Central Newsmagazine News Briefs

Central Newsmagazine is Central St. Louis County's exclusive direct-mailed community newspaper.

Clayton

Parking rates increase

The cost of parking on Clayton city streets has gone up. Two-hour parking meter rates have been increased from 50 cents to 75 cents per hour. Ten-hour rates now are 50 cents, up from 25 cents. The rate for the city’s three pay stations – one in front of City Hall and two along Brentwood Blvd. – have increased from 50 cents to 75 cents.

The changes took place late last month and are intended to reinforce the purpose of metered parking spaces. City officials said the meters are meant to encourage short-term parking and turnover of prime parking spots.

The 30-minute policy for expired meters also has changed. Those who bring tickets for expired meters to City Hall (10 N. Bemiston) within 30 minutes now pay a $2 fine, which is up from $1.

Clayton has not raised meter rates since 1996 and has the lowest parking rates among other major cities, including St. Louis.

Development change

The economic downturn may have claimed a piece of a major project in Clayton. The developer of Centene Plaza said the proposed 21-story glass and steel skyscraper may end up being only 17 stories tall.

Bob Wislow, of Chicago-based U.S. Equities, the project developer, told the Clayton Board of Aldermen that the building would be shorter unless a new tenant turns up in the next six months.

The site at the southwest corner of Hanley Road and Forsyth Blvd. already has been leveled and prepared for construction. Wislow said construction can begin and proceed on the foundation before the final height is determined.

Without the additional tenant, the parking structure to the west along Forsyth could be seven stories instead of nine as originally planned, with two below grade. Plans still call for retail on the ground floors of each and a public plaza with outdoor seating between them.

Wislow told the board the plaza would include a colored-glass canopy that would make a dappled pattern on the sidewalk, people walking under it in the sunlight, a water wall and cherry trees. Wislow said he expected the two structures to be completed by mid- to late-2010. U.S. Equities plans to start building a second office building, this one 11 stories tall, on an adjacent property on Carondelet Ave., in 2015.

Creve Coeur

New City Councilmember

The Creve Coeur City Council recently approved the appointment of a replacement for former Creve Coeur City Council Member Jill Schupp (ward 2).

Schupp was elected to the Missouri General Assembly in November and headed to Jefferson City in January. Creve Coeur Mayor Harold Dielmann nominated Tara Nealey to fill that vacancy and the City Council welcomed its new colleague. Dielmann said Nealey will serve out the term until April. Dielmann said Nealey has been an active member of the community for the last 14 years.

Des Peres

Residential sewer repair maximum increased

The Des Peres Board of Aldermen recently made modifications to its sanitary sewer lateral program. The program provides repairs conducted by the city’s public works department of lateral sewer service lines on residential properties of six or less dwelling units. The maximum amount the city would pay for an individual repair has been increased to $5,000 from $4,000.

“We are running a surplus fund, which is why we’ve been able to raise this maximum,” Des Peres City Administrator Doug Harms said.

The program was established in 1999 after residents passed a measure that imposed an annual $28 fee for the service. Since the inception, the city has spent more than $600,000 on repairs.

Additionally, a restriction that allowed for only one repair on a residence per 12-month period has been eased.

“We’ve authorized the director of public works to do more than one repair per year per household if it’s in the city’s best interest,” Harms said.

Harms said the average repair costs about $3,200.

Same fee for The Lodge

Residents of the Village of Twin Oaks now can pay Des Peres residential fees to use The Lodge in Des Peres. The Des Peres Board of Alderman approved an agreement on Jan. 12 with Twin Oaks, which gives its residents access to the discounted rates.

“There’s a number of rec centers that do this,” Harms said. “This will give their residents a chance to join while paying subsidized rates.”

The Village of Twin Oaks has agreed to pay the difference between residential and non-residential rates at The Lodge.

The director of parks and recreation also now can enter into similar agreements with other cities, not-for-profit organizations and school districts, according to the ordinance.

Frontenac

Former Mayor dies

John Peterson, Frontenac mayor from 1968-77, passed away Jan. 3 at The Cedars in Chesterfield after complications from a stroke.

