Kane County seeks Climate Smart Communities grant to map heat‑exposure in three townships

County staff told the committee they submitted a grant application for the federal Climate Smart Communities initiative to fund a heat‑mapping study across three Kane County township boundaries.

Austin Powell explained the proposal requests $100,000 to conduct street‑level temperature sensing in Dundee, Elgin and Aurora townships, chosen to meet the grant’s population eligibility and because those townships include most locally designated environmental‑justice block groups. Volunteers would drive planned routes with sensors in the morning, afternoon and evening; the collected data would be combined with satellite and model‑based analysis by partner firm Capa Strategies to produce neighborhood‑level heat‑exposure maps.

Powell said the maps would help local governments prioritize tree‑planting and other cooling investments and that the county would pair the heat map with existing flood mapping and census data to identify areas vulnerable to multiple climate hazards. If awarded, staff said the work would begin in the summer (July/August) and outreach to present results to the public would follow in early 2027.

The grant application also proposes $10,000 for East Dundee to develop a GIS tree inventory and $10,000 for the city of Aurora to expand outreach tied to existing tree‑planting efforts. Powell said award notifications are expected in June or July and emphasized the application was submitted for informational review at the committee meeting.