West Newsmagazine 11-18-20

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8 I NEWS I November 18, 2020 WEST NEWSMAGAZINE @WESTNEWSMAG WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM On Friday, Oct. 30, volunteers from Ellisville-based Assistance League of St. Louis donned costumes of children’s book characters and delivered books to children of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Head Start programs. (Source: alstl.org) news briefs CREVE COEUR Voters approve parks, stormwater sales tax On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Creve Coeur residents voted to approve Proposition C, a parks and stormwater sales tax to provide funding for local parks and stormwater control in Creve Coeur. The half-cent sales tax will take effect on April 1, 2021, and all revenue will be put into a special fund dedicated to providing funding for improving and maintaining local parks and stormwater infrastructure. Parks and stormwater improvement projects have been historically underfunded, as most capital improvement dollars go toward street repair and replacement, or emergency storm drainage repairs. With the new revenue provided by the parks and stormwater sales tax, the city will have additional funding available for maintaining and improving parks and stormwater infrastructure on the schedule and magnitude envisioned by the city’s respective master plans. Three citizen-led committees – the Parks & Historic Preservation Committee, Stormwater Committee and Finance Committee – recommended placing this measure on the November ballot. Throughout September and October, Dave McCoy, chair of the Parks & Historic Preservation Committee, and Richard Koch, former chair and current member of the Stormwater Committee, hosted a series of virtual town halls encouraging citizens to educate themselves on the ballot measure. The city council will work with the Parks and Historic Preservation Committee and the Stormwater Committee in the coming months to establish the top priorities for improvement projects, which will include new park amenities, walking trails and healthier and more resilient streams. The first projects made possible by this new revenue source will be under construction in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2021. MANCHESTER Funding awarded to street, sidewalk infrastructure projects At the Nov. 2 Manchester Board of Aldermen meeting, Mayor Mike Clement announced that funding had been awarded to the city for two major infrastructure projects. The first project is to fully upgrade the pedestrian walkways along Manchester Road from Hwy. 141 to Baxter Road. The funding is through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Surface Transportation Block Grant program and the MoDOT Governor’s Transportation Cost Share program. FHWA’s grant will provide $828,100 (37% of the funding), MoDOT will provide $1,119,125 (50% of the funding) and the city of Manchester will fund the remaining balance of $321,025 (13% of the funding). The project will correct existing sidewalk deficiencies and address nonexistent sidewalk areas along Manchester Road by constructing new, American with Disability Act-compliant sidewalks. Additionally, a prefabricated steel truss pedestrian bridge over Grand Glaize Creek will provide a connection to the Baxter Road pedestrian facility. Five Metro bus stops also will be upgraded for ADA compliance, as well as other improvements as deemed necessary. Lastly, high-visibility continental crosswalks will be installed at all intersections and high-volume entrances within the corridor. The preliminary design will begin in 2021 with construction anticipated to begin in late 2023 or early 2024. The entirety of LaBonne Parkway from Big Bend to Carman roads will also be reconstructed, as it has been deemed structurally deficient and inefficiently constructed. The FHWA block grant will fund $1,098,740 (43% of the project), while the city will pay the remaining $1,438,860 with Proposition S funding. The reconstruction will be full-depth concrete with rolled curbs on the outside edge of the road and vertical curbs on the landscape median of the road. The existing sidewalks will be removed and replaced with 5-foot ADA-compliant sidewalks and curb ramps. High visibility continental crosswalks will be installed at all crosswalk locations. Finally, dynamic speed feedback signs will be added in two locations along LaBonne Parkway. The preliminary design of the project will begin in 2021 and construction should begin in 2023. WILDWOOD City welcomes feedback on Town Square projects Residents in the city of Wildwood currently have the opportunity to provide feedback to the city regarding the future of its Town Square area, as well as the proposed 6-acre site for a future Village Green. Every 10 years, the city convenes a Town Center review process to evaluate the Town Center Plan and provide recommendations to revise the plan. As of Sept. 30, the Town Center Update Team has completed its review of the entire plan and is now seeking feedback from the public on its recommendations. They have provided 26 recommendations for residents to review. These recommendations include propositions for the area’s land uses, street network, architectural guidelines and more. Residents can visit cityofwildwood.com/ TownCenterPublicInput until Nov. 30 to complete a survey on the proposed recommendations. The city is also entering its second phase of public input for Village Green development, which includes 6 acres of land located adjacent to Wildwood City Hall on its west side. Over 400 survey responses were documented during the first phase of public input, which was also known as the Awareness Phase, for the future Village Green. Now, the consultant on the Village Green Project has launched its second phase of public input, which is to be known as the Exploration Phase. This original feedback from the first phase served as the basis for the upcoming second phase of input, which also poses several potential concept designs. Residents can visit cityofwildwood. com/2027/Public-Input-Session-2 through Nov. 23 to complete the survey. There is a supplemental video to watch before