Kane County ag committee extends consultant contracts, approves added funding for resiliency work

Kane County's Agricultural Committee voted on Jan. 23 to extend two consultant contracts that county staff said are needed to complete a local farm resiliency program, finish a pollinator guidebook and continue land-transfer navigation and economic development work.

The committee approved a one-year extension and an increase to the contract with consultant Ellen Kamps, raising the contract not-to-exceed amount from $290,000 to $450,000. The committee also approved a one-year extension for New Venture Advisors (NVA) without increasing the previously approved not-to-exceed limit for that contract.

Why it matters: committee members and staff said both consultants are continuing work tied to grants and county-funded programs, including follow-up outreach, video and reporting for the Food and Farm Resiliency Grant Program, a farmland-transfer navigator subcontract, and an in-progress Farming with Pollinators guidebook that staff expect to finish in spring 2025.

Committee staff described the Kamps extension as covering evaluation and follow-up for nearly 30 grant applicants, continuing navigator and training services (including subcontractor Janice Hill), and supporting final deliverables for the pollinator project. Staff told the committee the Kamps contract was originally a one-year term and that the extension adds a further 12 months and $160,000 to the not-to-exceed total.

For NVA, staff said the planned extension preserves the existing not-to-exceed cap approved in the original contract (the amount stated in the meeting transcript as "305 1,000"). Staff described NVA's continuing role as reviewing the county's economic development plan for agriculture-related strategies, pursuing sustaining revenue sources and updating prior food-hub feasibility work.

Discussion and funding sources: committee members asked how the work will be paid for. Staff said the Food and Farm Resiliency Grant Program itself used ARPA funding and that follow-up work (videos, reporting and technical assistance) will be paid from ARPA. Staff also said some work may draw on the county's Farmland Protection Fund and internal economic development funds that receive riverboat revenue; staff told the committee they will continue to pursue additional grants and other funding sources to sustain the programs.

Votes at a glance

- Contract extension and increase: Ellen Kamps — Motion to extend contract timeline and raise the not-to-exceed amount from $290,000 to $450,000. Subcontractor Janice Hill was identified as part of the navigator project. Second: William (recorded as second). Roll call recorded: Leonard (yes); Hennisess (yes); Sanchez (yes); Williams (yes); Roth (yes). Outcome: approved.

- TMP 25124: New Venture Advisors contract extension — Motion to authorize a one-year extension for New Venture Advisors to provide food and agriculture consulting services (no increase to the previously approved not-to-exceed amount, recorded in the meeting as "305 1,000"). Mover: Sanchez; second: Leonard. Roll call recorded: Alan (aye); Leonard (yes); Enesys (yes); Sanchez (yes); Roth (yes). Outcome: approved.

What the motions do and next steps: staff said Kamps and NVA will continue work through the next 12 months under the extended timelines. For Kamps, the extension explicitly funds the final phases of the pollinator guidebook, continued navigator services and implementation tasks tied to the resiliency grants. For NVA, staff said the firm will assist with economic-development strategy review, revenue-sustainability work and potential updates to the 2016 food-hub feasibility findings.

Attribution and process notes: the committee recorded unanimous-consent procedural items earlier in the meeting (for example, approving minutes by unanimous consent). Committee members who participated in the recorded roll calls and whose votes were announced are listed above; the transcript did not record every member's spoken response for every roll call, so the vote records above reflect names and responses as read aloud during the meeting.