Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
January 23, 2008
Last night’s City Council meeting was relatively uneventful. Here is a summary of what happened:
1. StormReady Certification: The National Weather Service has a program that encourages communities to be prepared for severe weather events, such as emergency plans, warning systems, and trained weather spotters. The City of O’Fallon was recently certified for meeting the criteria to be “Storm Ready.”
2. Three Corners Property Acquisition: Where North Lincoln curves right to become Troy-O’Fallon Road, there is a triangular piece of property to the left. It is called “three corners” because North Lincoln, Troy-O’Fallon Road, Bowler Road, and Bethel School Road all converge but at different places along the road. As a rural road this is functional, but as O’Fallon grows the intersection will need substantial improvements. The property is for sale and the owner is willing to sell it for below the appraised value, so the City Council feels it is prudent to purchase the property to protect the City’s interests whenever improvements are needed (which may not be for 10 years or more).
3. Kalert’s Tropical Snow: The City Council approved a Special Event Permit for a snow cone stand in the St. Clair Bowl parking lot on Old Collinsville Road. The stand previously was down the road a bit at the gymnastics center.
4. Dog Zoning Variance: Petitioners Robert Aydt and Theresa Shamblin of 719 S. Vine St submitted a Petition for Variance to exceed the permitted number of dogs and/or cats that is regulated by the definition of a kennel and its use in an SR-3 Zoning District. The applicants currently own six dogs over four months of age. On December 7, 2007, the Zoning Hearing Officer ruled to approve the variance with several conditions. The City Council voted on December 17 to reconsider the hearing officer’s decision and last night the issue was before the Council to decide what to do about variance request. There was no consensus among the aldermen and a motion was approved to send the issue back to the Community Development Committee for further deliberation.
Now you’re up to date. Next Monday night, committee meetings will be held for Finance and Administration at 5:30 p.m., Community Development at 6 p.m., and Public Works at 7 p.m.
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