Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
March 20, 2008
Here is a summary of Monday’s City Council meeting items. The items are listed in the order as they appeared in the agenda. Click here to see the full texts of the resolutions, ordinances, and staff reports. As a reminder, resolutions and motions only need to be approved once to become official. Ordinances are required to be approved in two readings (over two meetings) before they become official.
1. I-64 Interchange Mowing Contract Resolution: If you are exiting I-64 at Hwy. 50 (Exit 14) or Green Mount (Exit 16), you may have noticed that the interchanges are trashy and not well maintained. IDOT has jurisdiction over the interchanges, but has informed us they will not pick up litter and will only mow them twice a year. Those interchanges are the gateways to our community and we feel they should be maintained to improve O’Fallon’s image. As a result, we took bids for a private contractor to mow the two exits and pick up trash. S&S Excavating had the low bid at a cost of $3,885 per cutting and $6,885 per occurrence for trash removal, fence line cleaning and tree trimming.
2. Commercial Design Handbook Resolution: As new businesses have located in O’Fallon, the City Council has worked hard to make sure the buildings look nice and portray a positive image for O’Fallon. At times, this has been difficult because neither the developer nor the City Council had guidance on how a new building should look. In the absence of a handbook or a set of consistent design guidelines, it often puts both the City and the applicant in the difficult position of trying to guess what architectural design concerns exist on a proposed project. Streiler Planning, LLC has partnered with 180º Design Studio and M² Architecture Studio to develop a user-friendly commercial design handbook that will set consistent design guidelines to help ensure we maintain high-quality development throughout the City of O’Fallon into the future. The handbook will be for advisory purposes only. The contract is for $29,929.
3. Shakthi PlaceTypePlaza Ordinance (Approved on 1st Reading): When Frieze Harley Davidson located its new dealership on Green Mount Road, they vacated their apparel store on Hwy. 50. A proposal has been received to convert the old building into a four tenant retail strip center. As presently designed, the site could support up to 800 sq. ft. of small restaurant space (an establishment with capacity less than 40 people).
4. Sam’s Club Car Wash Ordinance (Approved on 1st Reading): Sam’s Club would like to construct an automatic car wash adjacent to the gas station at their present location on Hwy. 50.
5. Motion to Confirm Sign Variance at 1115 Frontage Road: The applicant requested a sign variance to the 20 ft rear yard setback to allow for a 56 sq ft (8’ x 7’) freestanding sign with a height of 18 ft. The ordinance classifies the area along Frontage Road as the front yard and the area along Highway 50 as the rear yard. The Zoning Hearing Officer ruled to approve the sign variance (with conditions) and the City Council approved a motion to confirm the Zoning Hearing Officer’s ruling.
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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