The City of Columbia is taking advantage of the  recent warmer weather by getting several impactful projects moving toward completion with several more planned for later this year.

Excavation work began Monday on the long-awaited but often delayed Creekside Park project in Columbia. The park will be constructed in an area east of Rueck Road roughly between Wilson Road and North Briegel Street.

Plans for the park began in earnest when the city received a $400,000 grant in early 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays and ultimately resulted in the grant funds being returned.

In March 2023, Columbia City Engineer Chris Smith announced he had applied for and been awarded a different, $600,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant, leading to work in the area beginning on Monday.  

When completed, the park will feature more than 4,000 linear feet of walking trails, two pavilions and other park amenities. As an added bonus, a lake at the park is designed for stormwater detention and retention to help address drainage issues around the Wilson Hills Subdivision.

During the Feb. 18 city council meeting, the bid for the “park site improvement project” was awarded to Baxmeyer Construction, Inc. in the amount of $1,074,757.77. 

Another future project got a big boost last week. 

In May 2024, Smith submitted a grant to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for funding to connect the city’s existing pedestrian and bicycle trails.

Smith recently learned the city had been selected for the grant, which will cover half the cost of the trail, up to $200,000.

Smith reported last year the project is expected to cost $400,000-$450,000 total.

The new trail will extend the current trail on Quarry Road to Ghent Road and add a pedestrian bridge over Palmer Creek between Palmer Creek Drive and Gedern Drive.

When the new section is complete, 3.6 miles of pedestrian and bike trails will be connected in a “loop” along Main Street and Rueck Road, Quarry and Ghent Roads.

A timeline for construction has not yet been released.

In addition to the recreation projects, the city will be overseeing several roadway and utility projects this year.

During the March 17 council meeting, an agreement between the city and the Illinois Department of Transportation for the second phase of Ghent Road construction was approved, as was funding for the project.

The project will improve Ghent Road from Christina Court to North Main Street.

The item is expected to be on the June IDOT letting, with work to begin later this year.

A second roundabout on Quarry Road is also set for construction this summer.

In 2022, a roundabout was constructed at the intersection of Quarry Road and Palmer Creek/Father Carl Scherrer Drive.

While that roundabout was near completion, the city learned it had been selected for another Illinois Department of Transportation Highway Safety Improvement Program to create a roundabout at the active intersection of Ghent Road/Old Route 3 and Quarry and Palmer roads near the entrance and exit ramps for northbound Route 3.

At the time, several city officials expressed surprise at the project being funded only two months after the grant proposal was submitted.

Three years later, work on the roundabout is expected to be completed this year, Smith reported in January.

Major progress is already evident in the city’s effort to expand water service past its current city limits.

Aldermen approved a material bid for a 12-inch water main extension along Columbia Quarry Road to the future site of the Timber Rock Estates – a 138-acre development at the site of the former Fairfield Country Club on Bluffside Road.

The city annexed the property, which also includes three St. Clair County parcels, in 2021, but the water service is expected to extend beyond the future subdivision. 

Columbia City Administrator Doug Brimm noted the main will provide a “primary route for a plan to achieve the goal of providing water service in the area” of Bluffside, Stemler and Triple Lakes Road.

Smith added the current half-mile main extension will not stop at Timber Rock, but will run underneath the new subdivision to allow the future expansion into what have been described as “underserved areas” east of Columbia.

Smith said work on the project is pending acquisition of rights-of-way in the area.

The Columbia Department of Public Works will install the main extension.

Work wrapped up last week on a utility project which connected a 12-inch water main to an existing 16-inch water main in order to provide water service to the new Old Monroe Distillery Co. event center north of Hanover Road on the west side of Route 3.

Crews bored underneath Route 3 just north of Klohr Toen Lane in order to connect a new 12-inch main.

The owners of the Old Monroe property have also agreed to allow the city to construct a water storage tower on the Old Monroe property.

Columbia leaders have expressed intent to grow southward from the current city limits as part of the latest city comprehensive plan passed, with extension of utilities one of the initial goals in promoting such growth. 

In other business, one agenda item was no longer necessary.

The council was prepared to conduct an “administrative review” of a variance request, but the property owner was not in attendance last Monday.

Columbia City Attorney Terry Bruckert explained the city did not need to complete the review, which would then make denial of the request effective as of March 21.

Bruckert reiterated that zoning officer Fred Keck’s report was correct, also suggesting but not confirming the property owner’s absence from the meeting indicated a willingness to accept the city’s findings.

Columbia will be offering spring limb pickup beginning next week.

Dates for pickup are March 31 through April 4 and April 7-11. 

Limbs should be less than eight inches in diameter and be in front of a residence near the curb, but not in the street 

Also, the city will not pick up whole trees, roots, grass clippings or yard waste.

Call 618-281-4264 with any questions.

The next meeting of the Columbia City Council will be April 7 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.