Mayor Hennessy Delivers ‘State of the City Address’ 2013

Continuing to remain one of America’s best and most safe cities to live is among the main goals for the City of O’Fallon in 2013.

Mayor Bill Hennessy took a look back at city accomplishments in 2012 and shared what’s in store for this year, during his State of the City Address on Friday morning.

“You are the reason we are where we are today,” he addressed residents and city staff. “Because of you, O’Fallon continues to be nationally-recognized as one of the best places to live, work and raise a family.”

Hennessy stressed that it is the efforts of both residents and city staff that keep O’Fallon earning national recognition for nearly a decade.

The mayor highlighted several accolades and accomplishments of 2012 including:

• The completion of the first of the Citywide Landscape Improvement Projects at Highway K and I-64. This was the first step in a long-term plan from the (CLIP) committee, for a city beautification project that will
• The installation of the new Splash Pad to help kids keep cool in the summer at the all-inclusive Brendan’s Playground.
• After two-years of work, local skaters and bikers got a new place to ride in O'Fallon with the grand opening of the Westhoff Plaza Skate Park.
• O’Fallon street crews completed more than $2,000,000 in various maintenance projects. The department also began upgrading the intersections along Mexico and Bryan Roads.
• The city also launched a newly designed website, to make it easier for residents to find the information and the IT department upgraded the phone system.
• In 2012 as its new Economic Development Director. The staff welcomed Air Evac Lifeteam to WingHaven, bringing more than 120 new jobs to O’Fallon. Mercy Health Care expanded to the city, breaking ground on a new medical office building in WingHaven.

Mayor Hennesy said in 2013 the city would continue to focus on safety, building a thriving business community and working on O'Fallon's identity through city beautification projects. 

"O’Fallon is one of the safest places in the entire country. We know that because O’Fallon continues to be ranked as the second-safest City in America according to CQ Press," Hennessy said, "And our Police Department is always looking for ways to keep it that way." 

Hennessy said recently O'Fallon officers noticed an increase in theft from garage doors left open, allowing an easy opportunity for thieves to walk in. 

In response to this issue, O'Fallon Police began the Community Patrol Report process, which allows officers to knock on residents’ doors and remind them to close their garage doors and eliminate those opportunities. 

Looking Forward in 2013:

• O’Fallon kicks off the New Year by celebrating winter with the first ever Cabin Fever Daze on Jan. 25-27 at O’Fallon Sports Park.
• This year, you’ll see a couple more CLIP projects to help make the city more attractive and guide residents through the city limits of O'Fallon. Possible locations for future entrance sign and landscaping projects include: Northwest entrance at Bryan Road/I-70 and Southwest entrance at Highway DD/I-64. 
• The O'Fallon Parks and Recreation and Renaud Spirit Center will debut new websites in February. 

Mayor Hennessy ended his speech by encouraging residents to take an active part in making O'Fallon great. 

"Whether it is as a volunteer or as a concerned citizen, contact your councilmember, our city staff, or me directly and let us know what you think,what you see in our city and what we can do to improve, he said. "Your input is crucial!"