OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Rockford City Council Strategic Planning Session - August 31, 2026

Meeting Portal — Monday, August 31, 2026
BodyRockford, Illinois
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, August 31, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:29:38

Transcript — Verbatim
0:24

Good evening.

0:25

Thank you for having us here tonight.

0:28

My name is Andrea Proct.

0:30

I'm with H.R.

0:31

Green.

0:32

I also have a coworker who's been working on this project with the with the staff at and he is not, he is not here tonight.

0:42

His name is Mark Fitz.

0:43

I believe that may be in your board packet presentation.

0:47

My background is water resources, and I have served as in as a municipal engineer in the Chicagoland and Northern Illinois region for the last 20 plus years.

1:03

Mark and I both have had extensive work with various county and municipal ordinances, both writing them and enforcing them during our careers.

1:15

And so that is kind of some of the background on my end, so you know who's in front of you tonight.

1:24

I'm I am Jeremy Carter, I'm the traffic and development engineer.

1:30

So we are going to talk to you tonight about the revisions to our our excuse me, proposed revisions to our stormwater ordinance.

1:38

Our current stormwater ordinance was adopted in 2015 with a minor revision in 2021 that was primarily for floodplain revisions.

1:49

The goals of this revision were to make it to make the ordinance easier to interpret and to uh uh use um from the people who who need to use it.

2:00

We had a goal of making the the ordinance more business aware, and we'll talk about that a little bit um during the presentation, and then also for the uh ordinance to continue to be um consistent with federal and state regulations.

2:20

So the the stormwater ordinance revisions kind of started with our city's master plan.

2:25

Um unlike the the city's stormwater master plan where we went out and did 11 public meetings for this, uh we chose to go with a model of bringing stakeholders in to talk about the ordinance.

2:38

Uh the stakeholder meetings consisted of developers, construction or uh contractors and consultants who are the people who really use the ordinance every day.

2:50

Um the first meeting we had with the to listen to the stakeholders and their concerns was in May of 2023, and then uh in March of this year, we went back uh to the stakeholders with the revisions that we are proposing.

3:07

Andrea.

3:10

All right.

3:11

So I am going to go over some of the significant changes that we've made to the ordinance as part of this project.

3:19

Um I will not go into a lot of detail.

3:23

We're intentionally trying to keep our presentation short.

3:28

And we will have time for questions at the end.

3:31

So I'm going to touch on some of the major changes and then we'll open it up for questions if you have any.

3:38

So with the concept of making the ordinance more user-friendly, we did the first thing that we did was reformatting the ordinance.

3:48

We moved the definitions to the end of the ordinance, which sounds pretty simple, but uh uh the current ordinance has about 15 pages of definitions right up front at the beginning of the ordinance, which can when you pick it up and try to open it up as a user.

4:05

Um you hit all those definitions and it can be like where does it say what I need to do and whether or not I need to follow this ordinance.

4:17

So we move the scope of regulations and exemptions up to the front of the ordinance.

4:23

So that is the section that says do I need it to get a permit underneath this ordinance.

4:28

So that is now front and center.

4:30

When somebody opens the ordinance, they will be able to find that hopefully very quickly.

4:36

Um the la the other big change that we made was we added some graphics to the floodplain portion of the ordinance, the graphics um visually describe where um your property lies within and adjacent to and outside of the floodplain and how the elevation requirements may or may not apply to your development.

5:00

So those graphics are based off of some that DNR has put out, and they're intended to simplify those requirements for visually describe them for users.

5:13

We also, with the goal of user friendliness, added some flow charts to help navigate the requirements of the ordinance.

5:22

They follow there are three of them that we've put in.

5:26

The first one is do I need a permit?

5:31

The second one is what are my stormwater requirements and or some middle requirements.

5:38

And the third one is what are detention requirements if I have contiguous property.

5:45

What I have up in front on the screen right now is a sample of one of those permits.

5:50

Again, I'm not going to go into detail with it here.

5:54

We're available for questions, and I think you had all of them in your packets.

5:59

But the they follow very closely the language of the ordinance, but are intended to put it into a more clear, easy to follow process for a user.

6:10

And they also, in some cases, it's not always a clear yes or no answer.

6:15

And so in some cases, it does direct users to go to city staff and ask for a clear clarify or ask for clarity on the ordinance.

6:28

Okay.

6:29

And then the again looking at helping to make this more business aware with the stormwater ordinance.

6:42

We have clarified the language within the stormwater ordinance of when stormwater detention will be required for a property.

6:51

So we have put very clear cutoffs of points in time in a development of when a project will require stormwater detention.

