West Newsmagazine 7-5-17

14 I NEWS I
July 5, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
Trustees and Cats
Law Matters
I got a call
from someone
at my church a
few months
ago. They were
concerned that
someone was
taking advantage
of a parishioner.
I did some investigating and
found out that contrary to what I
heard, the financial adviser was
providing excellent service and was
helping out a lot.
However, in the course of my
investigations, I got the impression
that the woman needed more help
than she was getting. Someone
needed to help her, but she did not
have any close family or any friends.
In that particular situation, I called
Constance Moore at Commerce
Trust Company. In addition to being
a trust officer, she is an Advanced
Professional Certified Care Manager,
trained to help clients navigate the
maze of elder care. Like many trust
officers, she investigates retirement
facilities, nursing homes, home health
services, and the like to insure quality.
She is constantly checking and
rechecking facilities. In this particular
situation, she was able to find a great
facility that worked wonderfully for
my client.
Corporate trustees provide all
kinds of non-financial services. Kathleen
Selinger at Central Trust told me
about one of their customers who lives
alone in a big house. She has family,
but they are all busy with their own
lives. She told me that she often goes
by and sorts her mail with her. The
client’s eyesight is failing a little, but
she also just likes the company.
One of the most heartwarming
stories I heard was from Rich Arnold
with The Private Bank. One of their
clients had a vacation home in Florida.
While there, she suffered a
stroke. When she was well enough,
they brought her back to St. Louis.
The problem was that when the
client went to Florida, she took her
beloved cat with her. When she
came back to St. Louis, they couldn’t
just leave the cat there for a neighbor
to look after. Someone had to go get
the cat. So one of the trust officers
flew to Florida, rented a car, picked
up the cat, and drove back to St.
Louis for a joyful reunion. Trust
officers get all of the glory jobs, don’t
they?
Although corporate trustees are
not the solution to every problem,
under the right circumstances, they
may be real life savers, and not just
for financial reasons. It's just something
to think about. For more,
please go to www.law-matters.net.
veryones experience
with estate planning is
uniue and you dont
always know what to
expect. Fred has gathered
some of the most
interesting examples he
knows into an entertaining
and eduactional book.
at ae t t is available to
order online at www.lawmatters.net
Fred L. Vilbig is an attorney with over 30
years of experience in the areas of wills
and trusts, small businesses, and real
estate. This column is for informational
purposes only. Nothing herein should be
treated as legal advice or as creating an
attorney-client relationship. The choice
of a lawyer is an important decision
and should not be based solely upon
advertisements.
(636) 537-7884 | fvilbig@shandselbert.com | www.law-matters.net
By JIM ERICKSON
Voters in the Chesterfield Valley Transportation
Development District [TDD] will
vote later this year on whether to extend a
3/8-cent sales tax to fund up to $7 million
of transportation-related improvements for
a proposed $22.65 million ice hockey and
sports complex.
Setting the stage for that vote were
unanimous approvals by the TDD Board
of Directors on resolutions associated with
the project. The Chesterfield Hockey Association
[CHA], which would build, own
and operate the facility, had asked for the
sales tax extension to pay for public parking
areas, drive aisles, utility and earth
work, erosion control, traffic signs and signals,
and other related costs, such as landscaping,
and design and professional fees.
The 3/8-cent sales tax originally received
voter approval in a 2005 election. Projects
called for in that vote have largely been
completed. The levy applies to shoppers’
purchases at Chesterfield Valley businesses
and proceeds go to retire bonds sold to
finance the specified work.
Only qualified voters in the 130 to
140 residential properties in adjoining
subdivisions and voters living
elsewhere within the district are
eligible to participate in the election,
which will be accomplished through
mail-in balloting. Approval requires
a simple majority of those voting.
Mike Geisel, Chesterfield’s city
administrator who chairs the TDD
board, said preparations for the vote
likely will begin in 30 to 45 days
and that the balloting could be completed
by late summer.
Other TDD board members include
Chesterfield Mayor Bob Nation, St. Louis
County Executive Steve Stenger and
Stephanie Streeter, representing the county’s
transportation department.
Under the proposal, the tax would be
extended until 2046, or 15 years beyond
the current expiration date of 2031.
If the debt now owed is paid off earlier
than originally expected, a prospect
now considered likely, retirement of new
bonds sold for the hockey rink project also
could begin sooner than 2031 and could be
completed well before 2046, according to
points made during the board’s discussion.
The tax extension will end when the
bond debt is paid off.
Graham Renz, a policy researcher for
the nonprofit Show-Me Institute think tank,
and David Stokes, executive director of
the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, told the
board about questions and concerns their
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Chesterfield Valley TDD Board
authorizes sales tax vote
respective organizations have about the
project.
Renz said the ice hockey facility raises
economic and financial questions, in part
because it involves subsidizing an enterprise
the market alone is unlikely to support.
The CHA countered that argument by
noting the association already is committed
to using a majority of ice time available
at the two-sheet facility. Other ice-related
activities and alternative, off-season uses
will add to that demand.
Renz also said the entire community
should be able to vote on the issue and that
there should be a way to protect the investment
of sales tax dollars in the project.
Earlier in the meeting, Nation made what
appeared to be a recommendation addressing
the investment protection matter, suggesting
that the agreement with CHA
should include a provision giving Chesterfield
ownership of land occupied by the
TDD-financed improvements for a period
of time. One of the approved resolutions
called for adding such verbiage to the final
agreement with CHA.
Shoppers pay an additional 3/8-cent sales tax in
Chesterfield Valley, which could be extended to 2046
if select voters approve.
Chesterfield will not have any investment
or ownership interest in the ice rink building
and will have no hand in its operation.
Stokes noted concerns about the ongoing
development of floodplain land, the risk of
flooding and the practice of building higher
levees.
After the comments from Renz and
Stokes, Geisel called for votes on the resolutions
authorizing the election on the sales
tax extension, the additional project related
to the ice rink facility, and the development
and funding agreements with the CHA. All
were approved unanimously.
Known as the Chesterfield Sportscomplex,
the new ice rink operation would
be the home of the CHA, replacing the
Hardee’s IcePlex, which already has closed
and soon will be demolished to make way
for a Top Golf driving range and entertainment
center. The rink’s proposed location
is between Interstate 64 and the current
Comfort Inn & Suites, west of Spirit of St.
Louis Boulevard.