providing input. New program provides resources to veterans On Nov. 11, the city of Wildwood officially rolled out a new program aimed toward providing resources and direct outreach to residents and business owners who are veterans. The new program has three components: • Identify and recognize Wildwood businesses that are veteran-owned or employ veterans. • Facilitate in the creation of new programs and benefits for veterans at Wildwood businesses. • Create a new “Veterans Resource” portal on the city’s website. The city’s Economic Development Committee approved the development of the program back in September. Letters were sent to all Wildwood businesses requesting information on their status with veterans. Six veteran-owned businesses replied, and an additional seven identified that they employ veterans, according to Economic Development Manager Julian Jacquin. Each business will receive new commemorative Wildwood window decals identifying either “Veteran Owned Business” or “Veterans Employed Here.” Additionally, another 10 businesses responded that they offer special promotions to veterans, including special events, reduced membership rates and discounts off the cost of services or merchandise. A list of contacts and other resources for
FACEBOOK.COM/WESTNEWSMAGAZINE WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM veterans, including local VFW and American Legion posts, crisis hotlines, resource centers, loan programs and more has been posted to the new “Veterans Resource” portal on cityofwildwood.com/veterans. WEST ST. LOUIS COUNTY Doing good in the community The Rotary Club of West St. Louis County held its semi-annual Daily Essentials Drive on Saturday, Nov. 7 and collected over 113 bags of dry goods for Circle of Concern. Dry goods, such as toilet paper, cleaning supplies, baby diapers, paper towels and laundry detergent are not eligible for government SNAP assistance. Many members of The Rotary Club of West St. Louis County helped to distribute and pick up the donation bags. Mercy begins push for plasma donations With a rise in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, Mercy Health is proactively reaching out to patients to ask them to consider becoming plasma donors. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the liquid portion of blood from recovered COVID-19 patients, called convalescent plasma, may contain antibodies. These antibodies may help others as they’re fighting the virus. Using the MyMercy app and online patient portal, Mercy is sending a message to patients, asking those who tested positive if they’re willing to learn more about giving plasma. Donors need to be fully recovered for 28 days before donating plasma. “We’re still learning about COVID antibodies,” JoAnne Levy, vice president of Mercy Research, said. “Our goal is to contact potential donors and receive convalescent plasma when antibody levels may possibly be at their highest. That way, the donated plasma may be the most effective in helping others. And, as we learn more, we’ll adapt our approaches.” Until now, the Mercy Research team has been calling recovered patients to see if they’re willing to donate. The MyMercy message will streamline the process for everyone. “Patients will be able to hit a button that indicates they’re interested,” Laura Canter, manager of non-oncology research for Mercy, said. “Then, we can reach out to them accordingly.” Mercy patients who do not have a MyMercy account can contact mercyresearchinfo@mercy.net for more information. Local patients whose positive COVID-19 test came from a health care provider other November 18, 2020 WEST NEWSMAGAZINE I NEWS I 9 Happy Birthday, Greta Chesterfield resident Greta Corkhill, whose letters to the editor are always filled with sunny observations about life in West St. Louis County, turned 90 on Oct. 23. Despite COVID-19 limiting some of her celebration, Corkhill’s daughter, Patti, reports that her mom had a “a blast and felt very loved and special,” especially when opening the more than 100 cards she received. A resident of Chesterfield for 44 years and with a career in real estate, Corkhill has made a lot of friends in the community. “The phone didn’t stop ringing all day!” Patti reports. than Mercy can reach out directly to Mercy Blood Donor Services at (314) 251-4483 to determine their eligibility to donate. “Many patients hospitalized for COVID- 19 are treated with convalescent plasma and with an increase in patients, there’s increased demand for it,” Dr. Emily Schindler, medical director of Mercy Blood Donor Services, said. “We want to make sure it’s available for all of our patients throughout this latest spike.” Local nonprofit encourages reading On Friday, Oct. 30, 16 volunteer members from Assistance League St. Louis donned the costumes of children’s book characters and paraded before 69 infants, toddlers and preschoolers at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Head Start and Early Head Start program locations in Jennings, Missouri. The children enjoyed videotaped book readings and a puppet show – also created by Assistance League. Each child then received two age-appropriate books while meeting and posing for photos with puppets and favorite characters. In addition, 10 new story books were added to the collection of the teachers at the center. In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, Assistance League’s literacy program Books from Friends conducted multiple book festivals in elementary schools across St. Louis and provided over 13,000 books to aspiring readers. Head Start is a national program that provides child development services to low income children and families Assistance League of St. Louis, headquartered in Ellisville, is an all-volunteer organization that seeks to transform the lives of children and adults through community programs. Sudoku brought to you by Chesterfield Service Complete the grid so that every row, column, and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively. Go to www.chesterfieldservice.com for Sudoku answers!
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West Newsmagazine 11-18-20

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