West Newsmagazine 1-23-19

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January 23, 2019
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
I NEWS I 11
NEWS BRIEFS, from page 9
Help sought in naming
new Police Department mascot
The Police Department is asking Manchester
youth to help name its new mascot,
a rather large stuffed police dog left behind
by retired Police Chief Tim Walsh.
The mascot-naming contest is open to
area residents 14 years of age or younger.
Name suggestions must be submitted to
Sgt. Meredith Absolon at The Manchester
Police Headquarters, 200 Highlands Blvd.
in Manchester or emailed to mabsolon@
manchestermo.gov no later than 4:30 p.m.
on Friday March 8.
The contest winner will be invited to
have lunch with newly appointed Police
Chief Scott Will and will be recognized at
an upcoming Board of Aldermen meeting.
TOWN & COUNTRY
Car crashes into Town &
County restaurant
At approximately 11 a.m. on Monday,
Jan. 14, a vehicle crashed into the Rich &
Charlie’s Pizza restaurant located at 1091
S. Woods Mill Road, trapping the driver.
“We had to remove the top of the car
to free the driver,” reported West County
EMS/FPD Chief Jeff Sadtler.
According to Town & Country Police
Chief Gary Hoelzer, the vehicle was
equipped with hand controls for accessibility
and was driven by a 67-year-old man,
who is employed by the primary driver of
the vehicle.
Hoelzer said the driver, who was not
as familiar with the controls, accidentally
pressed the accelerator moments before
crossing lanes of traffic and crashing
through a window in the building and its
Manchester Police is asking resident youth to
help name its new mascot.
brick veneer. Hoelzer further explained
that the car’s front bumper touched the restaurant’s
counter. The restaurant was not
open at the time.
Sadtler said the driver was taken to a
local hospital with “what appeared to be
non-life-threatening injuries.”
Sandy Rose, manager of West County
Phillips 66/3 Bay BBQ, said, “I was standing
outside and heard a noise like someone
revving up their engine. The car exited
the car wash and went across the parking
lot. Surprisingly, there was no one on the
lot and no one on [Woods Mill].” The car,
then, crashed into the restaurant, which is
closed on Mondays.
Rose said the driver came into the station
to purchase his car wash; however, “he
went right through the entrance and out the
exit without stopping; he did not input his
code to trigger a car wash.”
Regarding the fact that no other cars
A vehicle crashed into the Rich & Charlie’s Pizza restaurant in Town & Country around 11 a.m. on
Monday, Jan. 14.
[West County EMS/FPD photo]
were on the parking lot that is typically
busy around lunchtime or Woods Mills
Road, Rose said, “He had an angel on his
shoulder.”
Hoelzer said the entire scenario was
providential. Cars driving along Woods
Mill Road were aware of the car careening
out of control and were able to stop to
avoid a collision.
“This is not a cautionary tale. It’s just a
freak accident that could have had a very
different ending. [Everyone involved] is
grateful that no one was seriously injured,”
Hoelzer said.
To tape or not to tape
After delaying action at its Dec. 10
meeting, the Town & Country Board of
Aldermen saw the topic of video recording
of public meetings back on the agenda
on Jan. 14.
At the January meeting, the board
unanimously approved the resolution that
would authorize the city administrator to
take the necessary steps to determine the
ways and means to video record public
meetings for the sole use of providing
additional access for residents.
Alderman Lindsey Butler [Ward 2]
introduced the resolution in December,
but members of the board were split on
how to proceed, which caused the voting
delay. In December and at the Jan. 14
meeting, Alderman Fred Meyland-Smith
[Ward 3] cited concern about discouraging
physical attendance at the meetings.
On Jan. 14, he said video recording of
the meetings would “discourage personal
face-to-face interactions with the board
and that would be a disservice to the city
and its residents.” He further stated that
“it could create isolationism to not have to
come here to interact with the staff.”
At the beginning of each meeting,
citizens are invited to address the
board to discuss a matter of concern,
weigh in on a topic on the agenda,
or offer praise or suggestions. In an
interview after the meeting, Meyland-Smith
said viewing the meeting
online, whether it be through
a social media site or the city’s
website, “eliminates the input from
citizens, which is a vital and integral
part of the meeting.” He said that
input is particularly crucial when a
second reading of an ordinance and
a vote takes place at the meeting.
“As a board member, I do not want
to encourage the passive participation
by citizens watching the meeting
online as it is happening or even
days following the meeting, when
the input from citizens might come
too late,” he said.
Meyland-Smith said he is open
to hearing about the different methods of
broadcasting the meeting [and associated
costs] and that his hesitation at this time is
not necessarily reflective of his final vote
on the matter.
West Newsmagazine reached out to
Butler as an opportunity to respond to
Meyland-Smith’s comments. She was
unable to respond by press time.
WILDWOOD
Council approves Strecker
Road bridge replacement
At its Jan 14 meeting, the Wildwood
City Council voted 15-0 in favor of an
ordinance to undergo an agreement with
Gershenson Construction Co., Inc., based
out of Eureka, for the replacement of the
Strecker Road bridge over Caulks Creek.
The project would replace the entire bridge,
which is located about 1,500 feet south of
Valley Road, three miles north of Manchester
Road, two miles east of Hwy. 109
and two miles west of Clarkson Road. The
bridge was constructed in 1966 and is one
of the city’s oldest structures.
The total length of the needed improvements
has been advertised at about 425 feet.
The bridge is about 20 feet wide, with
10 feet devoted to each traffic lane. The
new construction will widen each lane to
11 feet and an extra 5 feet will be added to
the shoulders, for a total width of 32 feet
to meet current standards. The construction
also will raise the height of the road about
18 inches and smooth its curve leading to
the bridge from the south side. The structure
also will undergo an aesthetic change
to a “corral” style.
The city approved the project’s funding
as part of its 2018 Capital Projects Fund
and entered into a federal funding agreement
with the Missouri Highways and
Transportation Commission’s Cost Share
Program, meaning the commission will
reimburse the city for up to 80 percent of
the project’s cost. As a result, the project
will cost the city $179,000, or about 20 percent
of the maximum $895,000 cost.
Gershenson Construction has successfully
completed other bridge projects
within Wildwood, including Bouquet Road
bridge over Tavern Creek and the Wild
Horse Creek Road bridge section over Pillman
Creek.
Temporary detour signs and electronic
message boards alongside the route near
the bridge will notify motorists of the closure.
A signed detour route will be located
on Valley Road or Clayton Road.
According to Rick Brown, the city’s
director of public works, the city has also
been in touch with emergency service providers,
which have established response
routes during the 90-day allotted closure
schedule to allow for bridge completion.