Centralia Mayor Bryan Kuder began his first State of the City message on an optimistic note about interest in the city before outlining the major accomplishments of each city department.
The Greater Centralia Chamber of Commerce put together the program that was held before a capacity crowd at Castle Ridge Wednesday afternoon. Kuder admitted the city had its ups and downs last year but was upbeat about its direction.
“Centralia’s growing. The amount of businesses that have been contacting us and the city I wish we had more real estate to offer them. We do have a lot of outside interest in the city and are pursuing each and every phone call we receive. We are wanting to revitalize the downtown area. Some of the things that have happened over the past year is absolutely wonderful. You can see a lot of businesses wanting to go downtown.”
Kuder commended the fire department for 5,500 training hours and testing all 800 fire hydrants in the city to make sure they were working. He said the department is hopeful of getting the city’s fire insurance rating lowered from a 3 to a 2 which will save everyone on insurance costs.
Chief John Lynch was thanked for his work in building stronger relationships with neighboring departments. He noted the department saved almost all $2-million of property endangered by fire last year. Kuder added the fire department is much more than responding to fire calls, noting fires were only three percent of their calls in 2021.
Kuder noted the police department will add their 10th new officer in the past year next month and will have its highest number of officers in five years. He noted the state-of-the-art remodeled police department facility being completed last year and six officers being part of FBI task forces that also bring additional resources to the city.
Kuder lauded a multi-department effort that led to the shutdown of the Home Motel, which the Mayor referred to as a crime hub. He also noted the conviction of John Fodero on charges related to the operation of a drug flophouse.
Kuder says a new operating system for the tornado warning sirens will allow for the sirens to only be set off when a threatening storm is headed towards Centralia and not the entire county. 2021 also marked the start of separate school resource officers at both Centralia High School and the Grade School system.
Kuder says street improvements were completed on portions of Calumet, Locust, Nancy, and Sarah Drives, with a major reconstruction of Gragg Street from US 51 to Country Club Road about to begin. He noted the city council has given approval to detailed plans being developed for the new water treatment plant. However, he said a date for the start of construction was not yet set. Kuder said Ameren has switched out 63 street lights to the new brighter LED bulbs.
The mayor noted city staff was able to work with city businesses to deliver $1.3-million in federal and state COVID-19 grant dollars to assist with losses from the pandemic.
On cleaning up the city, Kuder reported a more than $1-million Illinois Development Housing Authority Grant to help fund the demolition of 58 more homes in 2021.
“A lot of it is tearing down the old houses, the dilapidated houses, the houses that a lot of these squatters will go into. They have found runaways in it. They have found drug houses in them. They have found meth labs in them. These houses are in such bad repair that we get permission through the courts to demolish them and utilize the money from the IDHA grants to go forward with that.”
In addition, 397 code violation tickets were issued during 2021 in an effort to clean up other issues in the city. Kuder said beautification work is scheduled this year on the Amtrak train station which is the entry point for many visitors.
He recited 20 new businesses that have opened in Centralia during the past year. Kuder says 154 building permits were issued for new construction totaling $7-million.
Kuder also noted improvement to the animal control facility that handled 524 dogs and cats last year. He reported 97 were returned to their owners and 410 were adopted out.
Kuder concluded by highlighting several city-sponsored events during the year including the Locust Street Historical Fair, the Juneteenth Celebration, and Celebrate Centralia.
Centralia Mayor Bryan Kuder showing off 20 new businesses that have opened in Centralia in the past year. (City of Centralia Graphic)
