Preparations for phase I of Collinsville’s new fire station #2, approved
By Devese “Dee” Ursery
The City of Collinsville is getting prepared for the designing stage of the new Fire Station No.2.
During the regular bimonthly Collinsville City Council meeting resolutions and ordinances were approved to not only keep the City safe and support municipal services, but to also invest in public infrastructure and to promote financial stewardship and sustainability.
All items in the Consented Agenda portion of the meeting were approved by council members, including four ordinances authorizing the payment of four workers compensation settlements in the amount of $109,397, total.
Council voted on and approved an ordinance to engage in a contract with Holland Construction Services for the preconstruction services of the Fire Station No.2 project. The lump sum fee for this agreement is $75,737.
Collinsville Fire Chief John Bailot expresses the significance in not only experience, but the other nuances that are involved with the construction of a fire station from the ground up.
“Holland has done projects with CUSD 10, other governmental agencies and fire stations, which was important for me to make sure that we had somebody with that experience, as well,” Bailot said. “They will be providing the input for constructibility, building systems, materials and alternatives.”
This phase of the project and agreement with Holland is for assistance with the pre-construction design of the building, according to Bailot. Having a Construction Manager on-board during the design phase will help us to stay within budget and offer alternative construction methods while still meeting the needs of this new fire station for the next 40-plus years.
According to Bailot, Holland has a wealth of experience when it comes to every aspect of constructing a building, from preconstruction planning to construction management, and completion of the project. Once the design is done and the subcontractors are all selected that will mark the end of the first phase and Holland would provide a guaranteed maximum price for the construction of the building.
“So all along we’re gonna have cost estimating at certain benchmarks throughout the process. When we get to the point where we have gone to the bid of the subcontractors, we should have a pretty good idea of the costs,” Bailot said.
“Once those come back in, Holland will help us with those different subcontractors and find the best ones for us, with the best price. We will then come back to the Council and discuss another contract to have Holland be the Construction Manager At-Risk.”
Holland would manage everything with the subcontractors. They would oversee the subs and guarantee the cost. If it goes over that price, the City wouldn’t be paying any more, according to Bailot.
The next ordinance approved by Council members was an agreement with Langhauser Sheet Metal Co. in the amount of $175,200, for the replacement of two air handling units at City Hall
Public Works Director Troy Turner explained that this is the third time bidding on this project, receiving zero bidders on the first try.
“The second time we had one bid, but there was a material change to the contract so, the police station’s HVAC system got pulled out, consequently there was a third bid,” Turner said. “This time we got three bidders, all of which were over $160,000 that was budgeted in the CIP.”
The two air handling units in the City Hall building are past their useful life and are both obsolete, since they run on R-22 refrigerant. In 2020 the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency banned the production and import of R-22. Due to the ban of R-22, these units cannot be repaired effectively and need to be replaced.
Another ordinance that was voted on and approved authorizes Mayor Jeff Stehman to execute a supplement in the amount of $14,449. This addendum is for the professional services agreement between the City and Oates Associates, Inc. for Preliminary Engineering Services for Clay Street Pedestrian Improvements.
This is the second supplement, and it is for one of Oates’ subs, SCI, according to Turner.
This increase is necessary for the acquisition of necessary Right-of-Way and a Preliminary Environmental Survey Assessment.
“We discovered that we’re gonna need two easements for this project to go through and we will be using the sub that is under Oates. Part of the reason that we’re doing this is to streamline the process,” Turner said.
“Instead of going in and asking for quotes individually from firms we’re doing this to keep the process moving and get things done faster, so we can try to meet our June bid letting.”
There has been an increase in vehicular and pedestrian traffic along the Clay Street corridor because of a lot of new developments that have happened in the area. Between the years of 2016 and 2020, there have been 15 reported crashes along Clay Street, beginning at North Morrison Avenue and concluding at North Seminary Street.
Council members also approved the resolution in the amount of $14,449, authorizing the City to utilize MFT funds to pay for Preliminary Engineering Services for the design of the Clay Street Pedestrian Improvement project.
Another resolution that was approved allows Mayor Stehman to apply for a 2025 Park Enhancement Program grant.
This grant program is designed to assist park districts and municipal parks and recreation departments within Madison County to develop and enhance their parks. The program is funded at $7.90 per capita for the municipal population in Madison County for a grand total of $192,491, according to Collinsville Parks and Recs Director Kimberly Caughran.
This year’s grant will be used for the following projects identified in the 2025 CIP: Tomahawk, Field Dog Park, Jaycee Field Renovation, Drinking Fountains, Batting Cages and an All Abilities Playground Surfacing.
Another statute that was approved by council members was the ordinance amending Title 17 of the Code of Ordinances for the City of Collinsville as it relates to tobacco store regulations. The proposed amendments will detail definitions of tobacco stores and tobacco uses and create supplementary regulations for the use.
City staff first presented this ordinance on November 26, 2024, amending the existing definition of a tobacco store, adding new definitions for tobacco accessories, tobacco products, and vapor products and adding supplementary regulations. From that meeting council members concluded that the proposed cap of eight active special use permits for tobacco stores was too high for a municipality of this size. They also expressed concerns about the use being permitted in Uptown Collinsville.
The Council directed staff to conduct more research on the limits of tobacco stores based on municipal size and potential negative impacts of the use in Uptown. Out of the ten municipalities researched, Collinsville ranks the second highest in tobacco store density at 1 shop per 3,000 residents.
Considering the size of Collinsville, and the much higher density of shops than our peer communities, staff recommended a maximum of one tobacco store per every 5,000 residents. With the current census population data of approximately 24,000 residents that would place a maximum of 4 tobacco stores in Collinsville. The new limit would place Collinsville on the lower end of its current peer cities at one tobacco store per every 6,000 residents.
During the regular bimonthly city council meeting the Collinsville Fire Department swore in new Firefighter/Paramedic Devin Randall.
The next city council meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m.on Mar. 11, at the City Hall Building, located at 125 South Center Street.
