 |
Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrators Blog
Walter Denton
February 3, 2009
There has been a lot of attention given to President Obama’s Economic Stimulus Plan. The goal is to fund public infrastructure projects that will generate jobs and assist in rejuvenating the nation’s moribund economy. Projects must be “shovel ready,” meaning that they are designed and prepared for construction within 90 days of approval.
The bill has passed the House of Representatives and is now in the Senate. The House and Senate bills vary slightly, but it appears that $45-46 billion will be available for public infrastructure out of the $820 billion total stimulus package. The Belleville News-Democrat ran an article last week that describes how much money would go to Illinois. Officials estimate that $22 billion would be given to Illinois, of which $1-2 billion would be available for public infrastructure.
While $1-2 billion is a lot of money, it is paltry compared to the state’s capital spending plan of $30 billion. Numerous state officials and legislators are asking for infrastructure requests from local governments and we have dutifully sent our requests, but it is hard to see how much money will trickle down to us.
Below is our list of capital projects in O’Fallon that are “shovel ready” and will provide significant job creation. We tried to be diverse in our requests to highlight parks, roads, water, sewer, and stormwater projects. It is important to note that these projects are not necessarily are highest priority projects in O’Fallon, but rather are the most critical of the projects that can be started immediately. We have other projects (such as the railroad overpass) that we feel are essential but the designs are not ready and the projects cannot not be started in 90 days.
In any case, funding for any of these projects would be very beneficial to the residents of O’Fallon. I do not expect for us to receive funding for all of these projects, but I am hopeful we get assistance for at least one of them. At this point, I don’t think anyone knows how the money will be distributed to fund projects. Stay tuned!
Project Name |
Est. Cost |
Jobs |
Overall Impact |
Family Sports Park Expansion |
$2,697,000 |
Retain - 87, New - 24 |
Construct four multi-use baseball/softball fields in the Family Sports Park which will allow the facility to host national tournaments bringing additional tourism dollars to the Metro-East St. Louis area. |
Old Collinsville Road Reconstruction |
$2,725,500 |
Retain - 73, New - 23 |
The development of the housing subdivisions that are platted along the route and to the north is impacted by the old farm to field type road that is in existence presently. With increased housing units will come the support jobs needed to serve the area. |
Southeast Development Area - Water & Sewer |
$1,687,500 |
Retain - 57, New - 1,120 |
Provide water and sewer service to an 800-acre development area at the proposed Exit 21 of I-64, within a mile radius of Mid-American Airport, and within 21 miles of downtown St. Louis. The area is currently without a water distribution system and a sanitary sewer collection system, which has long stalled development of the area. |
Seven Hills/Old Vincennes Trail Roundabout |
$745,000 |
Retain - 27 |
The existing intersection is a four-way stop of two heavily traveled roads that often delays traffic headed from northern subdivisions and central town traffic headed to Scott AFB and the high school. Provision of a modern roundabout would clear everyday congestion. |
Ashland Avenue Extension |
$4,432,000 |
Retain - 93, New - 320 |
This route will provide relief to traffic between Old Collinsville Road and Central Park Drive on existing routes. Additionally, it would provide access to 100+ acres of prime development property. |
Reconstruction of East Presidential Streets |
$2,791,000 |
Retain - 79 |
This project calls for a curbed roadway to replace oil and chip surfacing that does not have underground storm sewers to take away surface flooding. The old roadway profiles actually put rain water in front and side yards to be conveyed away by inadequate surface drainage. An integral part of the design is detention of the stormwater to reduce impacts on the degraded riparian areas of the City's central area. |
Wastewater Treatment Plant Clarifier |
$4,278,000 |
Retain-111, New - 100+ |
The limiting process in the existing Wastewater Treatment Plant is clarifier capacity. During high flows, the ability to provide needed settling is limited. In addition, a third clarifier allows for the needed maintenance during low flow of one of the clarifiers without sacrificing treatment standards. |
Stormwater Remediations |
$1,384,000 |
Retain - 46 |
Numerous areas of the older sections of town have drainage problems that need to be addressed for the long term good of the neighborhoods and the residents. Solutions to those problems provide for a better quality of life. |
Wastewater Treatment Plant Headworks |
$3,120,000 |
Retain - 66, New - 7 |
The existing grit separator is rather inefficient allowing even large bits through to pumps and orifices that they will clog. By providing for better separation, the rest of the treatment train can become even more efficient and handle increased demand from local development activities. That supported demand means more secondary jobs to support the increased development. |
| |