Mr. Peterson, 87, graduated from M.I.T. with a degree in chemical engineering. He served as a second lieutenant in the Navy during WWII.

Mr. Peterson moved to Frontenac in 1963 with his wife and children. He became interested in running for office due to his opposition of the-then controversial plans for an office park on a site that later became Plaza Frontenac.

Born in Portland, Maine, he met his wife, the late Carolyn Wells Peterson, in Idaho while serving in the Navy.

In addition to his civic service, Peterson served as director for several philanthropic organizations. He was instrumental in the formation of the advisory board for the Institute for Biosecurity, a program at the Saint Louis University’s School of Public Health. In 2003, Peterson was awarded the Spirit of Philanthropy Award from the university’s School of Medicine.

Peterson’s wife died of a brain aneurysm in 1967. He is survived by four children - Constance Peterson Schnuck, John Schuyler Peterson, Kristen Peterson, and Bradford Allen Peterson – and five grandchildren.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Carolyn Wells Peterson Memorial Fund at Saint Louis University, Office of Planned Giving, 221 North Grand Blvd., Room 304, St. Louis, MO 63103.

Kirkwood

Disaster training

The next Kirkwood/Oakland CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training program begins at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 2. The first class will be an orientation and focus on home disaster preparedness and will be held at Kirkwood Firehouse 2 (11804 Big Bend Road).

Residents of Kirkwood, Oakland and surrounding communities are welcome to attend. The program will last eight consecutive Mondays throughout February and March, ending March 23. The class schedule can be viewed at the city of Kirkwood’s Web site at ci.kirkwood.mo.us/kirk_police/CERT.htm.

The class is free but pre-registration and acceptance notification is required.

To register for the class, or to obtain more information, call either Kirkwood Police Officer Jim Cox at 822-5868 or Kirkwood Fire Cpt. Mike Koenig at 984-6950.

Richmond Heights

Speed limit on Big Bend increased

St. Louis County has raised the speed limit on a portion of Big Bend Blvd. from 30 to 35 mph.

A recent traffic study showed that 85 percent of vehicles traveling between Forsyth Blvd. and Laclede Station Road typically traveled at speeds up to 36 mph. Crossing over Interstate 64 to Bruno Ave., speeds increased to 43 mph.

County officials said the change was needed to help move traffic around the I-64 construction project. There has been no word whether or not the increase is permanent.

Library funds

The Richmond Heights Memorial Library was awarded federal funding through the Institute of Museum and Library Services-Library Services and Technology Act (IMLS-LSTA) for the design and administration of a community survey that was conducted via phone during the week of Jan. 5-12.

The goals of the survey were to assess the needs of the community by contacting users and non-users, to measure the community’s satisfaction with the library, and to identify under-served residents. The library will use the survey results to set priorities for strategic planning and tailor library services.

Rock Hill

Green sales tax holiday

The Rock Hill Board of Aldermen held a first reading on Jan. 20 of a proposed ordinance that would waive all city sales tax on “green” appliances for one week in April. The city plans to participate in the Show Me Green Sales Tax Holiday, which exempts all retail sales of qualifying Energy Star-certified new appliances, up to $1,500 per unit, from state sales tax.

“This is a campaign to build awareness more than anything regarding thinking green and being more energy efficient,” Rock Hill City Administrator George Liyeos said. “Thinking globally really does require acting locally.”

The green sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. on April 19 and ends at midnight on April 25. Qualified items include Energy Star-certified washers, dryers, water heaters, dishwashers, stoves, air conditioners, refrigerators, trash compactors, freezers and furnaces.

It is a state holiday, although local jurisdictions have the option to participate.

Town & Country

Police receive emergency preparedness grant

The Town & Country Police Department is among 28 Missouri first-responder agencies that will receive new equipment through the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security’s Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program (CEDAP).

The equipment will improve the department’s capability and capacity to respond to emergencies and to work with other first responders, helping to improve public safety across the state.

