Planning and Development Committee - Regular Meeting

Committee meeting for Monday, 05/11/2026. To begin, we're gonna start out tonight's invocation by chaplain Mark Miller, followed by our pledge of allegiance. We just ask that you all stand, please. Let

us pray. Father, we come to you tonight with expectant hearts, with challenges. We come to you with please. We come to you with asking your grace. I ask you, Lord, to cover this city with your grace and your protection.

Protect all our officers, firemen, all first responders. And father, for tonight especially, I ask that the debate in this room be civil but lively. I ask that the city make decisions on the behalf of the people for the best of this city and for the betterment of this region. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen. To the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I

am now gonna turn it over to mayor McNamara for tonight's presentation. I'm sorry, proclamation.

Thank you, Chairwoman. We have one proclamation this evening. It's for National Police Week. Chief? Whereas the congress and president of The United States have designated May 15 as peace officers memorial day and the week and the week in which May 15 falls as national police week and whereas the law enforcement officers are guardians of life and profit and property defenders of individual right to be free people partners with our citizens in an effort to lower crime dedicated to the preservation of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice of their own personal safety to serve our citizens and whereas our community desires to honor the valor service and dedication of its own police officers to express our thanks to the men and women who help us leave our homes and families in safety each day and guard our loved ones property and government against all those who would violate the law and whereas our community desires to honor the fallen officers who have over many years given the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives to protect our citizens and our community.

Now therefore I, Thomas P. McNamara, as mayor of the city of Rockford, do hereby proclaim May 11 through 05/16/2026 to be National Police Week. Chief, would you like to share a few words?

Yes. Thank you. Thank you, mayor, for the proclamation. It means a lot to recognize this week. We have men and women in law enforcement that put their lives on the line every day and, of course, with police memorial service that will be held on Wednesday those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. And so we look forward to being with the families every year and come out and pay a special tribute to the loved ones who are left behind. And also this week in addition to the church service this weekend there will be a host of local law enforcement agencies out at Cherryville Mall so I encourage you to come out with your friends and your families and see the various displays that will be out there. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. You.

We'll go ahead and move into tonight's public speakers. Just as a reminder, you will have three minutes to step up to the microphones located at the back of the horseshoe to make your comments. You will hear an alarm sound once that time has come up, and we just ask that you

bring your comments to a close when you

do hear that alarm. That being said, tonight's first public speaker tonight is Rosie Blake.

evening, Council of Women and Men. Good evening. I am Rosie Blake. I am Valentia Javan Frisco's mother. I spoke here last can you hear me? Okay. There now you can. I spoke here last year about a speedy trial for the victims of family to get murdered. Well, tonight I'm gonna speak about justice. What is justice? People should be treated fair. We just said the pledge of allegiance and it says justice for all. And that's what it should be, justice for all. I was in court. Okay.

I was in court for ten years for a person that allegedly killed my baby. Killed my baby. Well, we're done with court. We went to trial September 28. On March the twenty sixth two thousand and twenty sixth, he was found guilty of first degree murder, and he still walked out with me with no court supervision, no drug testing, and no monitor.

He walked out with me. And I think that's unfair with three counts of first degree murderers. No drug testing, As I said, on a 10,000 a $100,000 bond, that was ten years ago, and that was allegedly. He's still on the same bond with three counts of first degree murder. I can write a book on this justice system. It was a mother I was talking to. Her baby was in the hospital, and her son had to go to court. And guess what? It was in Madison. He went back to jail.

Is that justice or just us? Then there was another mother. Her child was charged with first degree he was charged with first degree murder. He beat the charge. He had another charge on him, and they gave him no bond. Is that justice or just us? Hello. Nobody should go and walk around with three counts of first degree murder on them with nothing. And I do believe in due process. If he wants to fight it, he needs to fight it in jail. Thank you for letting me speak.

Thank you. Our next public speaker is Denzel Winter.

Good afternoon, congresspeople, council people. I'm here today. I need to know the answer to this question. I wanna know why are there so many pedophiles on the West Side? Why?

Every time we turn around, there's a new one floating around on the streets. What has to happen? Do we have to start losing children before y'all start doing something about it? You gotta realize, it is not just the West Side that y'all can put people on. You got the East Side, you got the North Side, and you got the South Side. But they piling them all out up there on the West Side, and that's not right. Talk about justice. That's not justice. It won't be justice until one of the kids get killed. Then we'll be trying to do one of those things where we try to maximize why they were out there.

Just like that woman that was with that man that killed that that killed that man under the bridge. She's walking free. That's not justice. She is just as guilty as that man that killed that woman that man because she was right there with her, but y'all better out. That don't make no sense. People can kill people and still walk the streets. Yes. I'm mad because one of these days is gonna be one of mine. And y'all gonna have to look me in the face and tell me why because I'm a be right here every night that you have a meeting down here. It don't make no sense.

I remember one time, if I hadn't been in the car with my son, my son would be dead today because they figured that he was the one that killed the woman on pinions. Come to find out, he was he didn't even look like the man. They found a man down there in Alabama. They didn't even do their jobs. They didn't even do their jobs.

They had a picture of the man. But you know what the what what was wrong with the picture? It was grainy. You couldn't tell who that man was until my daughter told them, fix that picture and you can see who it was, and it wasn't my son. It was just a blessing that my I was in the car. My daughter was in the car because they they had the guns out and everything, and it don't make no sense. Do your job. When there's a murder, get out there and investigate because that's your job. That's what we're paying you guys for.

Thank you. Our next public speaker is Kelly Lewis.

My name is Kelly Lewis and I live on Friday Road next to the site where Monarch Energy is planning to build a hyperscale data center. I'm here tonight because the new TIF district being presented would sit on top of that exact site. I'd like to ask one question. If a company has $12,000,000,000 to invest, why are Rockford taxpayers being asked to give them a tax break? A TIF is a tool to bridge a financing gap to close the distance between what a developer can afford and what a project costs.

That is the city's own definition. So I would like to understand which gap exactly is being closed for a company with 12,000,000,000 capital. On March 31, the Joint Review Board voted to recommend moving forward with the new TIF. It was then the city's economic development manager, Anna Garrison, stated, and I quote, that project could move forward whether or not we create this new TIF. When we create a TIF, we don't need to create a TIF with that project in mind.

I'd like the counsel to take that statement seriously because the FOIA records tell a different story. Over more than 100 emails between April 2025 and March 2026, the developers project by name was the subject of meetings with the mayor, the city administrator, r one planning, and Winnebago County. In a letter dated 06/23/2025, Monarch Energy wrote directly to Mayor McNamara and Chairman Schirrelli asking for their help on what he called critical state issues, including pressure on legislation he found unfavorable after being shocked that the state would be willing to hold data centers to what he feels would be impossibly high standards and would force data centers to go to states with less protections in place. A letter where he reminds them he has already placed substantial deposits with ComEd for electrical services for the data center project. The mayor himself asked for that letter.

It is communications such as this that paint a picture of a project deep in the planning process with financial discussions already in play. So when the mayor's economic development manager says, we don't need to create a TIF with that project in mind, I would ask, has anyone actually told the developer that? Three minutes is not enough to litigate the data center itself. So tonight, I'm asking only this. Before the council approves a new tax increment district, please answer two questions in public.

First, what specific financing gap does this TIF close for a $12,000,000,000 company? And second, if the city is genuinely creating this TIF without the data center in mind, will the council commit in writing that no Monarch Energy project will draw from it? If the answer to that second question is yes, residents have nothing to fear. If the answer is no, then Ms. Garrison's statement deserves a second look. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next

public speaker tonight is Ken Dickens. Is Ken Dickens here? Is Jessica Van Diver here?

Hello. My name is Jessica Van Diver. And I'm here to discuss with you guys the issue with Riverview Mobile Home Park. This has become an issue for weeks and weeks. It got laid over due to the issue of the fact is that they're at risk. There's a morality issue. There's an issue of the fact that they want to offer us only $4,500 to move out within a two month time period. There is people in the trailer park who literally have ramps that cost more than that $4,500 Where is the funding going to come from that? All of this stems out of the idea of gentrification. If you guys don't know what that is, it is where where bigger corporate companies come in.

They try to build up a city that the idea of bringing up the tax rates, you know, making the city better. But what it does is it changes the culture. It changes everything. It makes it to where the fact is that those of us who live there, it forces us out if we are not the ideal. We do have several people here tonight from the mobile home park, people who are of different cultures, different age groups, different issues.

We have almost every single person has their own disability in which living there has benefited them. 4,500 is not enough to move us. It's ridiculous, actually. Do you know what the average cost is to move into a place in Rockford? The average family based on the Rockford census itself is 3.15 people.

Rounded up to four because point one five of a person doesn't make sense. That is a two to three bedroom apartment or house averaging 1,500 plus. They want first last month's rent and safety deposit. With me just even looking at a place last week, they wanted almost $6 just to move in. That is not feasible for anybody.

I mean, if you can afford $6 to move in, you can afford a place to buy. And then on top of that, the place I've literally had a car float away due to flooding down there when I first moved in. I've been there for nine years. I've raised both of my boys down there. I moved down there because of domestic violence. I had to keep me and my kids safe. And now the city approving this, the city going forward and saying that is enough is putting me and my kids back at risk. I've been able to keep my place where I live away from the public. I've been able to keep my boys safe. I've been able to keep my family who I have several family members who live there.

I literally remember going there before I ended up in foster care with my dad and fishing, the only good memories I have with my parents. And they're trying to take that away to make a drive by night RV park. One month isn't ideal, and neither is the 4,500.

Thank you. One more time, is Ken Dickens here? I don't see him, so I'm going to go ahead and move on into tonight's agenda. Before we get to our public hearing, clerk, will you please call the roll?

Here.

Here. Here. Here. Here. Thank you.

Illinois

Law 65 Illinois compiled Statuses eleven-74.4-five. Etcetera's sequence requires, prior to the adoption of an ordinance proposing the designation of a redevelopment project area or approving a redevelopment plan or redevelopment project, the municipality by its corporate authorities or as it may determine by any commission designated under subsection K of section L-74.4-four to adopt an ordinance or resolution fixing a time and place for public hearing. At the public hearing, any interested person or affected taxing district may file with the municipal clerk written objections and may be heard orally in respect to any issues embodied in the notice. I hereby call the public hearing on the proposed South Rockford Industrial Plan and Project area to order. Pursuant to 65 Illinois Compiled Statuses fiveeleven-74.4-five, a public hearing must be conducted by the corporate authorities upon submission of a proposed redevelopment plan and the designation of the proposed redevelopment project area.

