Lincoln project to include multiple family townhomes moving forward in O’Fallon

A re-worked project for the vacant O’Fallon City Cleaners at 313 N. Lincoln into a six-unit multi-family development is moving forward.

Re-zoning was approved in a 10-4 vote at the O’Fallon City Council meeting Monday, Aug. 1.

Aldermen voting no included Ross Rosenberg, who said he thought it was a “good project, wrong location”; Chris Monroe, and the two Ward 3 aldermen, Andrea Fohne and Roy Carney.

Fohne thanked the residents who continued to attend and voice their concerns about density, parking, and other issues.

“I want to thank the residents who showed up for two months at every meeting — and there were six. You showed strong love for your community, and that’s what makes O’Fallon, O’Fallon,” she said, citing the opportunity to “learn and grow” as the “new kid on the block.”

Five residents spoke in opposition to the plan at the meeting. Many more had attended previous meetings and wrote letters.

Alderman Todd Roach thanked residents for their willingness to express their concerns and discuss the issues. He said the city received a letter from a local developer, Michael Horsey, who had been opposed to the project, but after the developer, Alex Young, revised it, he said he was in support.

“He thought it was good for the city long-term and hoped that the city and developer would continue to work with the residents in the area,” Roach said.

313 N. Lincoln

Young redesigned his multi-family housing proposal location to have less units and more parking, thus altering his rezoning request without variances.

It had advanced to final approval by the O’Fallon City Council on Monday, Aug. 1, in a 6-4 vote July 18.

The updated plans, which meet all city requirements, includes two three-family townhomes, for a total of six units, which would be two stories, 1,600 square feet and have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, along with a private front porch and a back patio.

This revision removed the need for a density variance and the need for an alternative parking plan. Parking required is 12 — two per unit — which is also required of single-family homes, Community Development Director Justin Randall has noted.

His staff said the revisions addressed the concerns of the residents and is appropriate and consistent with the character of the surrounding neighborhood. The project complies with the area and furthers the vision of the 2040 Master Plan.

The .46-acre site is at the southwest corner of North Lincoln Avenue and West Jefferson Street, just north of the Downtown District. The O’Fallon City Cleaners has been closed about a year.

Other council news

In other action, the council agreed to replace the ShoreTel VoIP phone system — which was installed a decade ago — with a Microsoft Teams unified communications system from RMS US.

The existing system had issues after ShoreTel was acquired from MiTel, and the city experienced stability and performance problems after a software upgrade. The phone support was due to end in 2024.

The city had planned to replace the aging system with a Unified Communications as a Service product to replace the aging system. That would combine voice, instant messaging, video conferencing, and collaboration features, such as file sharing.

Microsoft Teams is already included in the city’s Office 365 environment and most of the licensing required for this system is already included in their Microsoft bundled services.

Teams services are cloud-based, but O’Fallon will be connecting these cloud-hosted services to on-premise phone circuits. They will use these on-premise phone circuits to take advantage of their contracted carrier services.

Once their current carrier contract expires, the city will consider a variety of other options for carrier services connected to or through Microsoft. They also will connect it to analog devices such as elevator phones, intercoms, fire bay horns, dispatch call recording, and more to Microsoft Teams.

This has been included in the FY2023 budget. Hourly services are estimated by RSM to range between $61,500-$69,000. Additional costs include a 5% administrative fee and direct expenses for items such as travel. Two days of onsite services with the remainder being remote is the estimated amount of work.

Parks Department Activities

The council OK’d a special event permit for Touch a Truck on Saturday, Sept. 10, that will take place from 10 a.m. to noon in the Community Park. As in the past, it is free and allows children to interact with commercial vehicles. Anticipated attendance is 200-350, including children and families. The event will continue in light rain but will be canceled if there are storms.

In honor of National Farmers Market Week from Sunday, Aug. 7, through Saturday, Aug. 13, the mayor recognized Sarah Burton, downtown district coordinator, for her work establishing a farmer’s market at the O’Fallon Station three years ago, and Vine Street Market has been thriving ever since.

“To us, we’re a baby market. We want to help celebrate this with the entire community,” she said. “I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish, and thank the city, Rotary members, an ‘amazing group’ of vendors, and Parks Director Andrew Dallner for his huge support.”

Mayor’s Report

More volunteers are needed for the annual City Fest Aug. 19-20 at the Community Park, Mayor Herb Roach said.

Roach also acknowledged the service of former Alderman Ray Holden, 83 — who died July 25 — for his dedication to the city and his volunteer involvement in many organizations. Holden served on the council from 2013 to 2021, chairing the parks and environment and the community development committees during his tenure.

He was a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force and at Scott Air Force Base and founded the Salute to Scott annual picnic, among his many military accomplishments. Visitation will take place from 4-8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, at Wolfersberger Funeral Home in O’Fallon.

Additionally, the council approved the mayor’s re-appointments of Steve Brown and Brian Keller to the O’Fallon Historic Preservation Commission — three-year terms that run until 2025.

Roach praised Habitat for Humanity’s efforts on their seventh and eighth houses, and work has been after cleaning up the property. He cited Alderman Jim Campbell’s efforts.

Thanks to fire personnel

Fohne wanted to give special thanks to O’Fallon Fire Chief Brad White and the fire department for their efforts saving a home Sunday, July 31, on Augusta Drive.

“Because of their promptness and knowledge, they were able to save the home and residents got out safely. It was a proud day on Augusta,” Fohne said.

The mayor noted Fairview Heights had sent a firetruck, too, and that the O’Fallon-Shiloh EMS were on hand in case assistance was needed.

The mayor thanked Ward 1 Alderman Jerry Albrecht and his wife for serving for three weeks with a church’s efforts in Poland who were helping Ukranian refugees. The First United Methodist Church in O’Fallon had previously worked with this church, and had been collecting donations to help provide for these Ukranians displaced because of the war with Russia.

“There are 3 1/2 to 5 million refugees in Poland, living with families and temporary facilities,” Albrecht said. “Many organizations are helping. If you are concerned about their overhead and want to make a donation, 100% of it will go to them. I can show you the way.”