7:00

So we have set it at 65,000 square feet of new impervious.

7:06

That's an acre and a half of new pavement on a site, kicks in the detention requirements of the ordinance.

7:14

Below that we have this green green space, I guess, area of when we're above 5,000 square feet of disturbance and up to the 65,000 square feet of new impervious.

7:31

In that zone, we have included requirements for green infrastructure practices on sites.

7:38

The city is currently using best management practices, so we have used some new language in there, but we have better defined when they will be required.

7:54

Those green infrastructure practices can be things like filter strips, pervious pay permeable pavement, or even rain gardens.

8:04

And it's their choice.

9:49

So we have clarified that the city will follow Army Corps of Engineers requirements for wetlands impacts and preservation.

10:00

And then we have added some requirements into the ordinance to reflect the solar farms that we're seeing throughout the whole state of Illinois.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development██████████████████████████26%
Public Works██████████████████18%
Stormwater Management████████████████16%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████16%
Public Engagement████████8%
Tax Increment Financing███3%
Strategic Planning██2%
Budget Equity Analysis██2%
Environmental Protection██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Rockford City Council Strategic Planning Session - August 31, 2026

The Rockford City Council held a strategic planning session on Monday, August 31, 2026, at 5:30 PM. The meeting featured presentations on proposed stormwater ordinance revisions, economic development updates, and the mid-year 2026 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) review. No public speakers were heard, and no votes were taken. A memo on citywide fiber installation was deferred to the next meeting for further discussion.

