West Newsmagazine 11-7-18

8 I NEWS I
November 7, 2018
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
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Taylor Duncan [center] recently met and ate ice cream with 22 Municipal League mayors including Gail Winham of Winchester
[yellow shirt], Scott Douglass of Clarkson Valley [front row, third from right], Bob Nation of Chesterfield [second from right], and
Mike Roemerman of Ellisville [far right].
news
briefs
Ice cream for all
On Oct. 25, the Municipal League of
Metro St. Louis hosted Taylor Duncan, a
5-year-old from Waynesville, at its monthly
membership meeting.
Duncan is on a mission to have ice
cream with every mayor in the state.
Thanks to the Municipal League, she
was able to meet, greet and eat Doozle’s
Frozen Custard with 22 St. Louis area
mayors, including Mayor Gail Winham
of Winchester, Mayor Scott Douglass of
Clarkson Valley, Mayor Bob Nation of
Chesterfield and Mayor Mike Roemerman
of Ellisville.
The meeting was held in the city of Florissant’s
municipal courtroom.
“We were delighted to meet Taylor, a
smart and inquisitive young lady who is
already working to achieve her goals,”
said Pat Kelly, executive director of the
Municipal League of Metro St. Louis. “It is
wonderful to meet a person who is thinking
about civic involvement at such a young
age. We think she will make a wonderful
mayor someday!”
The mayors took a group photo with
Taylor and issued a Proclamation recognizing
her aspiration.
BALLWIN
City amends
excavation ordinance
Ballwin has streamlined its ordinance
governing applications and permit fees for
excavation permits.
In a unanimous vote at its Oct. 22
meeting, the Ballwin Board of Aldermen
approved a measure lowering the permit
fee to $50. The charge formerly was $100,
with half the amount refunded if the city
was notified before completion of the work
covered by the permit to enable the city to
conduct necessary inspections.
A provision retained in the revision still
requires a permit holder to reopen the
excavation for inspection at their cost if
the city isn’t notified before the work is
completed.
The amendment also eliminates the
requirement for contractors to post bonds
in connection with work that disturbs pavement,
sidewalks, curbs or gutters and a
specific requirement for a permit for landscape
sprinkler and irrigation systems.
Andy Hixson, assistant city administrator,
noted the bond requirement involved
considerable paperwork and record keeping
and was not needed. If a project isn’t
done properly, the city can use in-house
personnel to fix it according to city standards
and bill the property owner or contractor
for the work.
With its other permit requirements, the
provision specifically addressing sprinklers
and irrigation systems is not needed,
Hixson said.
A related ordinance deletes references to
the city engineer in grading, erosion and
sediment control regulations and substitutes
the verbiage “the city’s representative”
for added flexibility.
CHESTERFIELD
Council considers pay
raise, deer count
The Chesterfield City Council has given
preliminary approval to placing a 2.5-percent
merit pay increase for employees in its
2019 budget.
Meeting as a committee of the whole Oct.
22, the council’s Finance and Administration
Committee [F&A] voted 7-1 for the
pay hike after defeating, on a 1-7 vote, an
amendment proposal from Councilmember
Barbara McGuinness [Ward 1] to limit the
increase to 2 percent.
McGuinness, who chairs the F&A, was
the sole supporter of the amendment and
the only vote against the higher pay boost.
As per the city’s practice, the hike will
not go into effect until July 1, 2019. A similar
increase approved for the 2018 budget
was effective July 1 this year and will continue
until the new increment goes into
effect. Two years ago, the council did not
approve an employee pay increase.
Action on the employee pay issue came
after the council also signed off on miscellaneous
general fund budget cuts totaling
some $195,600, the biggest of which
coming from lower spending projections
for the city’s program to eliminate trees
infected by the emerald ash borer. Another
$48,000 in reductions came from the Parks
Department. City officials recommended
the cuts, noting they were a one-time
opportunity.
Final action on the 2019 budget will
come after a public presentation held in
connection with a council meeting later
this year.
Before acting on the pay issue, the council
also discussed at some length the issue
of whether or not Chesterfield has a deer
problem and what to do about it. Specifically,
they discussed the question of conducting
a deer census.
Ultimately, the council agreed to refer
the matter to the Public Health and Safety
Committee for more study.
CREVE COUER
Local soldier killed in action
Lt. Joshua Goetz, U.S. Navy, of
Creve Coeur, was killed in a diving
accident in Guam on Sunday, Oct. 14.
He received a military funeral Mass on
Sunday, Oct. 28 at Incarnate Word Catholic
Church, 13416 Olive Blvd. in Chesterfield
and was buried with full military honors
at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.
Goetz was a graduate of the U.S. Naval
Academy class of 2015. He is survived
by his parents David and Michelle [Hoyt]
Goetz, brother Morgan and sister Isabel.