A mere two weeks after adopting a new comprehensive plan, the City of Columbia has taken the first steps to accomplish its goal of southern expansion.

During the Jan. 21 Columbia City Council meeting, aldermen approved a municipal services agreement with the owners of Old Monroe Distillery – formerly known as Stumpy’s Spirits Distillery – involving a property at 8787 Rickhouse Road currently under construction along the west side of Route 3 just north of Hanover Road.

The agreement sets the stage for the city to use the site of what will be the Old Monroe Distillery “visitor experience center” as a utility hub to facilitate city water service in the area and as the first step in a plan for Columbia’s southern city limit reaching Hanover Road.

Per the agreement, property owners Adam and Laura Stumpf have promised to have the property annexed into Columbia if it becomes contiguous to corporate city limits.

During last Tuesday’s meeting, Columbia City Administrator Doug Brimm explained the agreement will have the property owners extend a 12-inch water main underneath Route 3 to connect with a 16-inch main on the east side of Route 3.

Per the agreement terms, the city will reimburse property owners for the part of the project which is to be  “dedicated” for Columbia utility service.

The infrastructure would also include a “tee for future expansion on the west side of Route 3,” allowing the city to hypothetically provide water service to any new development along Route 3 from Hanover Road north to the existing city limits.  

Brimm said the new connection would serve as a “distribution main” for city service, which is currently provided through Illinois American Water. 

In exchange for facilitating this infrastructure development, the Old Monroe Distillery business will be billed at the city’s “inside corporate limits – commercial” rate and have  connection fees for the property waived.

The agreement also states the owners will “convey an easement to the city for an elevated (water) storage tank” which is “planned to provide ability to serve remainder of area between (the) subject property and current corporate boundaries.”

The closest southernmost point of the current city limits is to the east of  Route 3 at its intersection with Gilmore Lake Road, which is slightly less than two miles from the Rickhouse Road property.

The agenda report for the agreement states it has “significant strategic value for the city,” and refers to the “initial strategies for implementation” as described in Columbia’s latest comprehensive plan. 

Those strategies state a desire for the city to eventually reach Hanover Road through a series of pre-annexation agreements while identifying “key properties” to the south as they pertain to “accompanying public service needs and associated costs.” 

If the growth goes according to stated plan goals, Columbia officials would then “consider implementation of an intergovernmental annexation boundary with Waterloo.”

The current Waterloo city limits extend just north of the Route 3 intersection with GG Road, which is just under one mile from the Old Monroe Distillery property.

While the service agreement agenda item has the potential for the greatest impact on Columbia, it garnered the least amount of discussion during last Tuesday’s meeting. 

The utility theme continued as Mayor Bob Hill began discussion of what he described as “all too frequent” mail service issues.

Hill reported the most recent city utility bills had once again been mishandled at the United States Postal Service St. Louis distribution center, resulting in more than 5,000 Columbia utility customers needing to find alternate means of discovering monthly amounts owed.

As in recent months, the city has waived late fees for anyone who may remit payment after the due date, which is the 15th of each month in Columbia.

Hill said local post offices are not at fault, explaining the city’s postcard-size bill format receives lower priority in the St. Louis facility’s sorting center.

Brimm then took over, presenting aldermen with several options for discussion.

The first option is to maintain its current bill size and method with hopes operations will improve.

The second option is to switch to an 8.5 inch by 11 inch sheet of paper to be folded into a standard business envelope. 

While that method would lower the chances of mishandling as the envelopes are more “easily machinable,” Brimm noted the switch would add about $15,000 annually to the city’s cost of printing and mailing utility bills.

The third option is to switch to an e-bill system of electronic notification.

It was determined an electronic-only service would not be fair to the city’s older population and to those with limited access to computers and those who are not comfortable using technology for financial transactions.

Further discussion included a possible incentive for customers who opt in to electronic billing.

Brimm said the topic will be revisited during a future meeting when samples of different options  and pricing are available for consideration.

The next agenda item raised a similar amount of discussion when Columbia Department of Public Works Director Mike Sander advised the city he would like the “snow route” system of clearing roadways to be re-implemented.

Sander explained the city used snow routes in the 1990s during significant winter weather events, but had since abandoned the practice.

The unique precipitation from the winter storm earlier this month prompted Sander to request a renewal of the snow route system to better accommodate commuters.

Sanders said city crews would focus on the main travel corridors during winter weather when at least two inches of snow is predicted.

He said there would be a “hierarchy” for clearing the main roads, as the city would begin to work on clearing subdivisions and other less-traveled areas after concentrating on those roadways.

The streets included on the snow route are Main Street, Veterans Parkway, Ghent Road, Bottom Avenue, Carl Street, Gall Road, Valmeyer Road, Quarry Road, Metter Avenue, Rapp Avenue, Legion Avenue, Koontz Street, Bradington Drive, Gilmore Lake Road, Hill Castle Road, Cherry Street, Bluffside Road, Columbia Lakes Road, D Road, DD Road, Oak Street, Cedar Street and Westpark Drive. 

The Illinois Department of Transportation is responsible for state highways such as Route 3, Route 158 and Old Route 3.

Sander said “snow route” designations would not require new sign posts and could be added to the bottom of existing signage.

Sander pointed out that the number of city vehicles available for snow removal has not grown in step with Columbia’s growth overall.

Hill concurred, noting the city has tripled in size, with three more subdivisions currently being built.

Sander also pointed out Columbia currently has 35 dead end streets and 111 cul-de-sacs. 

For comparison, he said Lincoln, a city similar in size to Columbia, only has 30 cul-de-sacs with 65 in Waterloo.

Sander also urged officials to make an effort to reduce the use of cul-de-sacs during the planned revision  of the city’s subdivision code, suggesting Columbia needs more “through” streets. 

Sander and several aldermen also noted Columbia residents should be more intentional in avoiding on-street parking ahead of predicted winter weather. 

Sander said city plows have been unable to effectively clear some streets due to the overabundance of vehicles parked on the roadway. He also added trash and recycling bins should not be left on the curb and movable basketball poles should not be left in cul-de-sacs during winter weather events.

In other business, aldermen approved a preliminary engineering agreement for construction of the last  section of bike trail in the northern part of the city.

Columbia City Engineer Chris Smith said the project will not be complete for some time, but the upcoming project will complete the trail loop. 

The project will also include construction of a pedestrian bridge over Palmer Road to Ghent Road.

The meeting began with Columbia Police Department Chief Jason Donjon providing officials with a department report. 

Notable in his report was the addition of a drone to the CPD, with five officers currently being trained in order to have a pilot available at all times. 

Donjon also noted that vehicle burglary and thefts numbers were down overall in 2024.

He added that as the city grows, he hopes to add officers and dispatch personnel to the police force.

In other Columbia government news, Columbia City Council meetings will now begin at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m., per a public notice which appeared in the Jan. 22 issue of the Republic-Times.

Council meetings are held the first and third Mondays of the month except for federal holidays, in which case the meeting is held the following Tuesday.

Meeting agendas and minutes may be accessed online at columbiail.gov.