Glen Carbon plans to launch a fundraising effort  for improvements to Schon Park.  The village board of trustees May 15 approved a $27,000 contract with Cork Tree Creative to create a marketing program to help finance development of recreation facilities.  (Photo courtesy of Glen Carbon)

Peabody’s abandoned Islands of Waterside project

The Marissa Village Board, May 15, raised water and sewer rates to help pay off $1.7 million in debt for infrastructure improvements, designed to accommodate an upscale real estate project that was ultimately abandoned by Peabody Energy Company.

In the early 2000s, Peabody and a subsidiary known as Praxis announced plans to develop a high-end hunting and fishing community known as Islands of Waterside on a company-owned tract just west of Marissa.

At Peabody’s urging, the Marissa board took out a $1.7 million loan from the Illinois Department of Natura Resources to update the village’s water and sewage treatment facilities and provide service to the new community.

Marissa officials saw the move as an investment that would ultimately means increased water and sewer system revenues for their village.

Peabody and village officials agreed to split the cost of debt service.   

However, Peabody put the development on hold following the collapse of the real estate market in 2008 and, in 2016, the coal company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to a record decline the coal market.

The coal company emerged from bankruptcy on March 18.  However, village officials say the company has not may any payments on the sewer system debt since its bankruptcy declaration in 2016.

Two East St. Louis nonprofits receive grants

The Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF), the charitable arm of the Illinois State Bar Association, has approved grants of $15,000 to Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation and $7,500 to Neighborhood Law Office, both in East St. Louis.

Funding to Land of Lincoln Foundation will help cover general operating expenses to provide low-income and senior residents of central and southern Illinois with high-quality civil legal services in order to maintain basic human rights. Serving over 65 counties, Land of Lincoln’s programs help about 12,500 clients each year on a wide range of issues, including family law, orders of protection, healthcare and foreclosure.

The Neighborhood Law Office focuses on providing low-income individuals and families greater access to the courts through representation. The funds will help continue to support the provision of court litigation and representation for legal issues such as employment, consumer, government benefits, guardianship and criminal record expungement.

The Illinois Bar Foundation was established to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity.

The IBF this year will distribute 29 grants, totaling $210,000, to nonprofit legal aid organizations statewide.

In all, this fiscal year, the foundation will distribute over $750,000 in funding to help those without attorneys receive the legal assistance they need, support attorneys and their families who have fallen on hard times, and provide navigational and procedural guidance inside courthouses across the state.

SWIC dismisses 47 more staff members

The Southwestern Illinois College Board of Trustees, at a special May 17 meeting, eliminated another 47 full- and part-time positions from the college’s workforces. The dismissals are effective at the beginning of next fiscal year, July 1.

The move comes month after the SWIC board cut the positions of 19 district administrators and raised fees and tuitions.

The staff reductions, approved last week, cover eight full-time and 39 part-time employees and will resulting in savings of $1.2 million for the college.

In a prepared statement, SWIC blamed the layoffs of budgetary problems resulting from “continuing steep losses in state funding, corresponding enrollment declines, and the continuing state budget impasse.”

SWIC in fiscal year 2016 received $1.6 in state funding, compared with $13.5 million in fiscal 2015.

Enrollment at the college decreased to 18,706 students in fiscal 2016; down from 19,845 students in fiscal 2015 and 20,743 students in fiscal 2014.

Glen Carbon plans fund drive for park

With federal and state funding for park development and the local government initiatives increasingly scarce, could direct fundraising appeals be the future of financing for public works projects?

Impressed by Edwardsville’s Better Place to Play campaign, neighboring Glen Carbon plans to launch a similar effort to raise funds for improvements to Schon Park.  The village board of trustees May 15 approved a $27,000 contract with Cork Tree Creative, which developed the Edwardsville Better Place fund drive, to create a comparable marketing program to help finance ongoing development of recreation facilities in Gen Carbon.

Over the coming years, village officials plan to provide bike trails, a baseball diamond, playground, concession stand, tennis court, basketball court, pickle ball courts, restrooms and landscaping improvements at Schon Park; at an estimated cost of $5 million and $6 million.

Schon Park Phase II, now in the final phase of planning, includes the construction of the parking lot, playground area and restrooms at an estimated cost of approximately $1.8 million.

TWM, the engineering firm in charge of the park project, plans to seek a $300,000 grant from the Metro East Park and Recreation District to help cover some of the costs.

Under its contract with the village, Cork Tree will develop a branding campaign, marketing materials and a website to allow local businesses and individuals to donate to the park effort. The firm will also handle press relations and social media management.

Walking and bicycling survey underway

The East-West Gateway Council of Government is conducting a survey to help transportation planners in the St. Louis region – including Metro East — better understand the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists. The council’s online Walking and Bicycling Survey is designed to document existing transportation conditions including barriers to walking or bicycling. The survey takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete and can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/walk-bike

–Metro-East Area News Briefs–