St. Charles Ward 2 candidates talk about mall development, other city issues
The two people seeking the Ward 2 seat on the St. Charles City Council disagree over whether the city should have let an apartment complex be built next to the long-closed Charlestowne Mall.
“I think the Springs (the Springs at St. Charles) was a bad idea,” said Angela Churchill, who is challenging incumbent Ryan Bongard.
Allowing it to be annexed and built discouraged a would-be developer of the mall, who wanted to put housing in a mixed-use development on the mall site, according to Churchill.
That developer backed off buying the mall, most of which has been closed since 2017. Only a Von Maur department store and a movie theater remain open.
Bongard said that developer wanted a tax-increment financing district for their plan, with the city borrowing money to finance it up front. City documents indicate the developer was asking for at least $35 million.
“I did not think it was the best deal we could get,” he said of the plan for the mall property.
Bongard was elected to the council in 2021.
Bongard said the most pressing issue facing the city is the request by the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency for the city to renew its electricity purchase contract 10 years early. The IMEA is asking to extend the agreement to 2055. The nonprofit organization obtains electricity for 32 municipalities in Illinois, largely from coal-fired plants.
“Understanding where our power is being generated from matters, projected expense to residents is our responsibility and ensuring absolute transparency are the three questions I want each council member to confidently answer before deciding on St. Charles long-term energy supply,” he wrote in a Daily Herald questionnaire.
Churchill said extending the contract would be “financially irresponsible” and that the city should investigate clean-energy alternatives.
Bongard also cited the possible removal of the Fox River dam, reducing the city’s debt and taking care of aging infrastructure as other important topics for the council to address.
“When I came in, I was really taken aback by the amount of debt,” Bongard said. That prompted him to meet regularly with the city’s finance director to go into “the weeds” on details of the city’s budget, he said. Bongard said the city should have an economic development director.
Churchill has not held elected office but has been on the city’s natural resources commission.
She also cites her experience as vice president of her homeowners’ association as relevant experience. “I’m super-efficient on handling complexities” from that, she said. “It will translate seamlessly, hopefully, to this role.”
She does not want a major development on the site of the old police station, preferring to repurpose the building and keep the view of the river. Perhaps the St. Charles History Museum could move into the space, Churchill said.