John Honecki, representing Bluff City Materials, told the Kane County Administration Committee on Dec. 10 that his company wants to purchase 19.5 of 28 acres of a Kane County Department of Transportation salt‑management site on Seaview Road.

“We are offering … for a premium of $30,000 an acre,” Honecki said, adding the company estimates four to six years of recoverable sand reserves on the county parcel and plans to reclaim the land over an eight‑to‑10‑year cycle after mining. He said Bluff City would replace the quantities of disposal material and sand the county currently uses to minimize operational impacts.

Committee members reacted with procedural and operational concerns. Member Juvy said she was worried about compliance with Illinois’ Open Meetings Act and the propriety of two members meeting with the developer and staff outside an open forum. “I was going to address the fact that you and Michelle getting together with them to advise the board is a violation of the Open Meetings Act,” she said. The county’s assistant state’s attorney advised that forming a formal subcommittee triggers different requirements and that less‑than‑a‑majority conversations are not automatically prohibited.

Several commissioners urged that county Department of Transportation personnel be included in further discussions because the property contains a salt dome and supports snow‑removal operations; one member noted similar offers had been turned down in the past. Commissioners also asked for a written proposal and more staff analysis before making a recommendation.

After discussion, a motion to go into closed session to discuss the real estate matter was made and seconded; the committee cleared the room and planned to continue the meeting privately while keeping the presenters available in case questions arose during reconvening. The public record of the specific closed‑session discussion is limited by statute; the committee did not take a final public vote on the sale during the Dec. 10 session.

Next steps: committee members requested a written proposal be posted to the shared drive for staff review and said they would involve DOT staff and counsel in subsequent deliberations. Any formal offer, additional staff findings or a future public action would be reported at a later meeting.