O’Fallon set for infrastructure improvements as mayor praises staff for storm response

O’Fallon plans to spend nearly $1.2 million on its Street Resurfacing Program this summer, and more roadwork and infrastructure improvements are planned by the Public Works Department.

Several projects recently received the go-ahead from the O’Fallon City Council at its Feb. 7 meeting.

The asphalt resurfacing takes place every summer, and streets selected to be overlaid are identified through the city’s Pavement Management Program, which uses a consulting engineering firm to evaluate every city street.

The council authorized a contract with Christ Brothers Asphalt for $1,188,902.84 this year. The cost is supported by the streets budget and Prop S funds.

In addition to that work, Oak Tree Estates and Parkview Gardens will also have waterline, curb, and sidewalk work done.

The public works department has coordinated projects so work on old water and sewer lines are done while streets are being repaired. This helps reduce time and cost on projects, Mayor Herb Roach said.

Booster Road, where the planned Habitat for Humanity project is happening, is being moved ahead of other streets because it was on the replacement list two years ago and was removed due to the previous budget.

The rating list in the five-year plan is available on the city’s website.

The council OK’d engineering services costing $148,300 and related to the Pavement Management Program, with Thouvenot, Wade & Moerchen Inc.

The council approved paying $403,548 to KRB Excavating Inc. for the 2022 Concrete Replacement Program.

The city routinely contracts companies for general concrete repair of streets and sidewalks, and the list of repairs was collected last year. That work is done when school is out for the summer.

This program is associated with the resurfacing program but bid as separate contracts to get a lower price.

Waterline work is expected to take place within the next one to two months, then concrete repairs will follow prior to the resurfacing, which will be completed prior to school starting in the fall.

The council also authorized $502,210 to Hank’s Excavating & Landscaping Inc. for the Glen Hollow Drive Culvert Replacement Project. Identified in the Capital Improvement Plan, the replacement would be a precast concrete box culvert.

Because of deteriorating pipes, two existing metal culverts need to be replaced. They had been temporarily fixed, but more permanent work was needed.

When the culvert is replaced, a section of the sewer trunk main located underneath will be repaired.

The Illinois Department of Transportation requires council action on using Motor Fuel Tax Funds for in-house maintenance of streets and highways. During the past two years, they have added streetlights, which freed up money in the general fund. This year, they’ve added street sweeper equipment and labor costs to help the general fund.

More council action

The council approved $790,122.53 in supplemental funds for the FY2023 annual general maintenance program.

A proposed renewal for another five years of the Pavement Management Program is in the works. The current five-year Pavement Management Plan is set to expire in May. It has been helpful to staff in addressing what funding is needed to maintain streets.

TWM will re-inspect all city-owned streets twice to get updated ratings. Because TWM already has the GIS data, they can offer this service at a reduced rate, less than the previous five years. Before, the city paid $52,800 annually, but TWM has proposed lowering the annual fee to $29,660.

Intergovernmental Agreement with Caseyville Township

The Caseyville Township Sewer District has requested the city provide them with water meter readings for their commercial customers.

They use this data to bill for sewer usage. Currently, Caseyville manually reads the O’Fallon water meters monthly.

This is a one-year agreement, and the township will pay $1 per reading per month plus a one-time $2,000 set-up fee. Staff has the capability to extract the data out of our utility billing system.

Winter Storm Landon

O’Fallon Mayor Herb Roach thanked the Public Works staff for their work on the roads during the recent Winter Storm Landon Feb. 2-4, and the staff for coming to work while other government bodies were closed.

“Our men and women of O’Fallon Public Works, Parks, Public Safety, and all other departments put in long, and exhausting hours to help keep the roads traversable and safe,” he said.

In one of the city’s larger snow events in recent memory, the mayor cited these figures:

• Over 360 tons of salt and 800 gallons of Beet Heet (liquid ice melt) were used.
• The city utilized 15 pieces of major equipment and traveled over 4,000 miles in three days.
• The cost of the entire operation (snow/ice clearing) was $105,000. As of Feb. 7, they still had two trucks and three backhoes clearing hard to reach locations.
• The city had 14 pieces of equipment out plowing snow — seven plows, two tractors, three backhoes, and two skid steers) — working round the clock since 5 a.m. Feb. 3.
• In the previous 24 hours, they traveled almost 1,500 miles. They treated the sleet Feb. 2, so adding that would be a total of 2,275 for the 48-hour total.

After snowfall stopped Feb. 3, all snow routes were plowed and treated. At that time, the city began plowing side streets.

The National Weather Service had predicted 6-8 inches of snow for the metropolitan region, with totals ranging from 3-7 inches in area. O’Fallon was estimated to have received about 4 inches.

This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 1:09 PM.