Hot topics discussed, new ordinances approved at Collinsville City Council meeting
By Ray Popkess • First on the docket from the March 10 Collinsville City Council meeting was an ordinance asking to increase the 2026 expenditure budget. The following depicts where the unspent fund balance, unbudgeted revenues or interfund transfers/savings will be used. It’s important to note that the capital improvement funds for the St. Louis Road Design from S. Jefferson to Davis will be reallocated into the motor fuel tax fund:
- Police Forfeited/Seized Funds – $45,000
- Training: $45,000
- Motor Fuel Tax Fund – $336,500
- Infrastructure (Reconstruct Horseshoe Lake Rd/McDonough Lake Rd): $60,000
- Infrastructure (St. Louis Rd Shared-Use Path): $76,500
- Infrastructure (St. Louis Rd Design): $100,000
- Infrastructure (St. Louis Rd Design S. Jefferson-Davis): $100,000
- Capital Improvement Fund – $120,000
- Professional Services (611 W. Main Asbestos Abatement): $60,000
- Infrastructure (St. Louis Road Design S. Jefferson-Davis): (-$100,000)
- Infrastructure (Horseshoe Lake Road/McDonough Lake Road): $160,000
- Hospitality Fund – $39,984.40
- Capital Equipment – Convention Center (Chair Replacement): $39,984.40
- Animal Shelter Fund – $27,350
- Building – Animal Shelter (HVAC): $27,350
After approving these expenditure budget reallocations, the council was presented with an ordinance to authorize a professional services agreement between the city and Oates & Associates toward developing a new shared-use path on Clay Street. Upon approval by the council of the $185,290 service agreement, the design phase will commence by May of this year with a goal to present preliminary plans to the city by January 2027. Final plans won’t be presented to the city until July 2028 in order to allow enough time to collect funding from an STP (Surface Transportation Program) Grant that will not be processed until late 2028. The anticipated start to construction of the shared-use path was projected for April 2029.
Next up to the podium was Collinsville Police Chief Brett Boerm to present the council with an ordinance authorizing the approval of a statement of work agreement with Fource Group, Inc. The goal in this agreement is to revamp the recruitment and retention efforts of the Collinsville Police Dept. Chief Boerm cited that officer recruitment and retention is a nationwide problem. The agreement with Fource Group is slotted for two years for a total of $90,000 that includes new recruitment videos, a new application webpage and a wide array of regional and nationwide digital marketing campaigns for the police department. The cost of the agreement will be fully reimbursed by a $172,513 federal DOJ grant. Fource Group is known to collaborate with surrounding municipalities, such as O’Fallon, Fairview Heights, Belleville, Granite City and Centralia.
As for the neighborhood vehicle ordinance that was presented to the council on Feb. 10, a more polished version was presented on March 10 to establish a framework under which they would be allowed to operate. However, because the majority of the council did not agree that the benefits of allowing neighborhood vehicles outweighed the risks for a city like Collinsville, neither of the council members motioned to approve the ordinance.
The next Collinsville City Council will take place on March 24 at 6:30 p.m.
