Kane County Reporter

The city council of Batavia got a big update on its Strategic Plan.

"This particular objective is related to actively marketing some of the city-owned riverfront properties to developers," Batavia City Administrator Laura Newman said. "And as I mentioned earlier, while there's a little bit of a slowdown in that activity, we do continue to work with a couple of prospects in that regard. While not inexpensive, the city has applied for an ITEP grant to assist us with moving the bike path. From the west side of the wastewater treatment plant to run on the east side of the plant and directly along the riverbank. So we're hoping to hear back on that grants application this month."

The city of Batavia has a strategic plan for the years 2021-2023. Laura Newman, the city administrator, gave the city council an update on where they stood now that they were ⅔ of the way through the plan’s timeline. One of the main changes was that they were going to send out another community survey this year to help create the strategic plan for 2024-2026 as the input they got the last time had proven so beneficial to the efficacy of the plan. 

One of the five main areas of focus for the plan was economic vitality. Newman shared how some of their projects, like the video highlights of downtown businesses, had gone extremely well and showed a lot of shares and communications that led to a bustling downtown district during the shopping season. They have also been able to fill several vacancies in the area with new businesses, although some of the bigger mixed-use developments they had aimed to start in the area were not as successful, mostly due to rising costs and issues with building in recent years. 

Some of the upcoming projects for the 2023 year include improving bike and pedestrian paths across the city as a part of their infrastructure plan. They will also be taking big steps in creating a master plan for the riverfront, including meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers to discuss their dam. The city will also be taking efforts in both the community and the work environment of city hall to improve diversity and inclusion.