Notice of the hearing was given by publication in the Rockford Register Star on April 14 and 04/15/2026, and otherwise by mail as specified by the statutes. That notice informed citizens of Rockford that the city of Rockford will hold a public hearing on Monday, 05/11/2026, at 05:30 p. M. In Council chambers on the 2nd Floor at Rockford City Hall located at 425 East State Street, Rockford, Illinois, for the consideration of a proposed redevelopment plan and the designation of that certain proposed redevelopment project area to be known as the South Rockford Industrial Project Area. Brett Michelson with Ryan LLC will present the TIF redevelopment project and plan and qualification factors.

Could I have Brent Michelson? Here. Before you gentlemen begin, I will just ask that you speak clearly and directly into your mic so everyone at home can hear Okay?

Good evening, everyone. My name is Brett Mikkelsen with Ryan LLC. With me tonight.

PRESIDENT Hi. I'm Chuck Durham, also at Ryan LLC.

PRESIDENT And we are acting on behalf of the city as the city's chief consultant. We prepared a brief presentation this evening on the proposed South Rockford Industrial TIF redevelopment area. So this evening we're going to go through a brief agenda, the TIF fundamentals, the city's strategic planning and objectives, the qualification factors present here in this particular study area, the TIF redevelopment plan, as well as the process and next steps. So just a brief background for everybody in the room. TIF is a tool for achieving the city's economic development goals.

It builds upon the city's comprehensive plan. We've worked together with the city to determine the goals and objectives of this particular area. And it simply seeks to reinforce those goals and objectives. The way TIFF works is it functionally splits tax revenues into two separate buckets, components. It establishes a base year for the equalized assessed valuation.

The revenues from the base year still continue to go to the local taxing districts from that base year. Any future incremental property tax revenue above that base year gets gets split into a separate bucket that can be used for redevelopment activities in the proposed study area. A successful TIF over time produces incremental revenue. Here the baseline being the blue, that's the base equalized assessed valuation the year that TIF is created. And the orange is the hypothetical incremental revenue in a successful redevelopment project area.

In practice, it can have starts and stops, it can go up and go down as properties reassess over time, but typically in a successful TIF you'll see positive growth over time. The TIF project and plan objectives. So the function of the TIF is to assist in coordinating the redevelopment activities in this proposed area in order to provide positive marketplace signal to investors. Its goal is to reduce, eliminate, prevent the onset of blight or other negative factors present within the area, accomplish redevelopment over a reasonable time period, provide for high quality development industrial land uses within this proposed area, create attractive overall appearance for the area, and further the goals and objectives of the city's comprehensive plan, the 2040 plan. Here we have a map of the study area.

Briefly stated, the RPA, or the redevelopment project area, is located within the southern portion of the city of Rockford and consists primarily of commercial farmland uses. It comprises 1,600 acres. The RPA is a contiguous area generally bounded by South Bend Road and Condon Road on the North, the city's municipal boundary and Edson Road on the South, the city's municipal boundary on the West, and Illinois thirty nine Alt State Route two fifty one on the East. So TIF designation and qualification. Pursuant to the city's 2023 comprehensive plan, the city is proposing that redevelopment of a strategically important industrial area.

The TIF designation is needed to encourage private investment, support industrial redevelopment, and revitalize underutilized or flood impacted properties within the redevelopment project area. The TIF is key to providing financial framework necessary to support infrastructure upgrades, utility extensions, stormwater and flooding mitigation, site preparation, and coordinated redevelopment in the area. It's also critical to ensuring long term financial stability for the proposed TIF district and critical to supporting coordinated redevelopment that would not reasonably be expected to happen if not for the availability TIF funds. The South Rockford Industrial TIF, based on the qualification factors present in the TIF Act and our analysis, is found to qualify in part as a conservation area and in part as a blighted vacant area. The TIFF District meets the criteria for designation as a conservation area.

A 100% of the structures in the TIFF are 35 years of age or older. And at least three of the 13 qualifying factors for conservation area are present. We found four in this case. Additionally, the TIFF District meets the criteria for designation as a blighted vacant area. One of the provisions in the TIF Act is a standalone factor present found found present here in chronic flooding that's designated by an outside consultant that did a survey of the area and provided an engineering survey.

In addition to that, two of the six qualifying factors for a blighted vacant area, as prescribed by the TIFACT, are found present here in this area. The factors are reasonably distributed to a meaningful extent throughout the area, that is to say they're not present on one or two properties but throughout the entire study area. Here we have the 13 conservation area statutory qualification factors under the Act. The ones bolded and underlined on the left were the ones found present. They include deterioration, a lack of community planning, inadequate utilities, and a lag or decline in equal assessed valuation relative to the city as a whole.

The standalone factor, as mentioned, was chronic flooding as designated by an outside engineering firm. And then here we have the six blighted vacant statutory factors. The ones underlined and bolded are the ones present in this study area. They include deterioration of adjacent structures and a lag or decline in equal assessed valuation relative to the city as a whole. So the TIF redevelopment plan and project, the proposed land uses for the redevelopment project area will support a mix of industrial, commercial, and business park uses along with public infrastructure improvements that are needed to enable redevelopment of the area.

The proposed TIF budget is $51,000,000 The base equalized assessed valuation estimated with 2024 data is $161,463 The projected EAV upon completion of a successful redevelopment of the area and a twenty three year life of the TIF is projected to be between 45,000,000 and 55,000,000. Here we have the proposed TIF budget. The total estimated TIF budget is really the most important component of this. It can be read as a not to exceed amount over the twenty three year life of the TIF. The other items are fungible which means they can be moved around.

But the line items suggest the priorities in conversation with the city that we have identified. Some of the eligible TIF expenses can include a land acquisition, site assembly, site preparation including environmental remediation, demolition and grading, utility improvements, rehabilitation of existing structures, public facilities including parking and streetscaping, interest costs, professional services costs, and any job training. The process and next steps. In April 2026, the Joint Review Board meeting was held. They provided a positive recommendation to City Council for consideration of the TIF.

Tonight, we're holding the public hearing after mailing notices to all taxpayers of record within the district and publishing notice of the same twice in a local newspaper. Following the conclusion and the close of the public hearing, as soon as June 2026, City Council can consider ordinances that would officially create the TIF District. Something I always like to leave off on is that City Council approves all entitlements and redevelopment and development activities that take place within the TIF. Just because the TIF is established does not mean that funds are readily available. Any utilization of TIF funds would need to come before City Council and propose their use and any gap financing that would need to be filled by potentially by the TIF. Thank you.

Today's public hearing is specific to the proposed redevelopment area and qualifications of the area to meet TIF eligibility. This public hearing is not related to any potential project. Comments should be specific to the purposes of the hearing. Comments regarding a data center are not related to the purpose of the hearing. All written comments received will be included in the record of the public hearing.

Are there any questions or oral or written comments from the general public with regard to the proposed redevelopment plan? If so, please kindly add your name and address to the sign in sheet at the table in the hallway. When your name is called, please step to the microphone, state your name, and make your statement. That being said, our first speaker tonight is Dan Olson.

Hello, everyone. Thank you for taking public comment tonight. My name is Dan Olson. I'm the executive director of the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District. I'm also a Rockford resident, but tonight I speak on behalf of the Board of Commissioners for the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District. We have presented a letter today which does have opposition to components of the redevelopment of the TIFF. Specifically, of biggest concern for us are unknown environmental factors. Many of you know that we have a forest preserve that's directly adjacent to the proposed TIFF district. And we want you to know a little bit about that. That's Kilbuck Bluffs Forest Preserve.

It is an extremely sensitive area. We have all the components there, plant life, wildlife that are extremely beneficial. That particular area has immeasurable environmental services that are provided, including some flood retention that doesn't go further down the line, which is a concern here tonight. So 23 expanding that out is a concern to us and the environmental impacts there. Secondly, we also recognize that a lot of the areas within the TIF District, yes, they do chronically flood, but they do also provide some of the ecological benefits we need.

And that's in wildlife corridors, flooding retention and items like that. So we would like to be involved in any conversation that happens along those lines as well. Again, what we have adjacent to the TIF District is very valuable environmentally, but also valuable for outdoor recreation. But also what's within the TIF District we recognize as being beneficial to us at the Forest Preserve District as well. Tonight, basically we have two asks that are in this letter that was submitted.

One is that the Forest Preserve District have representation in any committee that might be formed by any of the committees here tonight or the city in any form. And also any public public committee that might be formed. We would love to be a part of that. And probably the biggest consideration we would like tonight is when you are thinking about TIF districts and where industrial opportunities might lie, look first in those truly blighted areas, the areas that can be repurposed from already existing development. With that, we think that the impacts will be much better for us and everyone in the county.

I thank you again tonight. Again, a letter has been submitted. That letter is from the Board of Commissioners, specifically our board president. And if you have any further questions at any time, we are available for the discussion. Again, thank you.

Thank you. Our next public speaker is Sandra Locke.

Good evening. I was here when the conversation was being held with those taxing bodies who would receive not taxing bodies, but those who would receive tax funds. And I was here for the presentation by the Ryan Corporation. And my disappointment was that there was not a single question asked by any of those sitting there making the decision. There was not a there was no discussion.

There was not a single question. They just all a majority voted yes. And so it may be that a TIF district expanded in territory and in duration would be desirable. But it seems premature to me to be paving the way for who knows what. And I think, you know, at the moment probably there's only one major consideration being proposed.

But we should know what we are preparing for and that pave the way for something that really we've got more homework to do. There are I just came across some studies that I thought would lend some information. Sometime back there was a Fair Graham study that was that gave really good information about the land itself. And was although it was in preparation for perhaps expanding some rail lines, it still is one more document that we should pursue to have a better idea about what's the best use of the land. And then just within November, there was a proposal coming from a company asking for exemptions from standards that were being developed.

