West Newsmagazine 12-14-16

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County to vote on $13.8 million soccer complex
By JIM MERKEL
December 14, 2016
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE I NEWS I 13
VICC bus fire
under investigation
After kicking the idea around for years,
the St. Louis County Council is preparing
to vote on a $13.8 million contract with
Paric Corp. to build a Creve Coeur Park
Soccer Complex.
With the complex, the county could play
host to 21 large regional and national soccer
tournaments each year and rent fields for
about 13,000 hours, County Parks and Recreation
Director Gary Bess said. Backers
are touting it as a way to fill hotel rooms
and keep restaurants busy.
“St. Louis used to be the city for amateur
soccer,” Bess said. He noted that in recent
years, other cities have built similar soccer
facilities.
Plans call for the facility to be built on
122 acres on the west side of Creve Coeur
Lake on Creve Coeur Mill Road.
The facility would include 13 lighted, regulation
sized, artificial turf fields and two natural
grass youth fields. One of the artificial turf
fields would be designated for championships
and feature bleachers for at least 500 people.
The facility would have parking for at
least 1,500 vehicles and a central event
space with concessions, restrooms and a
vendor village. Two smaller concession
stands with restrooms also are planned.
A $14 million bond issue funded by
regional convention and tourism taxes will
Chesterfield City Council approves 2017 budget
By JIM ERICKSON
The city of Chesterfield, on Dec. 5,
approved its 2017 budget with spending
cuts of more than $932,000, compared with
an original draft submitted for study purposes
almost three months ago.
Councilmember Bruce DeGroot [Ward 4]
praised City Administrator Mike Geisel and
his staff for conducting a transparent and
thorough budget development process in
which elected officials were heavily involved,
including participation in three workshops
after receiving an initial budget draft for study.
Describing the final budget document as
“a collaborative effort,” Geisel reviewed
the spending plan during a half-hour public
hearing held before the council’s Dec. 5
regular meeting. The number of people
attending was small and no one offered
comments for, or against, the proposal.
Highlights from the budget include:
• Projected spending from the general
fund, the largest of the city’s budget categories,
of just more than $20 million, a slight
decrease from 2016’s expected outlays.
These will not be the only soccer fields along Creve Coeur Mill Road if the new complex is approved.
fund the project.
Bess said that a groundbreaking is anticipated
for February or March 2017, with
completion of the complex occurring about
a year after that.
A separate bill before the council calls
for Vetta Sports to operate the facility. Vetta
would provide complex, turf system and
building maintenance, along with groundskeeping
and other public sports facility
tasks for a three-year term, with one-year
renewal options for up to seven years.
Vetta was the only company to make a
proposal to St. Louis County. It operates
facilities in South County, Webster Groves,
Manchester, St. Charles, St. Peters, Belleville,
Illinois, and O’Fallon, Illinois.
The complex’s main backer on the
council is Chairperson Michael O’Mara
Although total revenues are likely to be
fractionally lower in 2017, the city expects
to boost its general fund reserves by nearly
$450,000 due to a lower amount of transfers
to other funds.
• Parks sales tax fund revenues are
projected to increase due to higher sales
tax receipts and more income from fees
charged for using city facilities. With
normal expenditures and outlays for capital
items also lower than last year, the city
expects reserves to increase by more than
$250,000 by the end of 2017. The city
expects to spend $6.17 million from the
parks fund next year, with an additional
$2.96 million transferred to other funds
for debt service.
• The capital improvement sales tax
fund also shows lower numbers for 2017
due to a fewer number of projects under
way and a smaller amount of grant money
coming in to help pay the costs. Total
revenues are pegged at $7.7 million while
expenditures will include $6.39 million
and the transfer of $1.9 for debt service.
The outlays will lower reserves more than
[District 4]. His term on the council
expires at the end of the year. Councilmember
Mark Harder [District 7], who
represents much of West County and
previously favored a proposal for a similar
complex in Chesterfield, opposes the
Creve Coeur Complex.
The Chesterfield complex proposal, backed
by late Kansas City developer Dave Thorman,
would have cost $12 million, of which
the county would have contributed $4 million.
That proposal was voted down in 2015.
O’Mara said that a problem with the Chesterfield
proposal was that activities would
have been split between Chesterfield and the
existing Lou Fusz fields in Creve Coeur.
The Creve Coeur complex will serve all
of St. Louis County, O’Mara said. “It’s
going to help soccer as a whole.”
$500,000, which is not considered a problem
because this fund has no required
reserve level set by council policy and the
goal is to keep the fund balance as close
to zero as possible.
Other smaller revenues and outlays
include a sewer lateral fund, police forfeitures
and a special allocation fund for Chesterfield
Valley. Together, outlays from those
funds total less than $1 million.
What the projected spending cuts actually
wind up being will depend on whether
unexpected situations arise that affect
either revenues or expenditures. One such
issue is an upcoming city employee wage
and benefits analysis and the council’s
reaction to it.
The budget has been stripped of merit pay
increases in 2017, amounting to $430,000
on an annualized basis. Pending the findings
and conclusions from the study an outside
firm will conduct early next year, some
of the merit pool funds could be restored.
The council vote to approve the 2017
budget was 7-0, with Councilmember
Bridget Nations [Ward 2] absent.
By CHARLES BOLINGER
Rockwood Bus #90 met a fiery
end on Interstate 44, just east of
Lindbergh Boulevard on Monday
evening, Dec.5.
The bus carried 36 transfer
program students on their way
home from after-school activities
at Lafayette High School. After
seeing smoke coming from the
engine, the students and driver
exited the vehicle and moved to a
safe area nearby. At least two students
sustained minor injuries and
were taken to a hospital for treatment.
At a press conference on Tuesday,
Dec. 6, Rockwood Superintendent
Dr. Eric Knost said one
of the engine cylinders threw a
connecting rod, putting a hole in
the engine block and causing an
oil leak. In the hot engine bay, the
oil caught fire, which spread to the
rest of the vehicle after the driver
and students exited.
Knost commended the driver for
following his emergency training
and the students for remembering
what to do in a serious situation.
“We are beyond thankful that our
students and the Durham school
bus driver escaped with only a few
students sustaining minor injuries,”
said Knost. “We appreciate
the driver’s ability to react quickly
and get our students to safety.”
However, Knost went on to say
that he is very concerned about
the situation’s seriousness and
he requested a full investigation
of the incident, especially since
the transfer students’ ride home
is much longer than that of indistrict
students.
“Bottom line, this degree of
equipment failure is unacceptable,”
he said.
The bus shuttles Voluntary
Interdistrict Choice Corporation
[VICC] students who live in the
city of St. Louis and attend Rockwood
schools. Durham is the contracted
bus services company that
serves VICC students. Durham
informed Rockwood that it started
its own investigation into the incident,
including sending a safety
team to examine the remains of
the bus.