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Collinsville officials reappointed, four Kahoks receive Stan Schaeffer scholarship

By Devese “Dee” Ursery

dursery@timestribune.com

Collinsville City Council on Tuesday agreed on the decision to reappoint several city staff and officials to their new or current positions.

According to meeting documents, Kimbrerly Wasser was reappointed to her seat as city clerk and Steven Giacoletto was reappointed to his position as corporate counsel, as well as city attorney. Dustin Ziebold retained his position as city treasurer, all effective immediately.

All of the items of the consented agenda from the paying of city bills to tracking of meeting minutes were approved. Board members were also reappointed to their posts.

Planning Commision members Erik Illies and Eric Jackstadt were reappointed their seats for another three years. Illies’ appointment was scheduled to end in June of 2022, but was allowed by the City to continue on through June 2022. Illies’ term will continue through to June 2025. Jackstadt’s assignment was scheduled to finish in January 2023 and his tenure would continue through January 2026. He was originally appointed to the Commission in January 2020.

A motion was passed by the council for the payment of bills for the period ending May 12, 2023, in the amount of $536,925. Council also approved the payment of the City’s payroll for the period ending April 28, 2023, in the amount of $947,028.

The council approved a resolution to reappoint Larry Cooper as a member of the Building Code Review Commission for an extended period of five-years through 2028. Cooper’s assignment was scheduled to end in February of 2023

In new business, the council approved an ordinance to install a four-way stop sign on North Center Street at Washington Avenue to improve the safety of motorists and pedestrians alike. Dennis Kress, director of public works, discussed the reason for the ordinance. 

Kress said that a Collinsville resident emailed city officials to request stop signs be installed in her area after her husband and young daughter were involved in a car accident. He said there is a process that has to take place when requests are made for the installation of stop signs.

Kress said that his department looks at the accident, the police department looks at the accident history and city officials go out to the actual site itself.

 “On this particular site the police department did find a history of accidents, not necessarily at that intersection, but along the corridor,” Kress said. 

Kress also mentioned that there is a line of sight issue for eastbound travelers on the northside of Washington Avenue.  specifically where the hillside obstructs the view of eastbound travelers.

“In investigating this interaction we found that it does indeed warrant the installation of stop signs,” Kress said.

Kress said that Washington Avenue already has stop signs, so the new signs would go on Center Street.

Kress said that the process is consistent with the Manual Uniform Traffic Control Device, which is the adopted standard that the City uses. He said that once the signs are in place they will have flashing beacons on top. Kress said his department will also deploy message boards in the area alerting travelers of the new stop signs. 

“In addition to the signage on all the stop signs it will have another smaller sign below the stop sign, that is an all-way stop,” Kress continued.

Another resolution that was approved during the meeting is the prohibiting of parking on the northside of Maple Street, from St. Louis Avenue. to St. Clair Avenue.

The resolution is needed because of the narrow width of Maple Street from St. Louis Avenue, east to St. Clair Avenue. The resolution is in the best interest of public safety to outlaw street parking at all times on the northside of Washington Street between St. Louis Avenue and St. Clair Avenue. Parking on the south side of Maple Street will remain permissible.

Council members also approved the authorization to waive fees related to the construction of an accessory parking lot located at 412 and 420 East Main Street.

The City of Collinsville is seeking to construct a parking lot to serve the Township Senior Center and for general public parking during events and festivals. 

The last ordinance on the books for this meeting was the selection of Mayor Pro Tem for the next two years. Councilman Tony Hausmann will serve as Mayor Pro Tem from May 23, 2023 through May 22, 2024. Councilman Donna Green will serve as Mayor Pro Tem from May 23, 2024 through May 22, 2025.

During the meeting, four graduating Collinsville High School seniors were presented with the Stan Schaeffer Memorial Scholarship award. Kai Redmon, president of the Collinsville Area Community Foundation spoke of the scholarship, the man behind the name of the award and recipients of the scholarship.

The four Kahok seniors were honored and recognized during the council meeting. The scholarship recipients are Thomas Haire, Megan Janson, Lily Jurgena and Sam Stuckey. Haire will attend Fontbonne University where he will play football, and double major in criminal justice and nursing. Jansen will attend Parkland College in Champaign, to major in Forensic Science and play women’s basketball. Jurgena will attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as a nursing major. 

The Stan Schaeffer Scholarship is a $1,000 non-renewable award for Collinsville High School

graduating seniors who live within the corporate limits of Collinsville, and are selected based on their academic success and community involvement.

The scholarship award honors late Collinsville Mayor Stan Schaeffer, a retired educator, who

was inspired by “Promise” organizations in other communities that provided scholarships for

local graduates. Following Schaeffer’s sudden death in 2008, city leaders made the Collinsville

scholarship program a reality.

 

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