Project Information

Bid Title

Request for Qualifications - BCG-2026-02 - Professional Consulting Services Brownfield USEPA Grant

Issuing Agency

Boone County, IL

Location

Illinois

Published Date

Jan 27, 2026

Closing Date

Mar 3, 2026

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Original Source

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Bid Documents

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Project Description

Request for Qualifications - BCG-2026-02 - Professional Consulting Services Brownfield USEPA Grant

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BOONE COUNTY, ILLINOIS

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING SERVICES

BROWNFIELD USEPA GRANT

BCG-2026-02

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2026

PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL:

11:00 a.m. (Central Time)

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

SUBMIT PROPOSALS TO:

Office of the Boone County Clerk

1212 Logan Ave, Suite 103

Belvidere, IL 61008

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GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

Boone County Government will accept sealed proposals until Tuesday, March 3, 2026 to retain

Professional Consulting Services for a Brownfield USEPA Grant.

SUBMISSION

Proposals are to be submitted in hard copy print to be received no later than 11:00 a.m. (Local

Time), Tuesday, March 3, 2026. All correspondence should be marked “BCG-2026-02 County

USEPA Brownfield RFQ”. All are to be submitted to the Office of the Boone County Clerk &

Recorder at 1212 Logan Avenue, Suite 103, Belvidere IL, 61008.

OFFICIAL CONTACT

Any questions concerning this Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) should be submitted via email

by 5:00 p.m. (Local Time) on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 to:

Erin Marshall, PCOM Grant Manager

1212 Logan Avenue, Ste 102

Belvidere, IL 61008

emarshall@boonecountyil.gov

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A. Two (2) hard copies of your proposal and any attachments are to be submitted in a

sealed envelope. The proposal should also be provided on a thumb drive.

B. Any proposal may be withdrawn by giving notice to the County Clerk and Recorder

before the stated closing time.

C. Proposals that take exception to the County’s Terms and Conditions as a whole and

substitute with the proposers’ standard terms and conditions may be rejected.

D. Vendors shall assume full responsibility for all costs necessary to assemble the required

information and for the timely delivery of the proposal at the above location.

E. This request for qualifications (RFQ) does not commit the County to award a contract or

to undertake any financial obligation whatsoever with respect to the requirement

referred to herein.

F. The County reserves the right, when it is deemed to be in the best interest of the

county, to negotiate contract terms with the selected Vendor to award the proposal or

combination of proposals deemed in the best interest of the County, at the County’s

sole discretion. Boone County reserves the right to reject any and all proposals.

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G. To be responsive, the proposal must set forth full, accurate and complete information as

required by this RFQ and all attachments.

H. Any amendment to this RFQ will be issued in writing by the County. No information or

representation other than that contained in such an amendment, whether received

from an employee of the County or other person, will be considered to have been

modified or be grounds for deviation from any stipulation or requirement of this RFQ.

I. The Vendor shall be responsible for complying with all Local, State, and Federal

regulations pertaining to this project including State of Illinois law relating to prevailing

wage and preference to citizens on public works project.

SCHEDULE (TENTATIVE)

Questions concerning RFQ due by 5:00 p.m. CST

Responses to questions issued by 5:00 p.m. CST

Proposal response due at County by 11:00 a.m. CST

Proposal opening at 11:00 a.m. – County Board Room

Brownfield Committee Proposal Review

Boone County Board Approval

*This schedule is subject to change.

February 17, 2026

February 24, 2026

March 3, 2026

March 3, 2026

March 3 – 11, 2026

March 19, 2026

Background

Boone County (County), Illinois, has the smallest population (53,459) of the “northern tier” of

counties and comprises 290 square miles of agriculture and rural, rolling prairie. The County is

composed of seven municipalities including the City of Belvidere (City) (pop. 25,389) and the

small former Village of Garden Prairie (pop. 328), now an unincorporated former village and a

Census Designated Place (CDP). As the largest economic center of the County, Belvidere has the

largest population and is strategically located along several major transportation corridors such

as Interstate 90 with access to Chicago and north towards Wisconsin. The Kishwaukee River

flows through the center of Belvidere, making it an ideal location for commercial

transportation, which started in the mid-1800s.

Green Giant and National Sewing Machine Company (Superfund site) became the largest

regional employers around 1900. Chrysler opened the Belvidere Assembly plant in 1965 and

employed 5,000 people. After falling on hard times and laying off many workers, the Chrysler

plant closed permanently in 2023, putting their remaining 1,350 workers out of a job. As a

result, many other area automotive companies closed, including Cassens, a car transport

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company, and Syncreon and Yanfeng, interior car parts manufacturers. In the early 2000s,

Boone County became the fastest growing county in the state. By 2010, the population had

doubled to 54,165, but the 2008 recession hit hard, and the population decreased to 53,173 at

its lowest in 2021. The population has not recovered today. This dramatic market change

resulted in an abundance of vacant platted residential parcels within subdivisions scattered

throughout the County. No new residential subdivisions have been built anywhere in the

county since 2009. Because of industry closures and downturns in the economy, brownfield

challenges such as blighted and vacant sites have become prevalent throughout the target

areas and will be addressed with the funds from this grant.

