The Rochelle city council approved a request last night from a local company dealing with a possible expansion project at their facility.
Americold is looking at expanding their cold storage operations. The new building would be 180,000 square feet and also 140,000 feet tall or 13 stories high. City officials approved the height variance and rezoning involving the project.
The company would have an additional 53,000 pallet positions and 50 to 70 new employees.
The easement agreement was approved with RTHS for the radium removal plant. The project includes a 2 lane access road along the north end of the school property. The city and RTHS will share in the cost of the road.
In a 5-2 vote, the city plans to purchase a leaf vacuum at a cost of just under $51,800. Voting against the purchase were Mayor Chet Olson and Councilman Don Burke. The program costs the city around $70,000 a year which includes labor from the street department.
The city plans to apply for a USDA rural development loan that could total 7 million dollars for a second railroad expansion project. Gredco Director Jason Anderson...(Time: (:31), out: development).
The pre-application cost totals $3,500. Anderson said that the Rochelle's railroad is known around the midwest....(Time: (:12), out: curve).
2 current companies and a new business is looking at using the city's railroad in the future.
Appointments last night included:
**Airport Advisory Board: Bill Tyler, Joel Thompson, and Noah Carmichael
**Police & Fire Commission: Bob Johns
**Railroad Advisory Board: Ken Wise, Bob Wingate, and Randy Wakenight
**Stormwater Advisory Commission: Ron Stonebraker and Terry Danner
The council met in executive session to talk about litigation and the city manager's position. They plan to narrow the candidate's list down to 10 individuals. 5 of those people will be interviewed by the council in the near future.
