West Newsmagazine 6/3/15

14 I NEWS I
June 3, 2015
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
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A Legacy or a Mess
According to
a survey by
Forbes, about
60% of American
households
have no
estate planning.
They
have no plan
for who is to take the minor
children, who is to manage the life
insurance proceeds, or how the
money is going to be distributed or
administered.
In a sense, failing to plan is a plan,
but not a good one. The state fills
the void with a plan of its own.
Under that plan, if there are minor
children, then a large chunk of the
estate will be administered by the
courts for the kids and not for the
surviving spouse. If both parents
die, the courts will decide who gets
the kids; young kids can get large
sums of money that can ruin them;
and then there are the probate fees.
That's a bad plan.
Failing to plan does leave a legacy
of sorts, but probably not the kind
you want. Your legacy can be a well
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planned, well administered program
that provides for your spouse and
children without unnecessary
government interference. It can also
include a gift to charity that will
keep your memory and values alive.
Henry's story is one of those
legacies. When he and his wife died,
they left a legacy in the form of a
scholarship endowment at one of
the local colleges. That endowment
perpetuates their memories and
furthers a cause that was near and
dear to their hearts.
To find out more about Henry's
story, please see my blog article,
"Henry's Legacy", at my website at
www.law-matters.net. While you're
at it, Feel free to check out the other
articles too.
A portion of the “Winters Brothers” property in question, looking west.
@WESTNEWSMAG
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
St. Louis County Planning Commission
to hear proposal for gravel plant
By MARY SHAPIRO
mshapiro@newsmagazinenetwork.com
A public hearing is set for 7 p.m. on
Monday, June 8 to consider a request from
Winter Brothers Material Company to
expand its opertions near Eureka.
Coming before the St. Louis County
Planning Commission, Winter Brothers,
doing business as Augustine Aggregate, is
seeking a conditional use permit for extraction
and processing of sand and gravel on
537 acres of a total 900-acre site along the
western bank of the Meramec River.
The vacant property – south of Interstate
44 about a mile east of Hwy. 109 – includes
783, 788 and 454 Augustine Road and 750,
720 and 650 Votaw Road.
Eureka’s Planning and Zoning Commission,
in November 2014, voted to give negative
recommendations to the Board of Aldermen
regarding the company’s request for rezoning
and a special use permit for 247 acres of
property it owns in Eureka. That property is
adjacent to the St. Louis County site and is
located at Williams and Augustine roads.
Members of the commission cited potential
traffic and quality of life concerns about
the plan. For instance, commissioners
feared potential problems with truck traffic
on Hwy. 109, especially trucks trying to
make tight turns, such as onto I-44.
Craig Sabo, Eureka’s city administrator,
said Winter Brothers withdrew its proposal
following the P&Z recommendation, so
the Eureka Board of Aldermen never had a
chance to vote on the plan.
Gregory Hoffmann, an attorney for
Winter Brothers, said the county property
has been owned by the company since
1974, as has the site in Eureka. A tenant
farmer currently uses some of the property.
“We would hope our facility would be operational
about 18 months after we get the permit,
but we don’t know if we’d need to go through
FEMA for floodplain map adjustments and, if
so, that would be a lengthy process,” he said.
Hoffmann said the firm withdrew the
Eureka proposal because company officials
determined they did not need to locate
the sorting plant in Eureka.
“When we began the process, we understood
we couldn’t locate the plant in the
county, but it turns out we can,” he said,
adding the county property is south of the
Eureka site. “Also, the county property is
better suited for what we want to do.”
Winter Brothers is requesting hours of operations
from 6 a.m.-10 p.m. daily but the retail
operation would stop at 4 p.m., Hoffman said.
“Initially, we think four to six trucks per hour
would enter and leave the site, but once we get
fully operational, about 10 years after we open,
it’s likely there would be 16 to 24 trucks per
hour estimated to enter and leave,” he said.
He said he anticipates much of the same
opposition from residents that faced the
Eureka proposal. But he added, “we’ve
made modifications to the plan.
“For instance, there were concerns
expressed on trucks accessing the Hwy. 109
interchange with I-44 and there were also
concerns about the length of the acceleration
lane at Williams Road. We have developed
plans to make improvements to 109 and
Williams Road and those plans have been
approved by MoDOT so we think we’ve
addressed traffic concerns,” Hoffman said.
He said plans are to make modifications
to the median on Hwy. 109 to improve the
turning lanes. On Williams Road, plans are
to extend the acceleration lane by 300 feet.
“We’re optimistic we’ll win approval
from the county for the plan,” he said.
Hoffmann also has said a so-called “wet
extraction” process used by the company
would allow for sand and gravel extraction
by hydraulic dredge, so there would be no
blasting or crushing.
Regardless, some nearby residents continue
to have concerns.
Dr. Steve Sanders, who lives on Pleasant
Valley Estates Drive in unincorporated St.
Louis County, said that the Eureka/southwest
county area today is different from
decades ago when the company purchased
the site. Its fast growth has led to denser
population and more traffic, he said.
“There are 400 homes in Augustine Heights,
Pleasant Valley Estates and in Jefferson County
looking across the valley, all very close to the
See GRAVEL PLANT, page 16