions Park in Elburn. Lastly, Arnold stated that the

Illinois Farm Bureau is making available $30K state-wide for pollinator

conservation grants. He added that the Illinois Farm Bureau is also making

available $200K for nutrient stewardship grants. There will be more information

on these grants presented at next month's meeting. The KCFB has until October

16 to submit program ideas for pollinator conservation or nutrient stewardship.

Northern Illinois Food Bank Updates

No report was made.

Presentations/Announcements

Extension SNAP-Ed Program in Kane County (Deanna Roby, Director; Christine

Birns, SNAP-Ed Educator)

SNAP-ED Director Deanna Roby provided information on the SNAP-ED

program. She stated that the program is focused on the nutrition education and

physical activity programs for eligible communities, aiming to improve healthy

eating habits, and increase access to nutritious food. She noted that SNAP-ED

initiatives include nutrition classes, social marketing campaigns, and efforts to

improve policies, systems, and the environment of communities. (Committee

Member Allan arrived at 11:00 a.m.) In regards to public health campaigns, the

Find Food Illinois Community Food Map that anyone can use to access food

pantries, school and summer meal sites, grocery stores, farmers markets, and

SNAP offices. Roby stated that SNAP-ED is available in 102 Illinois counties.

There are over 1M households that have been impacted. For Kane County,

there were a total of 4,062 direct education contacts. She noted that a total of

4,032 pounds of food was donated last year, and helped partners secure $31K

in external funds for local sites. For every dollar spent on Illinois SNAP-ED, the

program returns up to $9.54 in future benefits. Roby stated that SNAP-ED

funding officially ends September 30, 2025.

SNAP-ED Educator Cristine Birns provided an overview on Local Food Access

Funding. She stated one of the active programs was the Community Unit School

District (CUSD) 300 at Carpentersville Middle School. An established garden

was planted to support an on-site pantry forming a garden club for students. The

pantry serves about 200 people per week, and the district serves 21K students.

The next active program is the East Aurora Resiliency Center which was

introduces hydroponics and raised-bed gardens to enhance mental health

initiatives, and provide fresh produce for school meals. Birns highlighted the

Aurora Area Interfaith Food pantry. This pantry is an enhanced on-site garden to

supply pantry needs, and serves 1,500 neighbors per week. The Marie

Wilkinson Food pantry and Charity Bloom Garden includes expanded and

improved gardens to provide fresh produce for the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry.

This pantry serves 1,900 neighbors per week. The Boys and Girls Club in Elgin

serves 500 young individuals, with an upgraded on-site garden to promote youth

mental health, increase access to fresh produce for summer and after-school

meals. The Mercy Housing Food pantry in Batavia serves 400 to 600 neighbors,

and has a youth and new adult garden for pantry support. Lastly, the IDEA

Garden in St. Charles provides fresh produce to local pantries including the Well

Child Center in Elgin. The future goal for this garden is to host educational

programs on-site in an outdoor education structure. Further discussion ensued.

Chairman Juby acknowledged Committee Member Allan's arrival. She

announced that an official in-person quorum was established.

Kane-DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District Updates (Isabella Borzeka,

Senior Resource Analyst)

Kane-DuPage Soil & Water Conservation District (KDSWCD) Admin.

Coordinator Kat Gerdts stated that the KDSWCD is in the beginning stages of

strategic planning. There will be a Board meeting tonight at 6:00 p.m. focusing

on strengths. Gerdts noted that the drone demo event was a success. She

announced that on October 1, there will be an event held at the Morton

Arboretum with partners "Garden Works" to discuss putting your garden to sleep

for a successful next season. Gerdts noted that the Women in Agriculture

organization will kickoff in November. Lastly, in January 2026, KDSWCD is

partnering with the Kane County Sustainability team to host a social gathering

with producers and special guests to speak about his farming experiences.

Kane DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District (KDSWCD) Senior

Resource Analyst Isabelle Borzeka announced that on Thursday, October 16,

KDSWCD and North Cook County SWCD are hosting a Building a Blueprint for

Local Food Systems workshop event held at Rolling Knolls Pavilion in Elgin from

10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This event will outline methods for farmers and food

producers building sustainable, and profitable businesses.

Growing for Kane Program Updates (Matt Tansley, Planner)

Dev. Planner Tansley provided Growing for Kane Program Updates. He stated

that last year, there were a total of twelve trainees who participated in the first

cohort of the Master Urban Farmer Training Program, and the Equitable Local

Food Access program. The second cohort is projected to have only five to six

trainees starting this month. As of this month, the final payment for the Master

Urban Farmer Training Program has been completed. Payments will continue to

be made to support the Equitable Local Food Access Projects. The term of the

MUFTP program will continue into next year allowing the SNAP-ED team to

provide follow-up services. Tansley highlighted the fantastic work done by Food

and Small Farms Educator Alexis Barnes. In addition to overseeing the Master

Urban Farmers Training Program, she has continued to provide technical

assistance to specialty crop farmers, and livestock growers across the county.

Tansley stated that Kane County originally received 29 applications, and

nineteen were determined to be eligible recipients for the Food and Farm

Resiliency Grant Program. The American Rescue Plan (ARPA) team has

continuously received and processed reimbursement requests. To date, the total

amount of funds awarded to Kane County Food Growers is $669,363. The

current remaining balance of funds for the program is $121,795.

New Business

None.

Reports Placed On File

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Bill Roth