That's not a very good start for anybody considering a project. And no matter what project might be considered there, water would be an issue. And even if they're doing their own drilling, we need to know how are they doing that, what's the impact on our aquifer. And if they're doing water from deep levels that's not potable, are they going to use it as is? Are they going to clean it up? Who cleans it up? The city? Then do the ratepayers pay for whatever infrastructure is required or inspections? I was reading about a city water report that noted that there had been some major improvements in our infrastructure. This might have come back into like 2006 or something like that.

And it cost millions of dollars. So I'm wondering, we need to know what would be expected of us and not wait until some last minute where we're writing agreements and we really are not very informed. I heard a sound. Was that my limit? Yes? Is my time up?

There is no time limit.

Pardon? Oh, okay. And I was looking over the oath of office that the council members take. And the job description, the job description includes to best represent the needs both their respective constituents. Please, please, please listen to the questions, listen to the concerns, listen to the dangers and the long term risks for any project that's being considered to pave the way with a TIF district.

And then the oath itself, I thought was important because it includes the standard. And I will take I carry out this office according to the best of my ability. That doesn't mean passing things with no discussion and no questions and no doing extra homework. It means full wholehearted homework and delaying decisions until you have done that homework, please. Thank you.

Our next public speaker is Rena Falawel. Falawel? I'm sorry.

Short. Okay. Yes, it's Rena Falowell.

Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. Okay. All

right. Of the proposed district, just hearing everybody's comments kind of brought something up about the flooding and things. I definitely think that we should repair it in the area of the trailer park. But I just didn't know if fun fact cattails grow in flooded marshy areas, just a natural place for them to grow. And all parts of the cattail are edible.

The Native Americans would use the roots as like a mashed potato and they would use those in the winter months. They could you could dig those up whenever it was available. In the early spring, can use the shoots like artichoke hearts and eat those. Yeah. And then pollen, you can use the pollen like a flower and actually bake from them, which I thought was really, really interesting.

And then the green spikes. You don't want to use the forbidden hot dogs. Those kind of just explode in your mouth in the fall. But in the spring, you can use the green ones and you can actually eat those and cook them up and they taste very good. And the Native Americans survived on that most of the time but then when colonization happened and we came over here and said, what is all this?

We need to get rid of all this swampy area and we need to fill it all in, we got rid of all of the sustenance for the Native Americans along and just plowed it because we needed to be able to harvest things our way and plant corn and plant all of those So we did away with so many things that were naturally here that are made to be here. And we're just like, okay, we've to fill that in. We need a whole bunch of money to do that. So I thought that was interesting. Okay.

All right. And then proposed site for the TIF. I'm just going to give you another area that was done that that was passed and what happened in one of those areas. So the data center drained 30,000,000 gallons of water unnoticed until the residents complained about the low water pressure. Residents in Fayetteville, Georgia noticed low water pressure last year.

The utility discovered two unaccounted for water connections at one of the nation's largest data center campuses. The Atlanta skyline looms over a field of dry grass during the 2019 drought. Georgia is dealing with similar conditions this year. I think we've all probably dealt in this area with droughts. The neighbors of the data center in Georgia are steaming after they discovered the facility had sucked up nearly 30,000,000 gallons of water without initially paying for it.

Outrage started bubbling up last year when residents of an affluent subdivision named Annalise Park in Fayetteville, Georgia noticed their water pressure was usually low. When the county utility investigated, officials discovered two industrial scale water hookups feeding the data center campus located 20 miles south of Downtown Atlanta. One water connection had been installed without the utility's knowledge and the other was not linked to the company's account and therefore not being billed. All told, the Developer Quality Technology Services owed nearly 1,500 thousand for using more than 29,000,000 gallons that's not the right number accountable for water. That is equivalent to 44 Olympic sized swimming pools and far exceeded the peak limit agreed to during the data center planning progress process.

So, I'm sorry, the TIF proposed planning process. The details were revealed in a 05/15/2025 letter from Fayetteville County Water System to Quality Technology Services which outlined the retroactive charge of a lot of money. All right. That's one-four-seven-four-seven-four. It's nice to look at. Anyway, that number. All right. The letter did not specify how many months the paid bill covered when asked about it. Wednesday, Vanessa Tigert, the Lafayette County Water System Director, said it was likely about four months. Four months.

Wow. That's crazy. A QTS spokesperson said the time frame was about nine to fifteen months. That's not a lot of time. Once the data center was notified, it paid all retroactive charges, a QTS spokesperson said in an email noting unmetered water consumption occurred while the county converted its system to smart meters.

The Fayetteville County Water System confirmed the data center's meters are now fully integrated and tracked. Tigert, the Water System Director, blamed the issue on non procedural mix up. He did not want to take the blame on that one. Fayette County is a suburb. It was mostly residential and we don't have much commercial meters in our system anyway, she said.

And so we didn't realize our connection point wasn't working. The incident became public last week when a county resident obtained the 02/2025 letter to QTS through a public records request and posted it on Facebook prompting outrage from residents concerned about the data center's water consumption. Excuse me. The Fayetteville campus is one of the largest places, developments in the country covering six fifteen acres with plans for up to 16 buildings. Right now the campus is partially operational.

County officials say the campus will generate tens of millions of dollars in annual property taxes, but the facility's massive scale and appetite for water and electricity has helped galvanize local pushback against more centers. The Fayetteville County City Council voted last month to ban any new buildings like this in every zoning district within the city. Smart move. Georgia is home to more than 200 places and facilities like this and their thirst for water is turning into a political flashpoint. You don't say.

The entire state is experiencing moderate to high levels of drought, and Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency last month in response to one of Georgia's worst wildfire outbreaks in years. Oh my goodness, we had a couple of those last year, didn't we? One resident said frustration with the center boiled over after locals officially told community members to scale back their water usage. Okay. Only shower on Tuesdays, apparently. We get this notification from Fayette County Water Systems saying you need to stop watering your lawns to help conserve water. I don't like grass lawns anyway. They're such a problem. We should just do away with them anyway. Okay.

Said James Clifton, an attorney and property rights advocate who obtained and shared a 2025 letter to QTS. So the first thing they do is lean on the individuals and the citizens to stop water consumption when we have QTS that's just absolutely draining us. First months, it's the number one consumer of water in the country. Okay, most months, it's the number one consumer of water in the county. Okay, sorry, that was much more serious when I reread it.

Said Clifton, who is also running for a seat on the Board of Commissioners. QTS is a major developer with facilities across the country disputes the accuser. The company, which is owned by a private equity firm Blackstone, touts a close loop cooling system oh, okay. We've heard about this which it says does not consume water for cooling. Like a laptop or a cell phone, the chips housed in data centers can easily overheat, generally requiring a lot of water to cool them down, you don't say.

A company said that the water consumption was so high last year because of the temporary construction related activities such as concrete work, preparation. Once operational, the company said that centers only will use water for domestic needs such as bathrooms and kitchens. That will total the equivalent of four households per month, they said. That may not happen for another few years, however, so it's going to take some years to even get there if it ever does. The company is still actively building and expanding in Fayetteville on the campus.

It aims to finish in three to five years. Tiger, who sent the 2025 letter to QTS, said the utility didn't know about the water hookup because the connection process got mixed up at the county. Let's see where I'm at. I think I'm over here. Here I go. Yeah. Somewhere over here. Right?

Yeah. I don't know. Hold on

just a second. How many pages have I read? I think I have to turn this one over. Hold on just a second. I think it's this one. Here it is. There I go. Oh my goodness. Transition to cloud based system while also trying to accommodate an industrial customer. Tiger also said that her staff is small and at capacity.

So it's not a lot of employees, it doesn't sound like. Just like any water system, we don't have enough staff. We can't keep staff, she said. I've got one person that's doing inspections and plant review, and so he's spread pretty thin. Able to locate Politico this is just like I don't know, I think this got put in the middle of the paper right here so it knocked it blocked some stuff.

But I'll try and just yeah, we'll just able to locate the inspection report. I may have hit send too soon, she said about the 2025 letter to QTS. While the utility charged the data center a higher construction rate for unapproved water consumption, Tiger confirmed the utility did not penalize or fine the facility. That decision has some residents stewing. Did I already write read this part?

I don't think anybody is paying attention.

I may have. That's okay. I've got another one. This one's good. How a landfill waste energy project gave way to the Rockford facility TIFF proposed TIFF facility, Rock River Current.

Landfills initially helped bring data centers developer Monarch Energy to town. The San Diego based infrastructure developer was attracted to land south of the Chicago Rockford International Airport, in part because of its proximity to two landfills: the Winnebago Landfill just south of Baxter Road and Orchid Hills Landfill just west of Illinois' Route 251. Monarch, which at the time was focused on green hydrogen production, had plans to use carbon dioxide byproduct from the decomposition of trash that seems smart to produce sustainable aviation fuel for customers at the Chicago Rockford International Airport. That seems completely reasonable. Air liquid advanced technologies are similar to waste to energy facility that uses methane gas from the Winnebago Landfill.

Monarch was preparing to do the same with carbon dioxide. The company was here in April 2024 with U. S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and a multitude of local, state, and federal officials to talk about its potential $1,000,000,000 investment to produce sustainable aviation fuel. But the capital stack for that project was in part reliant on tax credits made available through the IFRIA Inflation Reduction Act, which provided incentives for clean hydrogen production.

The Trump administration rolled back much of those clean energy incentives. So Monarch pivoted to focus on highly demanded TIF proposal sites. That's all

I got. I ran out of it.

All right. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Steve McMaster.

Hello. My name is Stephen McMaster. I've been up here lots of times. And the thing I harp on a lot is making sure we understand the rules. Making sure we understand what's happening. We understand what the legal requirements are and how to move on. I don't really feel like many people in this room understand what a TIF district is or what it's used for. We had the presentation from Ryan where they pointed out quite a few things that they've identified as reasonable reasons for the TIF District to be in this area. One of the things that they keep mentioning is like, we need to redevelop this land. That way people will use it.