Description of the Priority Brownfield Sites

The decline of local industries and resulting job loss created an abundance of brownfield sites

that are visible in the target areas (TAs) and pose environmental and health threats to the

community. During an initial windshield survey, brownfield sites identified include two body

service shops, two gas stations, one laundromat, and five industrial sites. More sites will be

identified and prioritized during a thorough grant-funded site inventory process involving the

project partners and TA residents. Boone County has identified two priority sites that were

chosen due to community concern and having site access agreements for assessment for both

properties.

Site 1: Belvidere Target Area (TA)is located in census tract 17007010200 at 1005 Julien St,

Belvidere (PINs 05-25-453-014 and 05-25-408-033). This is a mostly residential area with some

government, restaurants, and medical facilities in the neighborhood. The buildings are in close

proximity to St. James Catholic Church and a daycare. The Old Hospital is a 4-acre, former OSF

Saint Joseph Hospital and maintenance building site. The hospital operated for 39 years

beginning in 1960 and has been closed and vacant since 1999. Two buildings totaling 65,000

square feet have been vacant for 25 years in a residential area. The dilapidated buildings—

neighborhood eyesores—have been vandalized with graffiti and have windows broken out

resulting in glass around the site. The site is unfenced, overgrown with weeds and vegetation,

and littered with old hospital equipment.

Area youth use the building for illegal activities such as drug use and loitering. The current

owner has agreed to give access to the site for assessment. According to the Boone County

Comprehensive Plan 2025, the old hospital site will be redeveloped into much needed multi-

tenant affordable housing.

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Site 2: Garden Prairie Target Area (TA) is located in census tract 17007010400.0 at 6934 –

7000 Garden Prairie Rd, Garden Prairie (PINs 06-35-226-014, 06-35-226-002, 06-35-226-006,

and 06-35-226-015) . The rural area is residential with places of worship, a fire station, a local

café, and other small businesses nearby. The Industrial Site is a five parcel, 4.2-acre property

one block north of historic Route 20 and immediately adjacent to railroad tracks. The

underused site has become overgrown with weeds and vegetation. Four buildings sit on the

site. A vacant, dilapidated 1,728-square-foot building was built in 1945 and is a former seed

distributor with broken windows and boarded up doors. Three buildings are currently being

used for a metal fabrication shop. The buildings were built in 1975 and are 6,772-square-foot,

4,740-square-foot, and 3,120-square-foot pole barn structures. Grant funds for planning will be

used to explore relocating the metal fabrication shop to an area that would promote further

development of an industrial complex. The site is directly across the street from the United

Church of Christ and occupied residential houses. The site is partially fenced with some patches

of grass, weeds, and bare dirt. There are no paved parking lots or driveways on the site. The

current owner has agreed to give access to the site for assessment. The site is included in the

Boone County Comprehensive Plan for redevelopment into commercial use including a grocery

store.

At both priority sites, the contaminants might have seeped into the ground and been carried

throughout the TAs by groundwater, stormwater runoff, and soil vapor. These contaminants

include but are not limited to volatile organic compounds (VOCS), semivolatile organic

compounds (SVOCs) including polynuclear aromatics (PNAs), and metals (e.g., lead, chromium,

arsenic). At some historical industrial/commercial/institutional operations, polychlorinated

biphenyls (PCBs) can also be a severe issue. This is due to the property being used as a

machining facility, a pallet company, a seed company, and operating as an

unzoned/unpermitted motor vehicle storage/impound yard.

Possible orphaned leaking underground storage tanks (LUSTs) might be at these sites due to the

historical operations, allowing some VOCs and PNAs to leak into subsurface soil, groundwater,

and soil vapor. The likely existence of asbestos-containing materials (ACM), lead-based paint

(LBP), and other hazardous building materials in the old structures at these sites may impact

nearby residents and children passing through/by. The migration pathways of these

contaminants include direct contact, inhalation, and ingestion through surface and

groundwater, soil, soil vapor, and air. All these contaminants can cause significant

environmental impact and pose a threat to human health, especially the TAs sensitive

populations.

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Commodity Codes

• NAICS 541611Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
• NAICS 541618Other Management Consulting Services
• NAICS 541690Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
• NAICS 541990All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

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