Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
January 4, 2008
My last blog looked back at 2007, and there were many things to be proud of. Now that we have entered 2008, I will provide a glimpse of things to look forward to in the upcoming year.
-- Family Sports Park: While we had a soft opening last fall with some baseball and softball leagues, the new ballfields will open for real this spring. The fields will get heavy use from both local teams and regional tournaments. The playground and pavilion already is popular with families and we are excited about the opportunities for residents to enjoy the new walking trail.
-- Regency Park Conference Center: There is not much to see right now, but the conference center is scheduled to be complete in April. The foundation has been poured and they are working on the concrete forms. The building is a “tilt up” construction, which means the concrete walls are poured in place and then they just lift up the walls. As a result, the walls and roof should go up fairly quickly. The contractors will then have a lot of interior finish work to do. A wedding reception is already scheduled in May, so there is a tight timeframe. The framing is up for the Hilton Garden Inn next door to the conference center and also should be complete in April.
-- Economic Development: Across the street from the Regency Conference Center, a four-storey office building is under construction and will provide much needed Class A office space in O’Fallon. A second office building also will soon be under construction next door along with a small retail center. The Outlaw Blues Restaurant is expected to open in 2008 next to the Texas Roadhouse on Central Park Drive. In addition, a new McDonalds restaurant will be built on Hwy. 50 in front of Ace Hardware.
-- Rasp Farm: There should be some resolution in 2008 for this property on S. Lincoln just north of I-64. Staff is currently pursuing an idea to establish a Tax Increment Financing District with the eastern half of the property being a park and conservation area and the western half consisting of an office park. If this option does not work out, then the original residential proposal can still be considered. Either way, the City Council will make a decision on this property in 2008.
-- Fire Department: A full time Fire Chief will be hired in 2008. A comprehensive study was conducted in 2007 and the more we got into the recommendations from the report, the more it became obvious we need a full time chief to take the volunteer department into the next era.
-- Street construction: The big street projects in 2008 will be the State/Oberneufemann roundaoubt and the Oberneufemann Road reconstruction from the railroad tracks north to Ogles Road. The roundabout project will start first in the spring, but this summer both projects will be under construction. The Obernuefemann Road project will include completely new pavement with curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. We also will continue our annual asphalt paving program and sidewalk repair program.
-- Water System Improvements: In 2006, we received a violation notice from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that we did not have enough water storage capacity. As a result, we embarked on a $3 million project to build a new pumping station and two one-million gallon storage tanks and they should be complete in 2008. The pumping station will be hidden in French Village, but the elevated storage tanks will be quite visible. They will be located on Pausch Road north of the Bluffs at Ogles Creek subdivision and on Kyle Road across the street from Fulton Jr. High School. In recent years, we have had some problems getting enough water to meet high summer demands so the new storage towers should help.
-- Stormwater: Although the City ultimately decided to remove the stormwater utility referendum from the February 5 ballot, that does not mean the issue will go away. We still have stormwater problems in O’Fallon that need to be addressed and the City Council will continue to have stormwater issues on their agenda in 2008. A utility is still on the table but I anticipate the City Council will also pursue other funding options.
-- AT&T Video Service: For many years, the only options for TV service were Charter Cable or satellite. There is now a third option: AT&T has introduced their U-verse video service that is similar to cable but runs through phone lines. The City’s Channel 10 cable access channel will still be available. We hope the competition will provide better choice and customer service for O’Fallon residents.
The City also will continue to provide high quality basic services to O’Fallon residents, such as public safety, EMS, and parks. It should be another great year in the City of O’Fallon. This is an exciting time to be living in O’Fallon and I hope everyone has an outstanding 2008.
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