Let's not beat around the bush here. We know who's going in that land. We we know that there's a $12,000,000,000 proposal for that area already without the TIF District. We know we don't need this TIF District because there's already a $12,000,000,000 proposal here. Or is that reliant on the TIF? I don't know. There have been over a 100 emails shared between members of this side of the room that have not been seen by members of this side of the room. That doesn't feel like transparency. That doesn't feel like accountability. That doesn't feel like everybody here understands what the point of this is.

As far as the citizens seem concerned, it seems like this is a tax incentive strictly for a data center. That doesn't seem to be what the citizens want. I I don't know if you've managed to come to all of the no data center meetings or the data center innovation meetings. There was just one last week and not a single person from this side of the room was there. There was over, I think there was roughly 200 people that were there from this side of the room.

It's really disappointing when we have that kind of dichotomy. So this is kind of our only chance to speak up. This is the only time where you are forced to listen for as long as people are willing to speak. The Power Act is a 600 page document. I hope nobody has plans tonight.

We'll start here with the air quality, health, and economic impacts of the Vantage Data Center Facility. Now this is an independent environmental report that got released just earlier this, or I guess earlier this year, 02/27/2026. A bunch of PhDs on it. You know, Harvard, Harvard folks, you know, kind of assume that they're on the right path. We'll start at the beginning with the executive summary.

This report evaluates the estimated public health and economic impacts attributable to fine particulate matter, PM 2.5, emissions from the permitted on-site power storage system at the Vantage Data Center in Loudoun County, Virginia. This analysis reflects operations in a facility's maximum permitted annual emission limits. PM 2.5 is widely recognized as one of the most harmful air pollutants to human health. Extensive scientific evidence shows long term exposure to PM 2.5, even at levels below current federal standards, is associated with increased risks of heart disease, stroke, respiratory illnesses, asthma, exacerbation, and premature death. That seems bad.

Seems like a thing that we're concerned about and hasn't really been addressed by anybody publicly here. Continuing on. Using the US Environmental Protection Agency's COBRA Health Impact Model, the facility's permitted emissions are estimated to result in between 53 and $99,000,000 per year in health related damages. When we talk about the TIF District and we talk about what what could go in there and why we should incentivize it, I really want you to keep numbers like that in mind. It's not actually helpful for the city if we're actively causing health problems for our citizens.

These damages are driven primarily by an estimated three and a half to six and a half premature deaths across the impacted region, along with hospital admissions, asthma related outcomes, and lost productivity. These aren't made up numbers. These aren't numbers that I'm bringing to you. This is from a Harvard study. Like, don't get me wrong.

I understand that studies can be manipulated however we want, but this is important information. It's important to recognize that you should not be getting all of your information from Monarch. Like, If annual impacts remain at this level, the total estimated health damages could add up to 300 to $500,000,000 over the next five years. Again, is Loudoun County, Virginia. They have a bit of a increased population size.

They also have, you know, a lot more data centers than than we have proposed for the TIFF area. But we're only 150,000 people. This is a $12,000,000,000 project. If you kind of divide that out amongst everybody, that's $80,000 per person. That's more than the median wage in Rockford. So when you're making this decision, it's important to recognize the people over the money. It's important to recognize that we only get a say right now. It's important to recognize that we're saying no. We're saying please don't do this. If this isn't a data center conversation, then great.

Take the data center's plot out of the fucking TIF District. We're still on page one and a half. This one I think has four, or no, this is only a 25 page, and then the Power Act, I figured will go into that. That's 600 pages. So like, again, I don't know what the plan is tonight, but this is my plan.

Geographically, the largest estimated county level average annual exposure increase attributable to the facility occurs in Loudoun County. Because of its large population, Fairfax County accounts for the largest share of estimated total population exposure. That's a weird point to bring up, but it's a very interesting one when you talk about this proposed TIF district. It's right on the border of property that we don't control. It's right on the border of property that will affect other people.

When we talk about water runoff, when we talk about power usage, when we talk about any sort of infrastructure advancements that need to happen in that area, it doesn't just affect us. It affects everybody around us. Census tracts experiencing the highest estimated PM 2.5 increases include large and diverse communities within Northern Virginia and higher populations of Hispanic and Asian residents relative to statewide averages and elevated social vulnerability index scores. Hey, what's the average wealth of that area of Rockford? Is it also significantly lower than the rest of the city?

Are we also talking about harming specifically our worse off residents? Like, it's it's those people who can't afford a lawyer to fight back. It's those people that you need to protect. This is a $12,000,000,000 proposal in this area. Do we have any TIF districts that have a singular $12,000,000,000 customer? I'm I'm pretty sure this is the largest investment that we've ever had in the city. As far as in one particular spot. Like, this isn't just a shrug off conversation. This isn't a thing that you try to spring on us at the last minute. Mr.

Mayor, when you announce on a reel a month ago that you'll make sure that everybody's informed of the situation, you you didn't mention the fact that you had already sent out information of that the TIF hearing was gonna happen on this date. You have to do that forty five days beforehand, so you you must have already done that. And then you you seem to have forgotten over the last week that this was occurring because you didn't make a single post about it. I didn't see anything from the city of Rockford government regarding this TIF district. Why not?

It seems like you don't care. I I don't know if the next four hours can make you care, but I don't know. I guess we're gonna try. According to the EPA's 2023 air quality statistics, background PM 2.5 levels in the affected region are already elevated relative to national averages and are close to the current federal annual standard. Emissions from this facility would therefore add to ambient pollution levels in communities that already experience substantial existing air quality burdens.

Hey, are there any existing air quality burdens for the area right next to the airport in the landfill? I think there probably would be. We've done air quality studies, right, to see what the current status of that area is. We know how we're going to clean it up with this TIF money, Right? That's that's been well discussed. I haven't seen any of it. I I'm I'm sure somebody somewhere is doing work. It would be great if the public was aware of that. Perhaps next time we have a data center informational meeting, you can come and present that information. Hey, you could have brought this slide show out to us to get a better understanding for the rest of the citizens before this meeting.

That would have helped the information pathways. That that would have made me feel more confident that the city actually cares. But I don't think you do. And since I don't think you're gonna listen to anything I have to say anyway, we move to page three. Introduction.

This report evaluates potential air quality and health impacts attributable to the permanent on-site power system permitted for the Vanta Data Center facility at 22318 Glen Drive in Sterling, Virginia. Based on Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, air permit number 74242, the air this facility is authorized to operate eight natural gas simple cycle turbines and more than 50 diesel generators, including emergency and back start units. We're also gonna do natural gas production in this TIF District for some sort of project. Right? There's a 22 or 28 inch natural gas pipeline that's being talked about being installed in this TIF District.

Oh, hey. I guess I'm less informed than I should be. Perhaps you guys could put out that information. I don't know. It seems relevant to conversations like this one. Seems relevant when people don't know information and are actively begging you to tell us. Using the maximum annual emissions authorized in the permit, we quantify how this on-site power system could increase the fine particulate air pollution, PM 2.5, nearby communities in Loudoun County, Fairfax County, and the broader Downwind region. Hey, that's a really good point. Again, the pollution that we cause, regardless of what goes into this district, will be spread to other communities. It doesn't just stay here.

It's, I don't know, a lot like that old gunite facility that got in trouble for leaking stuff into our waterways. We have a history in this city, a very recent history in this city, of areas being developed and being mis misused. We have a a long history of different companies that have had start up and close down and then change hands in this shell game of covering up the Superfund sites that we have in this city. Is is this area a Superfund site, actually? That would that would be a really interesting information to to bring up.

Perhaps we could talk about what used to be there, how the groundwater currently is, what new development would look like for that kind of environmental status of, of that region. I don't know, it seems really relevant. It seems like it would be a great conversation to have before this TIF hearing. What are we supposed to do? Right? Like you're you guys are gonna quietly let this all happen and then at some point you're gonna randomly pop back up for a vote. I I don't particularly know why or when that will happen. But it seems to be consistent. Again, we we weren't told about this. We we were told by the mayor, don't worry about it.

I'll let you know. And then we got nothing. Scientific foundation and independence. This assessment was conducted by an independent scientific experts and was not prepared on behalf of the project proponent, permitting agency, or any of the regulating authorities. This analysis relies on publicly available permit documentation and peer reviewed air quality modeling and health impact assessment methods.

It follows established scientific frameworks used in, used to evaluate one, how emissions disperse and are chemically transformed in the atmosphere to form fine particulate matter. And two, how increases in fine particulate matter exposure attribute to the plant, attributable to the data center translate into adverse health outcomes and economic damage. The approach is consistent with methods widely applied in academic literature and by federal agencies to assess population level health impacts of industrial air pollution and builds on decades of statistical and, that's a hard word. I'm just going skip it. It's fine.

Research linking the long term PM 2.5 exposure to increased risks of premature mortality and other adverse health outcomes. That's a somewhat long paragraph basically saying stuff in air bad. We wanna breathe air. Air good, stuff in air bad. Cool.

This analysis was conducted by an environmental health scientist and air pollution bio istician trained at Harvard University. All assumptions, inputs and analytical steps are documented. This report is intended to provide an independent policy relevant assessment of potential long term public health impacts attributable to the facility's permitted emissions. This analysis is focused on population level health impacts and does not replace regulatory compliance modeling conducted as a part of the permitting process. Did we have any modeling conducted for any of the proposed changes to this area?

I haven't seen any, but like, maybe not. What is PM 2.5 and why does it matter? This is, I figure, another explanation. Fine particulate matter, smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, is one of the most harmful forms of air pollution. Because of its microscopic size, roughly 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair, PM 2.5 can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, triggering inflammation throughout the body.

A large body of scientific evidence links exposure to PM two point five with a wide range of adverse health outcomes including asthma exacerbation, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, and premature death. According to a major public health assessments, PM two point five accounts for the majority of roughly eight million global deaths each year attributed to air pollution, making it a leading environmental risk factor worldwide. High risk groups include children, asthmatics, and older adults living with pre existing heart and lung conditions. Again, where is this proposed district? What are we, what are we doing?

We we just had some people come up here and speak about how this how areas that we care about or areas are ignored in the city, especially when they're low income areas. This is not a high income area of the city. This is not filled with residents who can pay a lawyer to try to fight against a $12,000,000,000 project. Our only hope is that you kind of, sort of listen to us. I don't think it'll happen, but I guess I'm just gonna annoy everybody.

