PUBLIC WORKS
Obernuefemann Road Reconstruction
The project is complete. All we need now is for the grass to grow along the edges of the new curbing.
Water System Improvements
The Kyle Road Water Tower is complete and painting of the tower is underway. The only remaining tasks are some site work around the bottom. The Pausch Road Water Tower is going up, and all the tower construction is on pace to be completed by mid-October 2009. We have received a number of calls over the design of the tanks and why they are different from the other O’Fallon tanks. The older tanks only hold 500,000 gallons of water. The new tanks each hold one million gallons.
Simmons/Porter Intersection Roundabout
 The design of the roundabout continues and may be completed in time for early funding consideration. The design will accommodate the movement of cars, trucks, semis and farm machinery. There is still a lot of agricultural activity in and around our City and we do not want to interfere with this activity, that has been a pillar of our community for years.
Milburn School Road Improvements
The road has been widened in front of OTHS’s new 9th Grade Campus to accommodate traffic in that area. The intersection will be controlled by traffic signals much like the entrance to Belleville West and Triad High Schools. Improvements were funded by the school district.
Old Collinsville Road Reconstruction
It is still hoped that in the near future, Old Collinsville Road between I-64 and Milburn School Road will be completely reconstructed. Fairview Heights and O’Fallon have jointly sponsored the reconstruction and have obtained federal funding for the work. Standby for news about this needed improvement.
Small Water Main Replacement Projects
City workers, teamed with contractor support, have completed a number of small water main  replacement projects in recent months as well as some fire hydrant replacements. Mains on Monroe Circle, Emily Circle, West Fourth Street, and Hickory Street have been replaced with larger ones. The residential services in those areas have been switched to the new mains. It is hoped that
this type of water system work can continue since there are sections of the water distribution system that are reaching the end of their useful life and are too small to meet the demand for water in those areas.
SCADA
The ability to monitor the water and wastewater utilities through Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems is improving with each passing day. Additionally, the number of false alarms that city staff need to respond to is down, saving both utilities money. With completion of the new water towers, the ability to move electronic data from one site to another will take another large step forward. Unfortunately, the SCADA system at the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is on its last leg. Many of the components there have had to be abandoned and the operating system is archaic in electronic years. 1995 is seemingly a hundred years ago in electronic time, and getting parts and receiving software support is like getting parts for an Edsel. Once
the remaining bugs are worked out of the water and sanitary sewer lift station SCADA, we will turn our attention to upgrading the WWTP system.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
(Economic Stimulus Package)
Unfortunately, O’Fallon will not receive any stimulus money for road projects. Due to the time frames for project approval and completion, only asphalt overlay projects involving connector and high volume roadways in cities were eligible for funding. No residential street overlays were included. Since we have recently overlaid our connector and high volume streets, such as State Street, we didn’t qualify for any of the funding. In fact, only $3.8 million of ARRA road money will reach St. Clair County.
ARRA funding for Wastewater activities is a different story. O’Fallon has applied for $8.5 million in what is going to be interest free loan monies. About $6 million of the request is for a new headworks and clarifier at the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The remaining $2.5 million is for repairs to the City’s sewer trunk mains that convey sewage to the WWTP from the City center and for rehabilitation of sanitary sewer manholes in the City.
 The headworks is the receiving point for sewage at the plant. It is where the solids such as sand, paper, wood and plastic is separated from the water that needs to be treated. The existing headworks is allowing far to much of the cloth-like paper through to the remaining treatment train. This cloth-like substance is destroying our pumps and forming concrete-like deposits
in lines and basins. It must be separated out. Please don’t flush disinfecting wipes and like items down the toilet.
Another clarifier is needed to supplement the two that are there now. A clarifier is a large basin where sludge from the biological treatment unit is separated from the water passing through it. That sludge is returned to a biological reactor to further process it. One of the existing clarifiers has a floor that is failing and threatens to put it out of service. The plant needs at least two clarifiers on line at all times to meet its treatment limits as set by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).
The repair work on the more than eight miles of sewer trunk mains is needed as many of them were put in service in 1968, and haven’t been cared for since. Many sections of the concrete and corrugated metal piping are in serious disrepair and need replacing or re-lining. The corrosive atmosphere is taking a toll on the pipe materials. As a result, the lines are allowing a lot of inflow and infiltration (I & I) into the sewage stream. I & I (ground and surface water) treatment costs the City about $500,000 a year.
 I & I is also why manholes need to be replaced or lined. The majority of the 2,300+ manholes the City has in its sanitary district are constructed out of brick and no longer have mortar between the bricks. “When it rains, it pours” into the manholes and the WWTP and lift stations have to pump it around. This flow created by I & I must be greatly reduced.
To qualify for the free loan under the ARRA, the City must show that it can generate the funds to pay the money back to the IEPA. To do that, unfortunately the wastewater rates will have to be raised.
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