O’Fallon council discusses public works & Veterans Day event, honors retiring chief

Grant allocations are making two public works projects happen in O’Fallon: A bike trail along Ogles Creek and resurfacing of East State Street and the Old Vincennes Trail.

The city was successful in securing both a regional and a federal grant for each project, but the cost of engineering services is not included; therefore the O’Fallon City Council approved those costs during its meeting Monday, Nov. 1.

A Metro East Park and Recreation District grant for $300,000 will be used to construct a bike trail along Ogles Creek between Milburn School Road and Timber Ridge Trace Drive. The grant is estimated to cover 40% of the construction costs.

Aldermen agreed to pay $119,105 to Thouvenot, Wade & Moerchen Inc. for engineering services for the Ogles Creek Bike Trail, which are needed to develop plans and specifics to bid the project. The project is in Ward 7.

The city secured a federal grant for $528,800, which will cover up to 75% of the construction costs to overlay State Street and Old Vincennes Trail between Smiley Street and Scott Troy Road.

The council approved paying $36,111.47 to Oates Associates Inc. for the engineering services needed to develop plans and specifications to bid the project.

The grant — Surface Transportation Funds — does not include the engineering.

The public works department stated, with this type of funding, normally projects are four years out — but the staff would like to have the plans ready. This would allow the project to perhaps have the timeline moved up, which is what happened with the Seven Hills Road resurfacing project.

The project is in Ward 4.

Sewer Work Needs to be Rebid

The O’Fallon City Council agreed to pay $104,244.25 to Haier Plumbing and Heating Inc. for all completed work associated with replacing a portion of the south sanitary sewer trunk main as part of the Woodstream Sewer Bypass Project Phase 1.

The council approved a waiver and release regarding this project because of rock excavations and soil borings work, and that the project must be rebid.

Prior to the bidding process, the city conducted soil borings, which indicated rock excavation and rock boring would be required before the new sewer main would be constructed

These soil borings were further tested to determine the hardness of the rock and was provided to the bidders. Haier was the low bidder and began construction in 2018.

Haier elected to have their own soil borings conducted to verify the rock hardness that was provided. Haier’s geotechnical engineer determined the rock was twice as hard as indicated at the time of bidding.

More on sewer work in O’Fallon

The city then hired a third-party geotechnical engineer to confirm the hardness, and they determined the rock was harder than initially indicated. Knowing this, Haier proposed a change order, which was for 50% more than the original contract.

The state’s Public Works Contract Change Order Act states a change order over 50% is not allowed and the work would need to be rebid.

After being notified, Haier was asked to agree to a waiver and mutual release, which they did.

The project will be rebid with the new specifications.

Staff has responded to questions about liability and how to address this matter in future contracts by stating it would be hard because of variations in the ground, depending on where a sample is taken.

2020-2021 Fiscal Year Audit

The city’s 2021 audit is now available on the city’s website: https://www.ofallon.org/finance-department/pages/audited-financial-reports.

It was prepared by the city’s new auditing firm, Sikich.

Mayor Herb Roach thanked Finance Director Sandy Evans, crediting staff and the council for its fiscal responsibility. He noted during the past four years, the council has lowered taxes by 14%. There is also a debt reduction of 19% during the past four years.

Van Hook honored

Retiring Police Chief Eric Van Hook was honored at the city council meeting with a plaque and proclamation.

Van Hook thanked the public works and city’s leadership teams for their efforts and hard work, and his wife, Laura, for her steadfast support. He received two standing ovations during the recognition.

O’Fallon Police Capt. Kirk Brueggeman has been named as Van Hook’s replacement.

Veterans Day Activities

On Thursday, Nov. 11, O’Fallon will return to honoring veterans as they have in the past. The past two years, some of the programs were limited or not held either because of bad weather or COVID-19 public health crisis conditions.

O’Fallon’s Veterans Day celebrations will begin with a ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, at First Baptist Church. This is arranged by the city’s Veterans Committee. Then at 2 p.m., the VFW sponsors the Veterans Day Parade, which kicks off at the Community Park and ends up at the VFW Post 805 hall on West First Street.

In his report, the mayor thanked the millions of men and women who have served in the military and in particular, the veterans living in O’Fallon still serving in the military or retired.

He has noted more than “15% of our families have served or are currently serving in our military when less than 8% of our country have ever served.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 11:51 AM.