PM 2.5 originates from both direct and indirect sources. Primary PM 2.5 is emitted directly into the air from combustion processes such as power generation, vehicle exhaust, and industrial activity. Secondary secondarily, PM 2.5 forms when gases such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, and volatile organic compounds react in the atmosphere often in the presence of sunlight. These reactions convert the gases into fine sulfide, nitrate, and organic particles that become part of the two point, PM 2.5 mixture people breathe. Together, these pathways contribute to ambient 2.5 exposure that might affect regional air quality and public health.

Importantly, there's no safe level of exposure to PM 2.5. Health risks increase continuously as exposures rise with no threshold I'm sorry. Can, does anybody wanna like talk about what's being talked about on that side of the room? It's like, it's somewhat distracting. But it's kind of funny. Like, right? We we keep interrupting to try to figure out if this can happen or not. Is that, is that what's trying to, cool. Sounds good. I'll just keep going.

Importantly, there are no safe levels of exposure to PM 2.5. Health risks increase continuously as exposure rises, with no threshold below which exposure is considered harmless. A large body of evidence including national studies of more than 60,000,000 US Medicaid beneficiaries employing causal inference methods indicate that long term increases in PM 2.5 contribute to higher mortality and hospitalization rates even at concentrations below current federal standards. In practical terms, this means that the modest incremental increases in pollution can still produce meaningful population level health impacts when a large number of people are exposed. We're a town of a 150,000 people.

Like there are more that sit downwind of us, more that sit downstream of us. This is not just an Us thing. We need to try to do what we can to protect everybody. Emissions input and scope of analysis. This analysis evaluates the air quality and health impacts attributable to the permanent on-site power system permitted for the Vanta Data Center facility located on Glen Drive.

Under Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality, VADEQ, air permit registration, the permit or sorry. Based on the permit, the facility is authorized to operate multiple combustion sources, including eight natural gas simple turbine engines and 51 diesel generator sets consisting of 49 emergency diesel generator sets and two black start diesel generator sets. Emissions inputs are based on the facility wide annual emission limits specified in the permit which are derived from enforceable operating limits and emission factors. Do we have any of those? I I don't know what protections we would have for this TIF district, for this proposed $12,000,000,000 project.

Again, already a proposed $12,000,000,000 project that for some reason we still need to create a tax incremental financing district for? Like, if that's not pulling things, and I don't know what is. This permit establishes facility wide annual emission limits, all units combined, including 51 or 56 tons per year of PM 2.5. Like, that's that's what they're just willing to allow in the area. That's kind of what this study goes into is understanding like how bad that is.

Just what they what they already allow. What we, I don't believe, have any restrictions for. I would love to feel corrected. I would love for some presentation to come in and say like exactly what could happen to this region, what couldn't. Like all we've heard is not to worry about it.

This isn't in any way related to a $12,000,000,000 proposed project in the area. I I just don't believe you. It doesn't seem like you've done any of the prep work, so I I don't know. I guess we'll just keep reading and see what happens. The scope of this report is limited to changes in annual PM 2.5 exposure and the resulting health and economic effects attributable to the Vantage facilities permitted emissions.

This analysis evaluates health impacts under a full permitted operation screening scenario, Reflecting the maximum annual emissions authorized by the facility's air permit. In short, this annual PM 2.5 exposure refers to the population weighted annual average ambient to PM 2.5 concentration increment attributed to the facility. Basically this is just gonna go in and talk about only stuff that this one facility has added to the region. Again, facility very similar to what's currently proposed in the TIF District. This screening approach does not assume that on-site generators operate only during emergency events.

Rather, it reflects total emissions allowed under the permit and therefore captures a bounding full permit emission scenario. The potential magnitude and geographical impacts the permitted annual emission, extent of impacts if actual annual emissions approach the maximum permitted annual emission limits regardless of the specific mix of permitted operating modes. Actual impacts would be expected to scale with actual annual emissions. The results should therefore be interpreted as expected, the results should therefore be interpreted as illustrating the potential public health implications of the permitted on-site power system when operated at its authorized emission levels. It is important to note that generator tier standards regulate emissions per hour of operation but do not directly constrain the total annual emissions of these op if these operating hours increase.

Accordingly, the health impacts estimated here reflect total permitted emissions rather than assumptions about specific operating schedules. Ammonia emissions were not explicitly included in the primary modeling analysis. Although permitted, although the permitted natural gas turbines employ selective catalytic reduction, SCR systems, they use ammonia or urea injection for nitrogen oxide control. The air permit does not specify an enforceable annual limits for NH nor does it require routine reporting of ammonia emissions or ammonia slip rates. As a result, facility specific NH emissions, emission quantities could not be derived directly from the permanent documentation.

Because ammonia is a precursor in the form of secondary fine particulate matter, PM 2.5, the exclusion of facility specific NH emissions may result in the underestimation of secondary PM 2.5 formation. Accordingly, estimated PM 2.5 exposure and associated health impacts should be interpreted as conservative with respect to the ammonia related secondary formation. That's, in short, there are some ways that data centers can try to curb their emissions, or any facility, but it's kinda hard to track. That's that's what this is effectively saying. There there's a fair bit of ammonia emissions that are going to be added that even the the Harvard study can't seem to track.

They're they're not sure about how much is gonna be in there and they actively say that they're like, yep, that's gonna be lower than what the the end result is. That's the kind of thing when we're talking about these new technologies, we're talking about these new buildings, these new types of industry. That's the kind of thing that we need to recognize and legislate against. Or just say YOLO. But like admit it to us.

If we're doing that, if we're just saying like screw you, we're gonna get Well, guess it's not tax revenue if we're doing a TIF district. Wait, hold on. What is the the benefit to you guys? Because there's there's no benefit to us, or at least, you know, many of us don't see a benefit. And it's not like it's a tax benefit if we're gonna do a TIF district and they're gonna be the only facility in that area that we know about. Like they're the only ones that could receive the tiff money.

So what

are you getting out of it? That is that part of the the the gifts that you show up with every once in a while that that all of you get that you don't mention? Were they the ones who sent you guys the bottles of liquor in in December? I saw one of the packages open. Don't don't you guys worry. One of the boxes was opened in the elevator which has security cameras. So we can just like, foil you that information and review it. I I'm I'm I'm sure, I don't know, there could be other cameras recording at any particular time that might also have that information. Like, just because you think you're clever doesn't mean you are. I get told that a lot.

I understand. But it's important to recognize that like eventually, you're gonna have to be honest. I mean, or you're gonna have to deal with the consequences. Like I I don't wanna be here. I don't I don't wanna continue speaking for however long I guess I can stand up.

Is that is that what we're doing? But, but I'm gonna, because it doesn't seem like you listen anyway. Back to the document. We're on page six for the record. In addition to contributing secondary PM 2.5 formation, short term exposure to elevated ammonia concentrations can cause irritation to the eyes and respiratory tract, typically associated with localized or transient ammonia slip events from SCR systems.

This analysis focuses on long term annual average PM 2.5 formation and does not quantify short term ammonia exposure or acute irritation effects which are outside the scope of the assessment. Again, this, this assessment that doesn't, doesn't like the end result is still ignoring information. Analytical approach and methodology. To estimate potential air quality and public health impacts attributable to operation of the Vantage data center's on pipe, on-site power system, this analysis applies a multi step framework that translates permitted emissions into long term changes in ambient fine particulate matter exposure and attributable health and economic impacts. Emissions inputs and scope are defined in the preceding section.

This section describes how inputs are represented and evaluated within the modeling framework. The geographic location of the emission source was defined using the facility location reported in the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality air permit for the Vantage Data Center. Facility emissions were represented as a single aggregate elevated point source consistent with the regional screening application of the in map model. This facility wide representation aggregates emissions from permitted gas turbines and diesel generators into a single source characterized by the maximum annual emission limits authorized under the air permit. It avoids introducing additional assumptions regarding unit specific dispatch, operation schedules, or temporal variability which are not required for evaluating long term average exposure and health impacts.

Because the permit does not specify a complete stack geometry and exhaust parameters required for dispersion modeling, representative representative release parameters were derived from facility documentation and the DEQ approved turbine stack test report. The stack inside diameter was taken directly from the sampling location information provided in the compliance test document. Exhaust temperatures used in the model are consistent with flue gas temperatures measured during performance testing. Exit velocity was calculated from reported volumetric flow rates and stack dimensions documented in the stack test data. A representative stack height of 50 meters was assumed based on the facility documentation obtained through public records.

Because the air permit does not specify an enforceable stack height, this value represents a documented engineering parameter used for dispersion modeling rather than a regulatory limit. Does anybody here know if we have regulations regarding stack heights or speeds that we throw environmental particulates out? Like have we done any air monitoring? Any wind pattern monitoring of the area to understand who's going to be affected? Again, this is already an area with an airport and with a landfill.

Like this is already an area that should be a major concern. This is already an area that whether or not we want to currently say this particular portion of ground is a Superfund site, like, again, we have an airport and a landfill right next door. Like, it's gonna be a Superfund site as soon as those are shut down. Like, that's what happens. We can obviously do some capping. We can obviously do some groundwater retention systems and stuff. But like, at the end of the day, this is already a blighted area, as you point out. Like, this facility isn't going to fix that. I don't see how development in that area is going to fix that. There was nothing in the report about the TIF district is where where how we plan on spending the TIF funds.

Like the only assumption that we can make, the only reason why we would move it from a TIF, we would we would have it be a TIF district as opposed to just general taxes, is so that way we can give money back to the developer. That's why we do it. It's an incentive financing. It's incentives for developers of that area. Again, $12,000,000,000 project.

Our only $12,000,000,000 project? Certainly I expect our only $12,000,000,000 project that would be in this TIF district. So it seems like the data center is an incredibly relevant conversation. So I'll continue. The objective of this analysis is to estimate population level, exposure, and attribute health, attributable health impacts, including secondary particulate matter formed in precursor emissions.

InMAP is a peer reviewed reduced complexity atmospheric chemistry model designed specifically to estimate marginal changes in annual average PM 2.5 exposure at regional scales including secondary PM 2.5 formation. Reduced complexity refers to the computational efficiency rather than scientific validity. InMAP is calibrated against more complex chemical transport models and retains the processes necessary for health impact assessments. Accordingly, INMAP is well suited for screening level decision relevant estimation of population level PM 2.5 exposure attributable to a single source, which is the primary objective of this analysis. Again, this is an actual study that was done that I haven't seen a similar study done by any of you guys.

