St. Charles Dam Task Force meeting fills City Hall

St. Charles’ Dam Task Force saw another packed house during their meeting on Thursday, Feb. 6 in City Hall.

Dam removal has been a topic of discussion and concern among St. Charles residents and city officials since 2023 when the Army Corps released a study of the Fox River that recommended removal of nine Fox River dams in Kane County, including the St. Charles Dam.

The City of St. Charles and the St. Charles Park District formed the St. Charles Dam Task Force in February 2024, in response to the Army Corps’ study, with the goal of helping St. Charles City Council members make an informed decision on the dam’s future.

The task force is a volunteer initiative consisting of three aldermen and two residents representing the city, three representatives from the park district and one member from the River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles.

This was the sixth meeting of the task force since its formation nearly a year ago.

At the last task force meeting, in November, St. Charles City Administrator Heather McGuire told members that the Army Corps has pushed the deadline for when the city is expected to make a final decision into 2026. She said if the city does commit to removing the dam, the actual removal would likely not begin until 2027 or later.

McGuire presented a statement of interest, soliciting professional services related to the dam based on requests from the task force.

The February meeting began with an update from city staff on the solicitation process that ended in January. The task force has identified thee finalists and is in the process of narrowing the scope of the Request for Proposal.

Task Force member Brian Pohrte said the next steps are to identify which information and questions are most important, cost-effective and necessary for making an informed recommendation to City Council.

Once those parameters are defined, the next step will be to select a consultant to execute the analysis.

After a consultant team is chosen and contracts are approved, work is not expected to start until the winter of 2025 with no clear timeline for completion.

The task force opened the meeting to pubic comment within five minutes of the start of the meeting. About a dozen community members spoke, raising concerns over property values along the river, negative impacts on downtown businesses and diminishing water supply.

During public comment, St. Charles resident and Geneva business owner Matt Belding suggested implementing a turbine to generate energy from the river.

“Why have we not looked at putting a turbine in there to harness energy like they do at the Hoover Dam? We could be getting free energy from this for the whole entire valley,” Belding said. “There’s a lot we can do that I think we should look at to help every single one of the people and businesses in the area, like harnessing that energy.”

Before adjourning the meeting, task force members scheduled the next meeting for April 3.

Previous meetings can be viewed on the task force’s playlist on the city of St. Charles’ YouTube page. For more information, answers to frequently asked questions and to view public records, visit the task force’s website.