Belleville City Council approves bids for roadwork

The Belleville City Council took action Monday night to move along a series of roadwork projects, including the North Illinois streetscape project and the East A Street resurfacing project.

Aldermen approved an $89,679 bid from Volkert Inc. of Collinsville for construction inspection services for the North Illinois Street project and a $136,696 bid from Kaskaskia Engineering Group of Belleville for engineering and design services for the East A Street project.

City Engineer Tim Gregowicz said Volkert will review the contractor’s work to ensure the roadway is being built to specifications.

The city will accept construction bids for the streetscape project in June. Gregowicz said construction is expected to begin in August and last until next year.

The $3.5 million project is designed to improve traffic flow from Richland Creek to the 100 block of North Illinois Street.

Gregowicz said the engineering work for the East A Street project will be completed this year but the construction bids will not be accepted until next year. The city plans to resurface East A Street from North Oak Street to Illinois 159.

JTC Petroleum was awarded a $147,000 contract to provide oil and Beelman was awarded a $46,800 contract to provide chips to the city’s oil and chip program, which will target the west end this year. Gregowicz said Belleville divides the city into five zones for the oil and chip program and each year, the roads in one zone are improved.

In other business, the council approved a motion to allow Mayor Mark Eckert to participate in the May 26 special City Council meeting via the Internet. At this meeting, the council is scheduled to vote on a proposed Tax Increment Financing district for the Illinois 15 project across from the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. Developers are seeking $6 million in TIF rebates. They plan to build an upscale hotel, a Hofbrauhaus brew pub, other restaurants, a convention center and a gas station. Eckert said he is unable to attend the meeting in person but wanted to be available in case aldermen had questions about the TIF district.

Also, the council appointed Ward 5 Alderman Phil Silsby to serve as mayor pro tem to fill in for Eckert during the May 26 meeting and the June 1 City Council meeting.

Eckert read a proclamation in honor of Carol Bartle, who recently received one of the Women of Achievement awards in St. Louis for her volunteerism.

This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 9:23 AM with the headline "Belleville City Council approves bids for roadwork."