I I I imagine for a $12,000,000,000 project like, I don't know, spend a million dollars trying to actually ascertain what the situation's going to look like, that seems somewhat reasonable. I think $12,000,000,000 TIF district, blah, blah, blah, something like $50,000,000 we're arguably not going to get tax revenue for. I feel like if we take 2% of that to try to figure out if we should do it, then that'd be a good idea. I don't know. I'm getting a lot of head shakes.

Perhaps we could have more of a conversation about it. We got Leadership Rockford. Oh, you're in that one. Neat. Anyway, we won't read other people's mail.

It's also happening on the side. AIRMAD is the EPA preferred model for regulatory permitting and compliance demonstrations, particularly for evaluating near field concentrations at specific receptors and shorter, shorter averaging times. However, AIRMAD does not simulate atmospheric chemical reactions or gas to particle conversion and and therefore does not explicitly account for secondary PM 2.5 formation. Again, this stuff is kinda hard to track. Like we we have smart people who are saying, current modeling's a bit rough.

Like do we think we're better or do we just not care? Because I know I care. I know a lot of people care. Hey, they're they're still sitting here. You guys are kind of sort of getting paid for it. I hope I'm not upsetting anybody. But again, I think this is the only time we can do this. So I'm more than willing to like take a pause if anybody else wants to give any comments. I'm not sure how that works for a public hearing. Am I able to do that?

I believe there are approximately four or five additional speakers signed up after the current speaker. So if he wants to cede his time for the moment to allow those speakers to address the public hearing, that's fine.

My apologies. Please. I apologize for anybody upset.

Yeah.

If anybody wants to come up, feel free to tap me on the shoulder. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. If you want to.

Really tiny.

No. You can do whatever you want. Okay? Quick commercial break,

yep. I

had signed up on don't Okay.

Good? Okay.

Or somebody else?

Excuse me.

Yes, sorry. Excuse me.

Our next public speaker tonight is Denise Malik. Is Denise still here? Okay. I can come back. Is George Cearns here?

George Stearns, there you come. There

you go.

Oh, okay. My wife and I moved out to Wagon Wheel Lane in 1988 from Rockford. I grew up in Rockford. I love the area and Wagon Wheel Lane is so nice to raise a family all around us and my son grew up there, my stepdaughter grew up there and I don't know how many dogs we had there, but they all grew up there too and they're absolutely, that's what a family is is just absolutely beautiful out there and the problem is I hear all these facilities like this that are being built will ruin it. And, the house I worked for all my life, I worked forty eight years at Rockford Products, and the house I paid for and worked for will be worth nothing if that data center is out there.

Because Wagon Wheel Lane is just across the street, well, it's a quarter mile cul de sac that you Condon, I don't know if you know where that's at. And, Condon is the edge of the new facility that's coming up. And, from what I've heard in that last speaker, he covered a lot of stuff and he's very, very good. But, everything I've read about other states and what's happening, you'll ruin families out there. Really, you will.

And Thank you. And, there's so many very nice people. I've got two neighbors right here and I think there's what eighteen twenty houses on that quarter mile cul de sac. You go out in the backyard it's so quiet, so beautiful and so peaceful. And with the data center that will disappear.

And the water we get is from the ground through wells and that will disappear. What are you gonna, what do you do about that? I don't know. So, I'm kinda asking you to look into your hearts, look at your family and what what do you care about your family? And that's that's the main whole thing about it.

And I love my wife. Her and I are still there. And, we don't want to move from there. But if that comes in, what do we do? No groundwater, pollution, noise, I hear those generators are unbelievable. But please, from your heart, think about the families that are out there. There's people out there with horses and it's just beautiful. Drive out there sometime and you'll see what I'm talking about and that data center will ruin it all. Okay? Think about it.

Please think about it. And, money comes and goes. Families are forever. Okay? Thank you. Thank

you. Is Melissa Barthinen still here? Yes.

I'll be brief. Marissa Barnathan. It's my first time coming to a city council meeting. I moved here about two years ago to be an educator. I feel like I'm on the flip side of what that wonderful gentleman just spoke to. I've only been here for two years. I want to be proud of the place that I live in. I'm hoping to start a family here. But I'm urging you to vote no on the proposed TIF district as everyone performing has spoken about. For me, with the potential plans for industrialization in that area, I'm concerned about water consumption, water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution.

And particularly, as I said, I'm nervous to bring a child into the area of Rockford where I'd like to buy a house. I'd like to stay here. But I'm nervous to raise a family if if the values of this city are, as the gentleman said right before me, valuing money over people. So I as he said, I agree, look into your hearts, think about your families. Your families might not be in that district, but think of the folks who are and people like me who I want to stay here. I really do. And so I know some of you hopefully will consider our thoughts. As the gentleman before me said, I don't know exactly the process, but I'm just urging you to vote no on this proposed TIFF district. Thank you.

It's Patrick Hickey here.

I'm the supervisor of Scott Township Ogle County which is bordering this potential TIF district. The residents of Scott Township are very concerned about the impact on our water quality, electricity demands, and collateral damage to our properties that are adjacent to any construction site, whether it's a data center, it's not material. We're very concerned. And we're also concerned about the impact on our roads that will be used to construct whatever it is is constructed. And as for blight, none of us who may or may not have generational farms on this property or any property adjacent will be interested in the degradation of our property values when this is constructed.

Thank you. Thank

you. Is Chris Bear still here? Good

evening.

Good evening.

You know, it's a funny thing. It I find that I have to go to city council on a Monday night when I'd rather be at home, but I don't trust this council to do their job. And so here I am helping you do your job for you, I suppose. So let's take a look at the City of Rockford's tax increment financing policy statement. This is a nine pager, so Stephen it's not as bad as 600.

The Government Finance Officers Association, GFOA, recommends that local governments carefully evaluate whether tax increment financing TIF and TIF districts are the most appropriate and effective tool to assist the local government in its economic development plans. TIF can be a powerful economic development tool, but when tax revenues from the TIF increment is diverted, other local governments will be affected by not receiving these revenues, which can constrain a government over the duration of the TIF. Additionally, the development project itself may contain risk if the project fails to realize the projected results. It could subject the TIF and the government to significant financial pressures, particularly with respect to the TIF debt service. When creating the City Of Rockford's TIF policy, an ad hoc committee was formed to address five categories.

Number one, priorities when negotiating a new TIF projectdevelopment agreement. Number two, creating a new TIF district number three, the due diligence required for new projects within a TIF district number four, monitoringreporting of existing TIF districts and agreements. Number five, the city's philosophy on use of incremental real estate tax from TIF. I'm reading this whole thing to make sure that we all heard it because I don't actually believe that you all read the whole thing. It's pretty big.

So we're just going to read together, listen in. Continuing on, the ad hoc committee was asked to take into account risk, financial conditions, the likelihood of normal changes in the EAV which would occur without TIF status, and the relationship of a project to the city's overall plans, including maintenance and sustainability. This policy is designed to be consistent with enabling statutes but also provide flexibility to the city consistent with the city's comprehensive plan while furthering local priorities. This policy will be used going forward as a guide for city employees working with TIF as well as citizens that want to understand the process used to make TIF decisions. This policy will be updated annually to ensure relevancy and proper connection to the city's comprehensive plan.

Number one, priorities when negotiating a new TIF projectdevelopment agreement. The following outlines eight main priorities of the city sorry the city will consider when negotiating a new projectdevelopment agreement within an existing TIF. The two primary priorities are the type of project A and the location of the project B. The six secondary priorities are quality of life A, crime prevention B, education C, parks and recreation D, historic commercial centers E, and Riverfront F. The ad hoc committee used these eight main priorities to create a guideline point system to help simplify and make transparent the priorities in the city's decision making process.

Appendix A, guideline point system. I guess this is bad with outlines. Guess this is no, this is one. Okay. Primary project priorities a, the type of project, one of two. Number one, industrialmanufacturing. A, provide an adequate supply of land for development which increases primary employment opportunities. B, maintain adequate capacities and public utilities. C, promote the development of transportation related goods and services as a special focus to Rockford's economic base. D, create primary employment opportunities considering the number of jobs created based on full time equivalent, FTE.

E, obtain targeted employment opportunities that are consistent with city recognized regional economic development plans. F, create economic incentives for businesses located in areas with existing infrastructure. G, support craft manufacturing and entrepreneurship. H, create jobs in undeserved areas and high unemployment zones. Two, commercial new.

A, land use. One, make retail centers attractive destinations. Two, provide incentives for mixed use development and redevelopment. B, economic development. One, pursue opportunities to strengthen the sales tax base. Two, provide services in undeserved area. Three, provide job opportunities in high unemployment zones. Three, commercial renovationimprovement of existing commercial. A, land use. Number one, promote targeted infill development.

Number two, direct development along corridors to create stronger districts. Three, provide financial incentives to aid the development of smart growth projects. Four, provide incentives for mixed use in development and redevelopment. B, economic development. One, systematically plan for the redevelopment of Rockford's older commercial areas.

Two, encourage the continuous upgrading and active marketing of existing retail centers. Three, enhance the unique appearance of existing structures through the preservation of architecture that represents a resource of value to the community. Four, residential. A, address concentration of low income residential economic development. Number one, encourage and promote a balance of new desirable developments.

Number two, develop and maintain a comprehensive housing plan that goes beyond the scope of the consolidated plan. Three, encourage housing strategies that revitalize older neighborhoods. Four, improve the state of neighborhoods surrounding downtown, complementing existing plans. Five, reduce concentrations of poverty. B, dangerous and abandoned buildings, economic development.

Number one, ensure that transportation improvements foster and support the revitalization of existing neighborhoods. Two, support the removal of derelict housing units provided that there is a strategy to minimize negative effects. Three, promote housing strategies that result in new housing within existing neighborhoods, utilizes existing infrastructure, and is compatible with existing housing stock, infill housing. Four, reduce financial roadblocks to rehabilitation. Five, minimize the hazards of lead paint while ensuring the financial feasibility of rehabilitation.

