EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville resident Kenny Krumeich has been on a long-time campaign to remove propane tanks that rest at the corner of First Avenue and Longfellow in his city.
This is how Kenny tells the story:
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"In 1967 the City of Edwardsville awarded a variance to a gas company to place adjacent to a quiet neighborhood. How this got on First Avenue and the corner of Longfellow, you must go back to the start.
"It started at the Edwardsville City Planning Commission which heard the request of Skelly Oil Company (Skelgas) for a variation to store 60,000 gallons of flammable material on 1 lot on First Avenue and corner of Longfellow. On August 24, 1967, the city council, Alderman Abert made a motion (seconded by Alderman Kreiuter) to approve the 60,000 gallons of flammable material placed to be placed on First Avenue and Longfellow.
"They were to have someone present in the office six days a week. This was the original agreement when Skelgas requested this variance. It appears that after it was purchased by Ferrellgas (a Missouri company) no one was scheduled to regularly work in the office, as of the 1960s. Now no one works in the office as it is closed. The garage has empty tanks alongside it with the one massive baby blue tank. There are still many tanks close to the fence. After the Praxair explosion in St. Louis, I took out petitions to get these tanks removed. I also went before the city council, and Mayor Patton, and gave them the petition and addressed them requesting that these tanks be removed. No action was taken.
Recently, I checked with the Madison County Recorders Office, and they said that their tax bill is rated as industrial vacant land. The tax bill goes to new skelgas@ferrellgas 1 Liberty Missouri. Per the Codified ordinance that the City of Edwardsville has on the books, 210 First Avenue in Edwardsville, IL, has 672 square feet. They paid $471.64 in taxes for 2020, per the Madison County Treasurers' Office.
In 1960 the population in Edwardsville was 9,996. Currently, it is 26,000.
The city granted them a variance in 1967 at 210 First Avenue. One would think the city leaders, after all these years, would decide that the variance should be reviewed. The 1967 Zoning Ordinance Section 9.1-2.1 states, "Fuel sales with storage of fuel, oil, gasoline and other flammable material limited to 120,000 gallons per tank with total storage on a zoning lot not to exceed 50,000 gallons."
"Section 74-89. - Storage of gasoline, etc., above ground prohibited.
"No person shall construct general storage tanks above ground for the storage of gasoline, kerosene, and other inflammable and explosive substances within the city.
(b) No person shall store gasoline, kerosene, or other inflammable and explosive substances in any general storage tank constructed above ground within the city.
(Code 1978, § 660.10; Ord. No. 668, 8-15-1939).
Kenny's plan is to appear once again before Edwardsville City Council and again make a plea to get the tanks removed.
Kenny has a Facebook petition at:
Kenny said Edwardsville has a business park and other areas where the tanks could be repositioned. He said some tanks have been removed in recent days, but his hope is that somehow the city addresses the situation, and once and for all, the tanks are removed.
"They have been sitting there since 1967," he said. "They need to come out. If they were to ever explode it would be very dangerous for the neighborhood. Quite simply, I have nothing at all against the gas company, but these propane tanks should not be this close to a neighborhood."