The program is designed to assist local agencies that have not previously obtained the benefit of homeland security grants. CEDAP equipment falls into one of the following five categories, including extrication devices; thermal imaging, night vision and video surveillance tools; chemical, biological and radiological detection tools; information technology and risk management tools; and vehicle tracking tools.

St. Louis County

Girl Scout® Cookies are safe

The peanut butter used in cookies that members of Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri (GSEM) are selling is not sourced from the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) – the supplier involved in the FDA’s investigation concerning a recent Salmonella outbreak thought to be caused by tainted peanut butter.

Little Brownie Bakers (LBB) supplies GSEM. LBB’s peanut butter supplier, Algood Food Company, located in Louisville, Ky., has stated that no product produced by them is the subject of the FDA investigation.

Donald W. Davis, Jr., president of LBB, says that they will continue to work closely with all of their ingredient suppliers to ensure they continue to exceed food industry operating standards as part of LBB’s goal to bake safe, high quality, great tasting Girl Scout Cookies.

GSEM’s 2009 cookie sale runs through Feb. Booth cookie sales run Feb. 25 to March 15.

New weather forecasting system

AmerenUE has joined forces with Saint Louis University’s (SLU) Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences to better predict Earth’s ultimate force - weather. On Nov. 13, they unveiled a new highly precise weather tracking system called Quantum Weather.

The new system is designed to pinpoint severe weather activity on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. By way of 100 weather stations installed across the 20,000-square-mile service area, utility crews are expected to be able to respond to outages faster.

“We expect this system to make a real difference in our efforts to offer restoration times even more quickly and to continue to improve our service,” said Richard Mark, AmerenUE senior vice president.

Weather stations will feed detailed, near real-time information over AmerenUE radio communications systems to central computers at SLU. In turn, the system will produce highly-detailed maps that will let SLU forecasters more precisely identify storm movements and what neighborhoods may be affected.

“A key component of the success of this system is the development of unique software that provides near real-time forecasts on a very local scale,” said William Dannevik, professor and department chair of SLU’s Earth and Atmospheric Science.

Monitors in current weather tracking systems typically are more than 100 miles apart, making neighborhood weather monitoring impossible. These systems also tend to only provide hourly weather information.

Quantum Weather stations are solar-powered with a battery that stores power during the day in order to continue operations at night or cloudy days. Each monitor is designed to anticipate specific local conditions, such as nearby buildings interfering with the monitoring of wind speeds.

The new network of weather stations has been mounted on existing AmerenUE poles. Installation and purchase of the stations, and two new graduate assistantships in meteorology, is costing Ameren $400,000, with an additional $100,000 yearly to operate.

These costs are part of a reliability initiative, Power On, that began in August 2007 in response to the severe storms experienced in July 2006 and the ice storms later that year. AmerenUE anticipates spending approximately $500 million toward improvements. The total cost of that program is expected to be recovered in rates.

Missouri

Law bans undocumented workers from tax-funded projects

A new law aimed at controlling undocumented workers on tax-funded projects now requires Missouri employers to check whether job applicants are legal citizens.

The law, which went into effect New Year’s Day, requires that all employers who contract with or receive grants from the state worth more than $5,000 use an online database called eVerify to check the legality of potential employees.

Employers who utilize state tax credits, tax abatement and state-administered loans will also be required to use eVerify. Within the database, a potential employees’ information is cross-checked against Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records.

Also under the new law, residents will have to prove their citizenship status before receiving state benefits, including housing and food stamps.

The state attorney general will be able to ask employers to provide identification and documents about their employees within 15 business days or risk losing their licenses and permits.

MoDOT releases 2009 St. Louis construction map

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) in St. Louis has released the 2009 St. Louis construction map. This map lists all currently planned construction on state routes for 2009 and indicates where drivers can expect construction during the next year. The map also indicates when most of the work will take place on the project and how much of an impact each project will have on local drivers.

This map is a good opportunity for drivers to determine which construction projects may impact their travel and give those drivers the general time frame for that construction so they can determine alternate routes.

Drivers can get copies of the construction map online at modot.org/stlouis/news_and_information/documents/09cobroch-final.pdf or at the MoDOT District office (1590 Woodlake Drive in Chesterfield).