Mayor

After 36 years with the Bethalto Police Department (including eight as Chief), and a stint as village trustee, Alan Winslow is beginning his first term as Mayor.

A 1978 graduate of Civic Memorial High School, Winslow’s public service dates to his high school days, when he was a part-time dispatcher and a dogcatcher for the village.

One of the first things I want to do is gather groups for a session on the village’s future. The more immediate thing will be getting with some of our service organizations, and specifically I’m going to try to get our business community together in one room. I want to establish a partnership between village and local business.

Getting and keeping business is a high priority. I remain hopeful about a potential multimillion-dollar development in the former Wayside Estates subdivision across Illinois Route 111 from St. Louis Regional Airport. The village has other major projects that will occupy my time this year, including the expansion of the water plant at the bottom of Ninth Street hill and the second phase of the village sports complex off Culp Lane. The sport complex plan calls for the addition of four multi-use baseball diamonds, two Little League diamonds, a football field, a soccer field, parking lots, the creation of a road connecting to Stadium Drive and a bridge that would connect the new portion to the existing sports complex.

Another project is the need to update the village’s comprehensive plan. It’s an opportunity for people to get face-to-face with all of us in government and determine where we want to be in the next 10 years.