Five, tourism. A, create opportunities for entertainment, spectator sports, events, venues. B, support arts and cultural opportunities for residents and visitors. C, provide entertainment for residents and visitors. D, create opportunities of critical mass such as city market and stroll on state. Six, public improvements. A, land use. Number one, retrofit existing arterials and collector streets with sidewalks. Number two, design streets to facilitate safe pedestrian crossings. Three, require traffic calming in residential areas that experience excessive traffic speeds.

Welcome back. 06:43. What time is it now? Oh, 07:16. Glad to have you back. Thirty minutes. Decent. I lost my place.

We'll just Turn over. Okay.

Hold on. Okay. Abandoned buildings, tourism. You can take a seat if you want. I'll I'll wait. I was trying not to be rude, but keep it up. Yeah, right. Rude was you leaving, but, you know, I digress. Okay. Number six, public improvements, land use. Okay. Here we go. Require self calming. Number four, connect walkways, parking lots, greenways, and developments. Page three.

Number five, plant trees throughout the community and preserve existing trees during new construction. Number six, maintain sidewalks, bikeways, and pathways. Number seven, serve the needs of those who are disenfranchised from, do not desire to use, or otherwise unable to take full advantage of the predominantly automobile oriented transportation system. Number eight, ensure that transportation improvements foster and support the revitalization of existing neighborhoods. Number nine, improve the appearance of major roadway corridors in Rockford. Number 10, implement gateway plans. Seven, arts. You may like this one. Highlight cultural assets through public art and events. That's all we got, though.

Number eight, historic preservation. A, find ways to take advantage of areas where a critical mass of historic sites exist, such as South Main area, where Tinker's West Cottage Museum, the Graham Ganestra House, and the Ethnic Heritage Museum are located. B, location of projects, two of two. Number one, high priority areas. A, central city defined areas that were developed prior to 1950. B, census tracts with high unemployment. C, census tracts with low median income. D, areas defined as community development block grant eligible tract. E, riverfront. Two, mid priority areas.

A, areas that developed between 1950 and 1990. B, buildings that have been vacant for more than ten years. Three, low priority areas. A, typically greenfield locations that require the extension of public infrastructure. Sounds kind of like this proposed district, actually. Secondary project priorities. A, quality of life. Number one, land use. A, support tree preservation through publicprivate partnerships. B, plant trees throughout the community and preserve existing trees during new construction.

C, provide sidewalks. D, design streets to facilitate safe pedestrian crossings. E, provide safe pedestrian routes to transit. F, provide sorry, make places walkable for aging populations and those with disabilities. G, create a comprehensive bicycling program. Two, natural resources. A, protect our groundwater supply. B, protect our floodway and flood plains. C, redevelop Rockford's brownfields. Three, landscaping.

A, protect mature trees and maintain required landscaping. B, reforestplant trees to replace removal. C, support efforts to preserve and or restore natural vegetation.

Kinda sounds like the opposite of what I'm supposed

to have. Sure does. We continue on, page four of nine. B, crime prevention, two of six. Number one, establish positive policecommunity relations through effective branch police stations. Number two, implement crime prevention through environmental design programs. C, education, three of six. Number one, support local education opportunities for primary and secondary education. Number two, provide ongoing training for existing employees. Number three, establish programs for those returning to work, including parolee job training and education.

D, Parks and Recreation, four of six. Number one, land use. Create a network of trails and greenways. B, provide sorry, create active and secure open spaces. C, create a comprehensive bicycling program. Two, community facilities and services. A, assist the park district in acquisition and development of facilities as appropriate. B, work with park district in preparing a new park and open space plan. C, pursue the development of new pathways. D, continue the development of riverfront open space.

E, historic commercial centers, five of six. One, downtown, Midtown, Broadway, and other historic districts. A, develop a comprehensive way finding system, signs, and graphic communication to convey location and direction to travelers to and within downtown. B, develop a block by block plan for downtown complementing existing plans. C, increase the amount and variety of downtown housing.

D, expand the number and variety of destination entertainment venues. E, provide attractive and efficient options for travel. F, Riverfront, six of six. Number one, focus on properties that revitalize the riverfront. Number two, creation of public space along river.

Three, remove of nonconforming uses along river corridor downtown. Two, creation of a new TIF district, aka redevelopment project area. The following outlines the nine steps city employees should take when evaluating the creation of a new of, of, typo, of of a new TIF district, also known as redevelopment project area RPA. A, analyze the area proposed for a TIF district to determine whether the proposed district is eligible as it meets, number one, the criteria under applicable state law. Two, the priorities for economic development and community development established by the city.

B, size. One, the TIF district should be no larger than the size necessary to achieve the two objectives in item A. C, evaluation by qualified consultant. The evaluation of a TIF shall be completed by a qualified consultant approved by the city and working under the direction of the city and shall include A, a preliminary TIF qualification report demonstrating conformance with state statute State statute. That might be on their typo as well.

B, TIF redevelopment plan implementing the initiatives of the city's comprehensive plan. D, the TIF redevelopment plan shall describe with specificity the city's priorities that are to be achieved with the establishment of a TIF in the proposed district. Page five and nine. We're past the halfway point. Number one, the area encompassed by the proposed district should clearly relate to these priorities and the criteria established by law.

Two, if the district is to be created to fund public infrastructure improvements, the same but for analysis should be applied to these improvements, I. E, without the creation of the TIF District, these infrastructure improvements could likely not be made. There are no alternative sources of funds reasonably available. E, determine whether development or redevelopment could take place within an acceptable timeframe without TIF assistance, e. G, but for the TIF assistance that is available through the establishment of a TIF District, development which furthers the city's economic development or community development goals would not be reasonably likely to occur in this area within a reasonable time.

Demonstrate that the physical and economic conditions in the district would not be addressed without the creation of the TIF. Number one, identify public improvements that are to be made in the district finance through TIF revenues. Number two, prepare a district wide financial projection of the TIF revenues and determine whether these revenues will support any TIF expenditures that are to be funded on other than a pay as you go basis. Number three, identify any taxpayer concentration, tax appeal history, EAV trends, and the overlapping taxing jurisdictions projected contribution to any TIF revenues based on the financial projection. Number four, evaluate the city's ability to meet proposed meet the proposed TIF district objectives, its ability to mitigate potential risks to overlapping taxing districts, the city's ongoing maintenance and repair costs, and the ability to repay debt in the event of revenue declines.

A, work with the township assessor to obtain a projection of future EAV in the district without the creation of the TIF District based on available information. B, look at past and future EAV trends, collection performance, and delinquency rates. C, look at the effect that the creation of the TIF District is likely to have on property or businesses outside of the district. Look at the effect of the creation of the TIF District. A good one.

Number five, subject the assumptions and methods for all feasibility studies to sensitivity analysis and other modeling techniques. See the Government Finance Officers Association best practice evaluating data and assumptions in economic development proposals. Number six, additionally an alternative analysis could be prepared to evaluate pay as you go financing and or debt financing options that the TIF could support. F, analyze the long term economic benefit to the local economy for the term of the TIF, the fiscal impacts to the affected jurisdictions and overlapping tax entities e. G.

School districts and the economic cost of TIF incentives. G, evaluate the risk to general government operations when the TIF related revenue is no longer available including an evaluation of the impact of the TIF District on the city's tax base. H, prepare a maintenance plan for the TIF District's projects incorporating ongoing costs and future capital costs, the cost of periodic reviews of the TIF District performance, maintaining public information on the TIF District, etcetera, considering revenue sources available to cover these costs. If a third party or private sector partner such as a developer is to maintain the TIF District, provide a maintenance plan that incorporates those components. I, prepare a simple summary staff report decision making process.

Three, due diligence required for specific projects within a TIF District. The following outlines nine critical due diligence steps city employees should take when evaluating a specific project within a TIF district. District? A, apply the but for test. This is critical for public credibility and for fairness to other taxing districts.

Number one, each proposed project must demonstrate sufficient need for the city's TIF assistance such that without the TIF assistance the proposed project would not occur. Number two, the proponent will demonstrate that every other reasonable financing alternative has been exhausted prior to the use of TIF. Number three, the satisfaction of the but for test will, in appropriate cases, be subject to review by an outside committee appointed by the city. B, identify the city's priorities for the reuse of TIF that will be met or furthered by the project as outlined in this policy. Number one, economic development, job creation.

Number one, employment of persons living in the district. Number two, employment generally. Three, wage level. Four, business located in the district. A, location near existing housing. B, location near planned housing. Five, what businesses or jobs? A, manufacturing. B, health care. C, those consistent with the city's economic development plan. Six, other criteria. Two, commercial development. A, underserved areas are prairie locations. B, avoid cannibalizing within the district or contiguous districts. C, other criteria.

Three, shovel ready industrial sites. Four, community development. A, elimination of blighted features. B, brownfields or environmental remediation. C, improved public infrastructure D, creation of public resources, parks, schools, libraries, etcetera E, other C, allocation of TIF revenue.

Number one, TIF support will be on a pay as you go basis. A, consideration will be taken for existing development projects where bonds may be refinanced to restructure debt. In these situations, it shall be demonstrated by the developer that the proposal lessens the burden on existing balance. B, consideration will be taken for public infrastructure improvements. C, consideration will be taken for the use of revenue bonds that are not backed by general obligations.

Two, developer will be prohibited from contesting assessments. Three, project will be to be supported by TIF must be subject to real estate tax. A, exceptions for schools, universities, hospitals, churches when such activity fulfills the priorities of the policy. Four, the developer's share of TIF revenues derived from the developer's project will be limited to 50% of the proceeds. A, additional revenues may be allocated when multiple policy priorities are satisfied.

Five, under the following circumstances a developer's project will be eligible to receive TIF support from revenues generated from other increment in the district in which the project is located. A, projects of significant importance to the community in meeting multiple goals of the redevelopment plan and criteria outlined in this policy. B, programs approved by the city consistent with the redevelopment plan, I. E. Facade program, sign replacement program, landscaping program.

D. The developer will provide a stress tested financial presentation demonstrating the probability of the project's financial success. E. Prepare a thorough development or redevelopment plan that that includes an estimate of the incremental increase in real estate valuation the proposed project will create not required for identified TIF programs, I. E.

