Collinsville Takes Next Step In Great Streets Initiative
By Stephanie Malench
smalench@timestribunenews.com
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Collinsville Public Works Director Dennis Kress announced at the February 11 regular city council meeting that the wastewater treatment plant upgrade will be upgrading directly to a Class A biosolids facility instead of the originally plans to upgrade only to a Class B biosolids facility.
The decision to do the full upgrade now instead of breaking the upgrade down into two projects was recommended by Crawford, Murphy, & Tilly based on space issues and cost savings by doing the full upgrade now. Included in the plans are a new process building and odor control improvements. Total costs for the project are estimated at $6.2 million with no immediate increase in sewer rates.
Biosolids from the plant will be available for purchase on the open market for fertilize and does not have to be stored in a secure facility, logged with the EPA and sent to the landfill.
The facility will be the highest class available and one of the only ones in operation in the area when it begins operation in the fall of 2021.
In other city council business, City Manager Mitch Bair gave the preliminary results for the first month of service for the Illinois Supply and Provisions/HCI cannabis dispensary since the legalization of recreational cannabis on January 1st. Of the $5.5 million is sales statewide, $5 million was recreational and half a million dollars was medical. Collinsville brought in 13.6% of the sales in the state and brought in $125,000 in local taxes.
An ordinance was passed bringing the city municipal code into alignment with the new state regulations on tobacco use and sales. The age limit was raised to 21 from 18, e-cigs, oils, and liquids were added to the paraphernalia list, and fines were increased from $75 to $150 for a first offense.
Authorization was given for Mayor John Miller to sign a real estate purchase contract for 404 St. Louis Rd at Bond Ave (formerly Larry’s Automotive) as part of the Great Streets initiative to improve the intersection, allow for Kruta’s expansion, and add a public parking lot for Kruta’s and McDill’s overflow parking.
Another ordinance was signed authorizing the mayor to sign a redevelopment agreement between the city and the Glik company for their new 40,000 square foot warehouse, online distribution center and office on ABC Parkway. TIF 1 financing will be approximately $600,000 and there will be a Madison County Discovery Enterprise Zone incentive of $108,000 in state sales tax incentives for construction supplies.
Collective bargaining agreements were approved between both the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 520C and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 148 and the City. Both agreements include a 5 cent per employee per hour contribution into a union training fund for paid training in Texas related to each employee’s job duties.
Collinsville is the first municipality in the state of Illinois to offer such a program.
