The City of Columbia is in a unique position. It is simultaneously focused on achieving a stated goal of southern growth while also battling recurring issues expected in a municipality which has existed for more than 160 years.

The past, present and future of the city were all represented during Monday night’s Columbia City Council meeting.

For instance, just prior to aldermen approving a $452,273 payment to Hillcrest Properties LLC for reimbursement of an infrastructure project designed to expand Columbia’s water service capabilities, Mayor Bob Hill discussed the possibility of spending at least that much to address an immediate concern on Valmeyer Road, which has experienced recurring issues for the past 30 years.

Heavy rains precipitated the collapse of Valmeyer Road near its intersection with D Road less than a mile from the city’s western limit.

Hill addressed the issue to begin Monday’s meeting. He explained the intersection has experienced the effects of erosion in multiple locations for several years due to its proximity to the bank of nearby Carr Creek.

While the city has responded by filling impacted areas, subsequent rain events wash away the fill, resulting in further erosion.

Valmeyer Road has been the subject of numerous issues going back to the 1990s, when the road would repeatedly flood near its intersection with Route 3 until a culvert was installed in 2014.

The current problems result from the natural tendency of waterways such as Carr Creek to change course over time.

Columbia City Administrator Doug Brimm called the incident the “most significant surface failure that any of us have experienced in the history of that intersection.” 

During his budget proposal later in the meeting, Brimm noted $350,000 had already been scheduled specifically for work on Valmeyer Road – though the recent incident will likely raise the price.

Hill explained several options to provide a permanent solution for Valmeyer Road, estimating the project cost would be in the $500,000 range, and possibly higher. 

City officials met with  representatives of Jacobi Geotechnical Engineering Inc. Tuesday morning to get a better idea of how much this project will cost.

The engineering firm completed a “subsurface exploration” of Valmeyer Road in September 2023 in response to recurring issues in the area.

As of press time, city officials had not responded to a request for an update.

A post on the city’s website on Monday provided citizens an overview of the Valmeyer Road situation.

In addition to traffic on the road being restricted to one lane at its intersection with D Road, the post noted  a full closure of Valmeyer Road would likely be necessary to address the issue.

A project had been scheduled to repair the road this summer to coincide with a Monroe County bridge replacement project.

As of press time, the city website had not been updated to include information about Tuesday’s meeting.

While the Valmeyer Road situation is hoped to be the last in a series, payment for water infrastructure is the first step in growing Columbia to the south. 

Payment for the infrastructure project was in line with an ordinance passed earlier this year which allowed the owners of Old Monroe Distilling Co. to install water infrastructure on a property off Route 3 near Hanover Road south of current city limits.

A water tower is also planned for the property as the city moves toward its goal of southern expansion as stated in Columbia’s latest comprehensive plan passed at the beginning of the year. 

Last month, aldermen approved a material bid for a separate water main project designed to provide water service to the area of Bluffside, Stemler and Triple Lakes Road east of the city limits.

The water main will be located underneath the planned 138-acre Timber Rock Estates Subdivision at the site of the former Fairfield Country Club on Bluffside Road.

On Monday, the city council approved an improvement plan submitted by the subdivision developer.

Also approved was the final subdivision plan for Ogle Estates, a 10-lot plan near Eckert Lane in the northern part of Columbia.

Additional development in the city requires additional infrastructure capacity and operations, which were a major component of the budget proposal presentation.

Brimm noted significant increases in not only the “water improvement” budget, but also higher expenditures for street, sidewalk and drainage work to be performed by the Columbia Department of Public Works.

More than $2 million of the water improvement budget will be for “projects on southern front,” Brimm said, referring to development south of the city limits which began with the Old Monroe Distillery Co. property.

Other funds will be used in repairing aeration lines at the city’s wastewater treatment lagoon, which was reportedly damaged during a hail storm in late March.

Brimm said over 90 percent of the aeration lines were damaged, resulting in less efficient water treatment at the site.

He added improvements made in the near future are able to be transferred to the city’s new lagoon cell, which is part of an updated treatment system as required by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency by 2035.

Despite ongoing concerns with Valmeyer Road and the damaged lagoon,  Brimm said the city is in “great financial shape” overall, adding the capital projects will “drive a change in fund balances.”

Construction of Creekside Park is one such project, with the council approving more than $300,000 in expenditures Monday night.

Middendorf and Reuss Construction Inc. was awarded two of three bids for the park project, those being installation of playground equipment in the amount of $33,609 and pavilion installation for $67,427.

Lake Contracting was awarded the restroom construction contract in the amount of $218,000.

Hill questioned why the restroom contract was not awarded to Middendorf and Ruess despite its bid being higher than that of Lake Contracting.

Hill reasoned Middendorf and Ruess would already be on-site and its bid was less than $500 over the apparent low bidder.

Brimm said it had been discussed internally, but there were “no grounds to not accept the low bid.”

Columbia City Engineer Chris Smith added the city would likely “take a bidder out of potential projects” by not accepting this low bid.

In other budget highlights, Brimm expects a nearly $1 million surplus in the city’s general fund at the conclusion of the current fiscal year which ends April 30. 

The projected surplus at the end of the next fiscal year is projected to be just under $10,000.

Brimm also noted $52,000 scheduled to be used to examine the possibility of a splash pad in Columbia and further exploration of converting a part of Admiral Trost Park into a dog park.

A budget hearing is scheduled for the beginning of the next council meeting at 6:30 p.m. April 21.

A copy of the budget proposal should be available on the city’s website, columbiail.gov, prior to the hearing.

In other business Monday, aldermen approved an intergovernmental agreement with Sugarloaf Township which had Columbia agree to shut off water service to up to 43 properties if they fail to pay Sugarloaf Township sewer bills.

Brimm explained that a small number of residences in the township are Columbia water customers while being Sugarloaf sewer customers. 

When asked if the agreement was legal, Brimm and Columbia City Attorney Terry Bruckert both confirmed it is backed by state statute.

Elsewhere in Columbia, an aging mobile home park on South Main Street at Centerville Road is closing. 

“We understand the mobile home park sold some time ago, and the new owners provided occupants with the statutorily required notice of closure,” Columbia City Administrator Doug Brimm told the Republic-Times on Friday, adding that “nothing has been formally submitted to the city.”

Several years ago, the City of Columbia looked into the feasibility of creating a business district which would abut the current Main Street Abbey TIF District at Madison Street then continue south along the Main Street corridor, then south on Route 3 to include an area along Frontage Road. 

During a July 2021 city council meeting, one possible plan for the business district would be to “redevelop the mobile home park at Centerville Road,” with the initial concept including “an 8,000-square-foot building… with ground-floor retail and residential lots.”

The idea fizzled as complications arose regarding the mobile home park.

Since then, some units had already been removed, and the property has changed hands. 

In April 2024, CBE Properties LLC sold the lot to Main Street Villas LLC, managed by Grant Frierdich of real estate development firm Domex Properties Limited Partnership.