Vandalia City Council Special Meeting – November 12, 2025

The Vandalia City Council held a special meeting on November 12, 2025, at 5:00 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting began with an executive session to discuss pending litigation and employee matters, followed by a focused discussion on the final development plan for Riverdale Subdivision Section One (Final PUD Plan). Council members debated the meaning of a prior condition requiring implementation of traffic study changes before final plan approval and explored cost-sharing for intersection improvements at Brown School and Little York.

Executive Session

• Council voted 7-0 to enter executive session to discuss with the City Attorney pending or imminent litigation and to consider the employment or compensation of a public employee.
• After the session, council voted 7-0 to reconvene the public meeting.

Discussion Items

• Riverdale Subdivision Final PUD Plan: The main item was a discussion of the final development plan for Section One of the Riverdale Subdivision. A prior council vote had included a condition that “implementation of changes [from the traffic study] prior to approval of the final development plan.” Council members offered differing interpretations:
  • Councilman Lewis argued the condition meant implementation should be concurrent with development, not entirely precedent, and expressed concern that the city should not bear the full cost of road improvements that were not on the city’s 10-year capital plan.
  • Councilwoman Farst questioned how to reconcile the words “implementation prior to” with the intent to move forward, noting that the condition as voted could be read as requiring completion before final plan approval.
  • Councilmember Avalodis Weaver stated his intent was that the city and developer would have a plan to address traffic study findings, not that all improvements be completed before development began.
  • Vice Mayor Blixley (Blakesley) agreed with Councilman Follig (Fallick) that the condition required a plan and concurrent implementation, not full completion.
  • Councilman Follig emphasized that the existing traffic deficiencies existed regardless of the proposed development, and that the developer’s proportional share (about 28%) of the cost was reasonable.
• Traffic Study and Cost Sharing: Staff (Mr. Cron) explained that engineering consultant Choice One recommended widening left-turn lanes at the Brown School/Little York intersection. A schematic plan and cost estimate were prepared. The developer agreed to pay a proportionate share (~28% at full build-out, based on the development’s additional traffic). The only remaining dispute was the contingency percentage: staff recommended 20%, the developer offered 10%.
• Councilman Lewis suggested a higher developer contribution due to the timing and budget impact, while Councilwoman Dugan expressed frustration that the city seemed to be giving too much to help a for-profit developer.
• The developer stated that the conditions already imposed had increased costs, but he was willing to comply with the engineer’s recommendations and noted that the construction timeline (first homes likely in 2027) aligned well with potential grant funding (e.g., OPWC in 2027).

Key Outcomes

• No final vote on the Riverdale final development plan occurred at this special meeting. It was clarified that the next regular council meeting (first reading) would involve a perfunctory vote to move the ordinance to a second reading, with final approval anticipated at the December 1, 2025 meeting.
• Council reached broad consensus that the traffic study condition required a plan for concurrent implementation, not completion before development. The cost-sharing principle (developer contribution for new traffic impact) was accepted, though the contingency percentage (20% vs. 10%) remains unresolved and will be revisited.
• Staff will proceed with engineering and pursue OPWC or other funding for the intersection improvements, targeting construction in 2027.
• The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:00 PM.