Facade program. Number one, this will be based on an estimate provided by the township assessor comparing the before and after assessment and the assessor's opinion of the value. Number two, the city will hire outside professionals to assist with this process at the expense of the developer A, when bond funding is considered and or B, at the discretion of the finance director. F, thoroughly investigate the developer and hisher ability to meet the obligations outlined in the development agreement as necessary. This includes due diligence in examining the developer's financial and other resources and its track record with similar projects.

That's a thinker. G, if development project satisfies the criteria set forth above, the city will draft a will prepare a draft term sheet that sets forth the components of the proposed development agreement in simple terms. H, the development plan and development agreement include the following. Number one, a clear statement of the city's priorities or goals which are to be furthered by the project. Two, detailed performance measures.

A, success is not simply the achievement of the increased assessed value. B, success should be measured by the priorities, job creation, elimination of blight, environmental remediation, increased assessed value, etcetera. C, measurement should be independently confirmed. Three, milestones for identified performance measures. Four, guarantees of performance.

A, level of developer guarantee varies based on the developer's share of the TIF revenues and the share of the TIF revenues that go to cover public infrastructure costs that would otherwise have been borne by the general fund. B, increase priority ranking for job guarantee. Five, the share of the TIF revenues the developer will receive. A, rank the project on the city's priorities using a numerical scoring system. B, adjust the ranking to reflect any public infrastructure improvements that will be covered by the TIF revenues.

Six, developer share. A, a grant. B, a loan repayable only out of incremental taxes if performance measures are met and out of developer's funds if not. C, bonded in tranches with any GO bond tranche for enjoying senior status. D, other. Seven, identify the steps for monitoring evaluating and enforcing the agreement e. G. Our target job creation numbers met. A, cover the cost to the city in terms of staff and consultants for the monitoring of the TIF and the project through the life of the TIF. B, cover the cost to the city of ongoing transparency filing and publishing annual reports website maintenance etcetera.

C, identify the amount of funds to be withheld to monitor agreement. Eight specify the developers obligation to provide information throughout the life of the TIF. A guarantee that the project's users tenants operators, etcetera, are obligated to provide the information necessary to monitor results. This thing is long. Nine, steps to be taken if performance goals are not met, including descriptions of the consequences for either better or worse performance.

Number 10, for bonded projects establish a responsibility to monitor bond covenants. 11, document who is responsible for the following. A, project upkeep. B, who backs up project revenue if increments are not sufficient C, ongoing maintenance responsibilities D, maintaining designated reserves if required E, project reporting and monitoring F, adherence with state and local laws I, prepare a simple summary staff report, including the guidance point system, Appendix A, to be used in the final decision making process. Number four, monitoringreporting of existing TIF districts and agreements.

The following outlines five monitoringreporting requirements of city employees to make sure TIF districts are regularly and fairly monitored. A, on an annual basis publish a report of each TIF district to determine if the TIF is functioning as projected. Number one, measure actual performance as compared to projected performance including A, items such as actual versus projected tax base, jobs created, location of jobs, and potential impact of shifting economic development from non TIF district to TIF district. B. Private investment completed during the year within the TIF.

C. Public investment both measured in TIF dollars and non TIF dollars. D. Current projections both measured in the TIF fund revenue and fund balance through the life of the TIF E, review of any transfer of funds from one TIF district to another B, on an annual basis provide a summary of existing development agreements within each TIF and performance of the agreement compared to projections C, fully comply with the state of Illinois requirements for an annual TIF report. D, convene the joint review board to review existing TIFs.

Number one, evaluate performance of TIF. Number two, review implementation of redevelopment plan. Number three, assess fiscal impact on affected taxing districts. Number four, review of any increase in services to any taxing district. A, determine if there are any surplus funds as defined by the TIFF Act. E, transparency. Number one, provide a web based portal for each TIFF district and each development project within each TIFF district. Number two, portal should include A, all non proprietary information relied on by the city in entering and monitoring the development agreement. B, economic forecasts. C, job creation.

D, infrastructure established. E, performance standards. F, monitoring results. G, pictures. H, developer information.

Number five, city's philosophy on use of incremental real estate tax from TIF. And not much on the end here, but it says it is the city's response, sorry, it is the city's philosophy with respect to tax increment financing to use incremental real estate taxes generated from new development in TIF areas to improve those areas, and to use the incremental real estate taxes from TIF areas however they are generated to improve those areas. So that concludes the nine page document here. So I feel like at least you all heard it now. Whether retained or not, I can't speak to that. But

we've got

that part of the way. So appreciate you all listening to that. And I think we all have a pretty firm grasp on what we want and don't want. And as citizens of your wards, we implore you to listen to us because we are the city and we want the will of the city to be met by those represented. So I don't think on that one.

Thank you. This public hearing will resume on 05/21/2026 at 1PM in Council Chambers. Individuals who signed up tonight to provide a statement regarding the proposed redevelopment plan but have not done so due to time constraints will have an opportunity to do so on May 21. This public hearing is hereby adjourned.

The

time will be one p. M. May 21 here in City Council Chambers. We're gonna go ahead and move in move on tonight's agenda. Thank you, gentlemen, for your presentation.

So we have two items on tonight's agenda. First item is approval of the transfer of surplus property located at 1338 Derby Lane and 4750 Pepper Drive at Northern Illinois Land Bank for future residential development. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Are there any comments or questions? Alderman Meats?

Thank you so much. This is for item number one, correct? Thank you. I'm just getting back on track here. I just wanted to make

a comment for this particular develop.

I don't really have a question. I just want to say I don't think that I recall seeing the way that this proposal was laid out to identify city owned properties that we could develop on, relinquish those properties, and allow for the land bank to pick them up and and produce housing in this community. I just wanna say I appreciate the efforts to to move this forward. I would love to see us continue to do things like this on some of the sides of town that absolutely need it. Is there a mechanism or a way that I can review City of Rockford sites or land that we own broken down by ward and zoning as well, how the current property is zoned.

I think that could be

beneficial, not just in my ward, but in other wards to kind of have an understanding of similar properties, similar opportunities that we all might have to do something of this nature to kind of get rid of some of these properties that we're just holding onto that could be potentially used for land partnered together. But ultimately, I just want to say thank you all for presenting this. I appreciate this approach. I love this approach actually of how we're going about it. And I just love to see us be able to do this with more city properties in this community.

So thank you so much.

Thank you. Are there any other questions or comments? Clerk, will you please call the roll? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Thank you. The item passes. Item two is an approval of the proposed development agreement with Hillwood Industrial Enterprises LLC for the construction of spec industrial building and public improvement in conjunction with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Site Readiness Grant. Do I have a motion to approve?

So moved. Second.

Are there any questions or comments? Alderman Salvato?

Yeah, so I got a question, whoever can answer this. So the request, is this I'm trying to remember. Are we giving them $2,500,000 up to $2,500,000 Is this the project that we're talking about?

Is $2,428,000 that is being provided by DCO on a reimbursable way additionally city council had previously identified $2,500,000 of funds to help offset infrastructure costs for the redevelopment of the site. So that is also being provided at a reimbursable way through fund balance through global trade park tiff one and two and then that would include that 2,500,000 would include the $600,000 match that city council previously approved for the site readiness grant So a total of $2,400,000 from DCO and $2,500,000 from the City of Rockford for public infrastructure and site reimbursements.

So if I may follow-up with that then, what is our current balance in that global trade park that we have for that TIF?

So if Director Hagerty can look it up, I'll partly answer that question. We are using fund balance. So there's an existing fund balance within those TIF districts to support this investment.

Yeah, I just would like to know I know Ms. Hagerty sent out the different balances for those particular TIF. It's a huge amount. I think it's a great opportunity since we are in the cargo industry. We're one of the largest in the country. So I think it makes sense from my perspective. Just $2,500,000 out of a $25,000,000 investment that the developer, I believe, is is what I read within the contract itself. It's quite significant. So I just would like to see how much money is in that to ensure that we continue to have enough for others, right, from that perspective.

I'm sure Carrie can provide that.

Yeah. I also

I'm referencing Director Hagerty and she's not behind me. Apologize for that. I didn't turn away. No

worries. No worries.

So she'll Director Hagerty, the question did was you get the question?

I did not.

What's the existing fund balance in Global Trade Park II And III? And if you also could provide the ending anticipated balance as well as the termination date?

Yes.

Now that's an excellent question, Alderman, and one that we evaluated as part of the project.

The current anticipated ending fund balance for Trade Park 2 is $1,700,000 in 2030. Trade Park 3 is $3,400,000 in 2031.

Did you have one as well?

Trade Park 1 is 6,600,000 in 2028.

So about 11,000,000. All right. Cool. Thank you.

Alderman Meeks.

Thank you so much. Can you help me understand when you all went for this site readiness grant, what are some of the qualifications to apply for this type of grant through DCEO?

So the this is when we received funding for the DCO site readiness grant this was the first time that DCO had ever had a site readiness grant application process and we needed needed to identify control of the property so our partner Hillwood had the property under option they had to identify it as industrial development consistent with the overall grant and we needed to have approved by city council authorizing us to apply for the grant and committing the matching funds. Those were the basics.

But it had to be industrial. This isn't something that could be for residential or commercial preparing sites for it had to be industrial. Correct. That was my biggest question. And so I'm kind of lost here, but total for this particular project was $4,900,000 that they're receiving, is that correct? 2,400,000 from DCEO, 2,500,000 reimbursed through the city?

That is correct.

And then just as off topic, but the other TIF that we heard a lot about tonight, is that 1100% of the TIF? They'll be dispersing 100% of that TIF of the South industrial TIF?

So I'm not certain I understand the question, but let me take a shot at it. I mean, if the city council creates the TIF, it'll be up to city council to determine how much is distributed.

Okay. Well, I don't have any more questions. Thank you so much.

Are there any other questions or comments? Clerk, will you please call the roll? Aye. Neal? Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Aye. No.

That's a no.

Thank you. The item passes. Do I have a motion to adjourn?

So moved. Second.

Are there any questions or comments? All those in favor, please state by aye. Any opposed, same time. This meeting is adjourned.