The City of Columbia is growing, and due to council action Monday night, just under half an acre was added to the city limits.

A public hearing on a proposed annexation agreement and vacation of a city right-of-way began business Monday night. 

Both motions were approved unanimously.

While the annexed property is relatively small, it may have been the beginning of something big in the north end of the city.

The property is a .456-acre property at 11845 Old Bluff Road, northwest of the intersection of DD Road and Old Bluff Road as well as Admiral Parkway’s 11 South complex and the future home of a city municipal building.

Annexation of this parcel, owned by Admiral Parkway President Joe Koppeis and his wife Patricia, was requested “for the purpose of gaining access to the city’s public utilities and services, providing adequate infrastructure, establishing the desired C-3 highway business district (zoning) and approving certain variations to municipal codes.”

The vacated right-of-way is the terminus of Old Bluff Road, which has only been used as an ingress/egress for the residential structure on the annexed parcel.

As part of the agreements, the city will extend a water main for service to the annexed parcel and “adjacent parcels as needed for future development.”

Construction of the water main will be performed by the Columbia Department of Public Works, with Koppeis reimbursing the city, per an ordinance approved Monday night.

Columbia City Administrator Doug Brimm explained the rationale for this annexation and right-of-way vacation.

“Think of it as a public-private partnership,” Brimm wrote in an email to the Republic-Times Monday.  “The city will need to extend the water distribution main to serve the new EMS Station” at the future municipal complex.

In August, the city agreed to purchase a property and building belonging to DeRossett Investments LLC at 11800 Old Bluff Road just north of 11 South for $6.9 million.

The building will serve as the future site of Columbia City Hall.

Additional construction plans estimated at $8.5 million will relocate the headquarters of the Columbia Police Department into a planned addition to the existing building and house Columbia EMS operations  in a proposed new building on the property.

A second amendment to the real estate contract for the site of the future municipal complex was on Monday’s agenda for authorization, but the motion was tabled.

In addition to the new water main adding needed infrastructure for the municipal complex, it will also “serve the next ‘phase’ of the 11 South complex,” Brimm explained.

While no plans have been submitted, it is believed that a previously proposed hotel may be realized in the near future.

The annexation agreement specifies that any future tap-in fees would be waived for the Sand Bank Schoolhouse “or a hotel to be developed” by Koppeis.

During discussion of a sports complex proposal in 2023, Koppeis confirmed his intention to build a Holiday Inn Express on 11 South grounds.

Brimm also confirmed the likelihood of a hotel being in the works, saying it is “anticipated to be the development.”

The water main extension will also allow the city to eliminate a “dead-end.”

Brimm explained that “looping or connecting an existing main… will eliminate the need for the city to flush hydrants at this current dead end.”

The move will remove a “weak point in the system where water (would) stagnate if not regularly flushed,” Brimm clarified.

Columbia City Engineer Chris Smith also provided some positive news involving an unexpected funding windfall for street projects.

Smith reported that, through a collaboration with Monroe County Engineer Aaron Metzger, the city was able to secure $1.2 million for a bridge project on Gall Road near the Joy View Acres Subdivision which has been a topic of conversation for several years.

While Smith said he would provide more details at a later date, he described the funding as a “big deal.”

He explained the Gall Road bridge was one “component of the whole puzzle,” and the grant may require the city to re-think “sequencing” of projects in the area as the bridge project getting a green light may provide opportunity to add other elements and complete a “much larger project all at once.”

He continued by saying one goal in the planning process should be to “minimize inconvenience” as much as possible.

Smith then announced Columbia was selected for a separate funding opportunity. 

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced the availability of $400 million, but only gave municipalities a three-week window to submit proposals.

Smith said he’d never experienced a request for proposals in that manner, but of 1,900 proposals submitted statewide, Columbia  was the only entitiy in Monroe County to obtain funding. 

The $200,000 award is for engineering for the next phase of Columbia’s “streetscape” project. 

That money, along with a change in the way Illinois has structured its Transportation Enhancement Program, has led Smith to believe the city will be in a highly favorable position to acquire up to $1 million in grant funding this fall which will get the city “across the finish line” in funding actual construction of the streetscape project.

Smith later reported the city is also getting “close to the finish line” in beginning a repair project for Valmeyer Road, which has been closed since April following a complete failure and erosion of the street surface. 

The council awarded a construction bid for Valmeyer Road to Stutz Excavating Inc. in the amount of $437,777.77.

Aldermen also approved a professional services agreement with Gonzalez Companies for surveying of “Old Town” streets of Riebeling, Columbia, Schneider, Schmidt, Mees and Kremmel “to support future utility and roadway improvements.”

With the second phase of work on Centerville Road completed, an estimated 3,600 linear feet of sanitary sewer within Old Town remains in need of replacement, the agenda item stated.

Also during Monday’s meeting, Ward II Alderman Lauren Nobbe announced the city will be gathering public input during an open house discussing potential future improvements at Bolm-Schuhkraft Park and Admiral Trost Park this Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 5-7 p.m. at Columbia City Hall, 208 S. Rapp Avenue.

The city is currently exploring the construction of a splash pad at Bolm-Schuhkraft Park. Potential enhancements to Admiral Trost Park may include a dog park, playground, pavilions and walking trails. 

For more information, contact Connie Maness at cmanness@columbiail.gov  or 618-281-7144, ext. 105.