2019/02/11 - Mayor's Column: A Successful Community Never Stops Moving!
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
Last week’s City Council Meeting was an important one. There were 22 votes in total. However, the most important part was the recognition of two O’Fallon residents. Chief Eric Van Hook and Sergeant Eric Buck presented Tina and Timothy Leadley with a Chief’s Commendation for their role in saving a man’s life on October 7, 2018.
On October 7th, the Leadleys came upon a motorcycle crash near Milburn School Road. The crash victim was thrown from his motorcycle and was unconscious and not breathing. Tina and Tim tended to the victim, and along with the assistance of an O’Fallon officer, began giving lifesaving CPR. The victim was ultimately transported to the hospital and is alive today. This is special case without a doubt, but another GREAT example of how our citizens step up in so many ways to help one another.
While not as inspiring as the Leadleys portion of the Council Meeting, the rest of the meeting still had a significant impact on the future of the O’Fallon community. Here is a summary of some of the other items covered at the City Council Meeting.
Amendment to the sewer treatment service agreement with the Village of Shiloh: The City of O’Fallon provides sewer service for a portion of Shiloh. The agreement had expired in 2016 and was in need of renewal. The new agreement contract is for twenty years and includes a new rate structure. The rate will cover the City’s costs to treat Shiloh’s sewage.
Seven Hills Mixed Use Development: The City Council approved a project proposed by a local developer. The project, located on the east side of Seven Hills Road, includes a 92-bed assisted living & memory care building, a 30-unit independent care building, and a 18 independent living cottages. This is being located next to individual home sites that will include property maintenance for its residence who still want an individual home but no longer want to or they can’t do the maintenance.
Annexations: There were multiple agreements related to annexation of property near Exit 21. This area has been identified as a development opportunity and the City’s ordinances require annexation in order to provide utilities. The land owners and the City have approved the pre-annexation agreements.
MidAmerica Enterprise Zone: The St. Clair County MidAmerica Enterprise Zone is being proposed for amendment to allow various taxing bodies to voluntarily abate a portion of their property taxes for up to ten years to incentivize industrial and commercial uses within the zone. In order to amend the zone and allow this tax abatement provision to take effect, each municipality and St. Clair County must adopt the ordinance.
While the Enterprise Zone amendment would grant authority for the tax abatements, the abatements would not actually take effect until each local taxing body volunteers to abate their property taxes. Resolutions are the next step in the process. The City of O’Fallon, along with a developer, will be presenting a significant development opportunity to O’Fallon District 90 and OTHS District 203 at an upcoming joint board meeting. There will be much more information to come as we work towards making this project successful.
Without a doubt this meeting was looking forward and setting the ground work for several items that play an important role in the future development and growth of O’Fallon. I believe that it will have a very positive long-term effect on the community.
And once again, THANK YOU to the Leadleys for their heroic and unselfish actions.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!