Discussion Items

  • Storm Water Management Ordinance Revisions: Presented by Andrea Proct of H.R. Green and Jeremy Carter, Traffic and Development Engineer. The proposed revisions aim to make the ordinance more user-friendly and business-aware. Key changes include reformatting (definitions moved to end, scope and exemptions moved to front), adding graphics and flowcharts for floodplain and permit requirements, clarifying detention thresholds (detention required at 65,000 sq ft of new impervious area; green infrastructure required between 5,000 and 65,000 sq ft of disturbance), and adding requirements for solar farms. The ordinance will follow Army Corps of Engineers wetland standards. Stakeholder meetings were held in May 2023 and March 2026. Next steps include ordinance adoption alongside the stormwater master plan. Alderman Salgado questioned whether the changes would streamline the process and reduce city staff hours; staff confirmed the goal is clarity for all users.
  • Economic Development Presentation: Presented by Andrea Carlson and Sarah Lyes. The team introduced its reorganised structure, including three coordinators overseeing community engagement, cost reduction tools, and site readiness. The city manages 31 TIF districts, 2 enterprise zones, and a River Edge Redevelopment Zone. Programs highlighted: Business Advancement Program (up to $25,000 forgivable loans, 6 selected), Commercial Corridor Property Revitalization Program (46 pre-applications, 35 applications, 14 projects completed/in progress), and Neighborhood Sign Program. The city also participates in the Illinois EDC's R2P2 pilot program for economic research and Heartland Forward data initiative. Alderman Durkey asked about brownfield viability and patterns of companies turning down Rockford; staff noted that brownfields can be advantageous, and that companies often go to Texas or North Carolina, but Illinois' central location and incentives are becoming more attractive. Alderman Meeks asked about revenue generation; staff noted all programs aim at property tax, sales tax, and workforce income growth. Alderman Salgado asked about program success assessment and remaining funding; staff offered to provide balances and discuss future iterations.
  • Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Mid-Year 2026 Update: Presented by Tim Hinkens, Jeremy Finley, and Jamie Rote. Financial status: motor fuel tax and sales tax revenues are within 3% of projections. Projects: 11th Street Corridor Phase 1 (final asphalt week of Sept 14, water main complete) and Phase 2 (water main complete, concrete work underway, asphalt expected October, railroad crossing at Benson Stone delayed to 2026 due to Union Pacific disagreement). Auburn Street Corridor Phase 1 (underground work complete, surface improvements starting in 3 weeks, early November completion). Madison Street Corridor Phase 2 (water main complete, concrete work starts Oct 1, completion early November). Bridge program: Harrison Avenue over Rock River Bridge (crack monitoring, moved up to 2026 bid, expensive repair including painting steel). 15th Avenue over Rock River Bridge (joint funding agreement with zero city local funds for $20M bridge, construction winter 2026-2028). Keith Creek Greenway (secured $2M FEMA grant, awaiting $3M FEMA hazard mitigation grant, design complete, construction expected next year). Lead service line replacement: 687 services replaced at $5.3M; secured $20M in new funding; total cost estimated at $400-500M over 10 years. Alderman Hoffman asked about Rolling Green floodplain; staff noted it is in the stormwater master plan and will be prioritized. Alderman Meeks asked about multi-use path maintenance and education; staff acknowledged need for better homeowner education. Alderman Bell asked about marking bike usage on multi-use paths; staff agreed to consider signage. Alderman Salgado asked about next year's CIP outlook; staff will provide draft five-year plan in mid-October, with approval targeted after Thanksgiving.
  • Citywide Fiber Installation Memo: A one-page memo was distributed. Alderman Bell requested that Director Scott Sanders present on the topic at the next council meeting. The council agreed to defer discussion without objection.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken during the strategic planning session.
  • The stormwater ordinance revisions and stormwater master plan will be brought back for future adoption.
  • The CIP draft for the next five years will be presented to council in mid-October 2026.
  • The citywide fiber installation memo will be discussed at the next city council meeting after council members have time to review.
  • Staff will provide detailed balances and program assessments for economic development programs to council members.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening. Thank you for having us here tonight. My name is Andrea Proct. I'm with H.R. Green. I also have a coworker who's been working on this project with the with the staff at and he is not, he is not here tonight. His name is Mark Fitz. I believe that may be in your board packet presentation. My background is water resources, and I have served as in as a municipal engineer in the Chicagoland and Northern Illinois region for the last 20 plus years. Mark and I both have had extensive work with various county and municipal ordinances, both writing them and enforcing them during our careers. And so that is kind of some of the background on my end, so you know who's in front of you tonight. I'm I am Jeremy Carter, I'm the traffic and development engineer. So we are going to talk to you tonight about the revisions to our our excuse me, proposed revisions to our stormwater ordinance. Our current stormwater ordinance was adopted in 2015 with a minor revision in 2021 that was primarily for floodplain revisions. The goals of this revision were to make it to make the ordinance easier to interpret and to uh uh use um from the people who who need to use it. We had a goal of making the the ordinance more business aware, and we'll talk about that a little bit um during the presentation, and then also for the uh ordinance to continue to be um consistent with federal and state regulations. So the the stormwater ordinance revisions kind of started with our city's master plan. Um unlike the the city's stormwater master plan where we went out and did 11 public meetings for this, uh we chose to go with a model of bringing stakeholders in to talk about the ordinance. Uh the stakeholder meetings consisted of developers, construction or uh contractors and consultants who are the people who really use the ordinance every day. Um the first meeting we had with the to listen to the stakeholders and their concerns was in May of 2023, and then uh in March of this year, we went back uh to the stakeholders with the revisions that we are proposing. Andrea. All right. So I am going to go over some of the significant changes that we've made to the ordinance as part of this project. Um I will not go into a lot of detail. We're intentionally trying to keep our presentation short. And we will have time for questions at the end. So I'm going to touch on some of the major changes and then we'll open it up for questions if you have any. So with the concept of making the ordinance more user-friendly, we did the first thing that we did was reformatting the ordinance. We moved the definitions to the end of the ordinance, which sounds pretty simple, but uh uh the current ordinance has about 15 pages of definitions right up front at the beginning of the ordinance, which can when you pick it up and try to open it up as a user. Um you hit all those definitions and it can be like where does it say what I need to do and whether or not I need to follow this ordinance. So we move the scope of regulations and exemptions up to the front of the ordinance. So that is the section that says do I need it to get a permit underneath this ordinance. So that is now front and center. When somebody opens the ordinance, they will be able to find that hopefully very quickly. Um the la the other big change that we made was we added some graphics to the floodplain portion of the ordinance, the graphics um visually describe where um your property lies within and adjacent to and outside of the floodplain and how the elevation requirements may or may not apply to your development. So those graphics are based off of some that DNR has put out, and they're intended to simplify those requirements for visually describe them for users. We also, with the goal of user friendliness, added some flow charts to help navigate the requirements of the ordinance. They follow there are three of them that we've put in. The first one is do I need a permit? The second one is what are my stormwater requirements and or some middle requirements. And the third one is what are detention requirements if I have contiguous property. What I have up in front on the screen right now is a sample of one of those permits. Again, I'm not going to go into detail with it here. We're available for questions, and I think you had all of them in your packets. But the they follow very closely the language of the ordinance, but are intended to put it into a more clear, easy to follow process for a user. And they also, in some cases, it's not always a clear yes or no answer. And so in some cases, it does direct users to go to city staff and ask for a clear clarify or ask for clarity on the ordinance. Okay. And then the again looking at helping to make this more business aware with the stormwater ordinance. We have clarified the language within the stormwater ordinance of when stormwater detention will be required for a property.

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