ROCHELLE – The Rochelle City Council has approved a redevelopment agreement with C.C.S. Golf, LLC, owner of Luna Restaurant on the Rochelle Golf Course, to assist with unexpected sewer repairs. The repairs, necessary due to issues with the original sewer piping, are estimated to cost $115,000. Under the agreement, the city will reimburse the restaurant up to 50% of the repair costs, with a maximum of $57,500. City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said that this is what TIF funds are for.
“I do think it’s important to just remind folks, this is coming out of the TIF,” he said. “This isn’t coming out of the general fund. And the city does need to do more work in advertising that, because we have the downtown TIF, and we just established the Eastern Gateway TIF. We actually have the Lighthouse Point TIF with another business that’s going to be coming and seeking reimbursements. And the Northern Gateway TIF, which we set up for the Hickory Grove project.”
Payments will be made in three annual installments, with the first due by December 31, 2025. The funding will come from the Downtown & Southern Gateway Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district.
It was brought up during discussion that the property over the years has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in TIF funds for past improvements. Council Member Tom McDermott expressed some concern before voting in favor of the agreement.
“A lot of people in small businesses that aren’t aware of the TIF are losing out because we keep giving the TIFs to the same people because they know the TIFs there,” he said. “I would like to see a lot of small businesses come up here and get their chance as opposed to basically building a $400,000 business from the ground up.”
