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2022/12/27 - Mayor's Column: Welcome to the New Year!

“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
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As 2022 winds to a close, we look forward to the excitement, challenges and opportunities of 2023.

In 2022, we saw our city become the home of several new businesses and new families as we continued to grow. We continued to work on the improvements to our Water lines, Streets (including Rt. 50) and a 14-million-dollar expansion to our Sewer Plant which will also decrease operational costs.

We also saw the city honored in several ways for its Volunteerism, it’s Growth, style of living, and Climate to do business in with the following awards and rankings:

  • Winner of the 2022 Governor’s Hometown Award
  • Winner of the Governor’s Cup for Volunteerism for the first time in the 40 years of the award
  • Rated in the Top 8% of cities to buy a home in the Nation
  • Rated in the Top 7% of cities to raise a Family in the Nation

We started to implement many of the things that our citizens asked for in the 2040 Master Plan.

  • We continued our plans for Downtown O’Fallon
  • We have approved plans for over 700 residential units of various sizes, affordability and style.
  • We have approved the continued development of more walking and bicycling paths.
  • We will start the redevelopment of the Community Park with things like the New All Children Playground, New and Widened Walking and bicycling paths, Changes to the Cavins Center, New Band stand area and a New Swimming Pool.  This is about a 3-year project.

We continued to work to be fiscally responsible to our Citizens and Businesses by keeping our Real-estate Tax Rate considerably lower than of any of the cities in Madison and St. Clair Counties with populations of 20 thousand or more by keeping our tax rate where it was about 35 years ago.

I think your City Council, our various committees and city staff have had a very good year and we have several new developments that will be coming to our Planning Commission after the first of the year. 

On behalf of the City Council and our City Staff, I would like to wish YOU and your FAMILY a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2023.                   

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.