Stormwater and flooding problems along Cahokia Creek will be the subject of a public meeting in Glen Carbon. (Photo courtesy of HeartLands Conservancy)

Facing state oversight, Edwardsville schools will seek tax hike

Despite being turned down by voters last fall, Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7 (Edwardsville CUST 7) plans to again ask for a tax increase during this spring’s April 4 election.

The Illinois State Board of Education is expected to place Edwardsville CUST 7 on its list of financially troubled school districts latter this year, for ending two consecutive school years in the red.

The Edwardsville school district has been on the state’s financial watch list since 2009. The Illinois School Board began monitoring the Edwardsville district’s finances during the 2015-16 school year, after the district ended the 2014-15 academic year with a budget deficit.

Having now ended two consecutive school years (2014-15 and 2015-16) with negative operating fund balances, Edwardsville CUST 7 can be certified as a financially troubled school district by the state school board; making the district subject to financial oversight by the state.

Proposition E, a proposed 55-cent increase in the district’s property tax rate, was unanimously approved by the district school board Jan. 9.

A similar increase was defeated, 52 percent to 48 percent, by voters during Nov. 8 general election.

District Superintendent Dr. Lynda C. Andre says the increase is necessary to address financial problems resulting from declining state revenue to the district, continued proration of funding for transportation and special education, increases in employee salaries and benefits, and additional personnel needed to maintain current student-teacher ratios.

The tax increase would be dedicated exclusively to the district’s education fund, she notes.

Despite staff reductions and other cost cutting measures, the district’s 2016-17 budget, also adopted by the board last week, anticipates a $6.7 million year-end deficit in the district education fund. The fund is used for teacher salaries and other direct costs for education.

Edwardsville CUST 7 depleted its working cash reserves at the end of 2015-2016 school year; leaving no reserves for the current academic year, Dr. Andre notes.

The district plans to issue tax anticipation warrants to meet payroll and cover other expenses during the current school year.

Storm overloads emergency radio system

Starcom21 — the statewide public safety radio network — became overloaded with radio traffic during the area’s Dec. 16 snow storm; causing numerous delays in communications between first responders, according to a report at the Jan. 4 meeting of Madison County Board Judiciary Committee.

Officials are now reportedly looking into the feasibility of expanding the system capacity.

StarCom21 is a statewide public safety trunked radio system, owned and operated by Motorola Solutions in partnership with the State of Illinois. It is used by all 21 Illinois State Police posts; Ameren Illinois, the Metro-East’s primary provider of electrical service; Clinton, Madison and St. Clair counties; and several agencies in those counties.

Trunked radio systems allow users to share radio channels, based on the premise that most two-way radios are only transmitting a small percentage of the day. However, during the December storm, the system had far more users with high-priority communications than available channels, a Madison County Sheriff’s Department representative told the committee.

Metro-East is home to one of the system’s four main towers around the state. Madison and Clinton counties are StarCom21 customers; paying a monthly fee for access to the system plus equipment rental.

St. Clair County is a partner user which owns compatible infrastructure.

Meeting on Cahokia Creek stormwater issues set for Glen Carbon

An Open House event will be held to inform the public about the Cahokia Creek Watershed Planning project on Thursday, Jan.  19 from 6 to 8 p.m.  at the Glen Carbon Senior/Community Center.  

The Cahokia Creek Watershed Planning process is a way to strategically address stormwater, flooding, and water quality issues in the two Cahokia Creek watersheds in western Madison County by creating a watershed plan for each one.  

HeartLands Conservancy’s Janet Buchanan notes that the Open House may be useful for residents, business owners, farmers, and local governments alike.  

“Watershed plans can be used to leverage funding for many different types of projects,” Buchanan said. “With input from attendees at Open House, we can direct attention to infrastructure projects and land management issues that matter to people.”  

The event is open to the public for residents, businesses, and property owners in the Cahokia Creek watershed project area, which includes all or parts of Bethalto, Holiday Shores, Edwardsville, Roxana, Hartford, Glen Carbon, Maryville, and Collinsville.

Representatives from Madison County, HeartLands Conservancy, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be on hand to gather input from attendees about flooding and stormwater issues, and to answer questions. The same information will be presented both nights.

The purpose of the Open House events is to help identify flooding and water quality issues within the watershed area, to help explain and explore solutions to these issues, and to provide an update on the watershed planning process. The planning team will use the input from residents, farmers, communities, and local organizations to create a list of issues to be addressed in the watershed plans with a set of recommendations for the area. These recommendations will address flooding, stormwater, erosion, and water quality, among other issues.  

The effort is part of Madison County’s overall stormwater management effort.  Earlier this year, Madison County completed a watershed plan for the Upper Silver Creek Watershed, and a similar effort is underway for the American Bottom Watershed. As a result of the Upper Silver Creek plan, the Illinois EPA awarded HeartLands Conservancy a $500,000 grant to implement projects that address water quality and stormwater issues identified in the plan in Madison County.  

The effort is being undertaken by a partnership between Madison County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with HeartLands Conservancy as the lead consultant.

The Glen Carbon meeting the second of two scheduled this week on the Cahokia Creek watershed. The first was held Tuesday, Jan.  17 at the Madison County Farm Bureau in Edwardsville.

For more information about the Cahokia Creek Watershed Planning effort, please contact Janet Buchanan at HeartLands Conservancy at (618) 566-4451, Ext. 25 or email janet.buchanan@heartlandsconservancy.org.

–Metro-East Area News Briefs–