Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 9-22-21

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12 I NEWS I September 22, 2021 MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE @MIDRIVERSNEWS MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM Regulators give STL Pipeline chance to keep operating, despite court ruling By ROBIN SEATON JEFFERSON With the 2022 Old Farmer’s Almanac predicting a “bone-chilling” cold winter, the last thing Spire Missouri customers want to think about is losing their heating. But a decision by a District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 7 gave the gas company reason to be concerned that its $286-million, 65-mile STL Pipeline could be shut down long-term, leaving service gaps for natural gas customers this winter. Seven days later, Spire received a reprieve in the form of an order issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). That order granted Spire up to 90 days of pipeline operation while federal regulators consider the company’s application for a longer temporary certificate. The pipeline, which has been serving the St. Louis area since 2019, interconnects with the Rockies Express Pipeline and the Appalachian Basins Pipeline to deliver natural gas to some 650,000 customers in eastern Missouri. Following the District Circuit’s decision, Jason Merrill, director of integrated corporate communications for Spire, stressed the urgency of the company’s emergency certificate application. “Customers who rely on the STL Pipeline need assurances this critical infrastructure can continue to deliver reliable and affordable energy supply,” Merrill said, adding that Spire had filed its response to the FERC’s data request supporting its application the same day the judgment was released. “We are confident that when people have an opportunity to review the proven benefits of the STL Pipeline, they will agree that there is STL Pipeline a critical need for this infrastructure to ensure continued access to reliable, claims that FERC had not sufficiently studied whether Spire demonstrated an actual affordable energy for homes and businesses in the greater St. Louis region.” need in the region for the pipeline. The For now, FERC seems willing to consider court also found that the Fund had “identified plausible evidence of self-dealing” in the possibility of the STL Pipeline’s continued operation through the 90-day extension Spire STL’s reliance on affiliate contracts will not see the company through the coldest to show the pipeline was necessary. days of winter. The panel’s ruling essentially vacated The pipeline was approved in 2018, after FERC’s approval for Spire to operate the a rigorous 18-month regulatory review pipeline, leaving it operational but uncertified. The September ruling rendered the process that, apparently, wasn’t rigorous enough. pipeline inoperable. However, if approved, In June, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Spire’s emergency application to FERC Circuit ruled in favor of the New Yorkbased Environmental Defense Fund, on its would allow the pipeline to continue operating. (Source: Spire Missouri) According to the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC), “the Spire STL Pipeline application filed with FERC on July 26, 2021, seeks a temporary emergency certificate, or, in the alternative, a limited-term certificate asking FERC for authority to continue operating the STL Pipeline” despite the court’s decision. Last month, PSC seemed to side with Spire, reporting that “there is a real risk of natural gas outages during the winter of 2021-2022 if Spire Missouri is not able to obtain gas supplies from the Spire STL Pipeline.” On Sept. 2, the regulatory body ordered Spire Missouri to file reports on “its current contingency plans, ongoing contingency plan development, and conditions affecting its ability to provide adequate natural gas supply and pressure to all customers for the winters of 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.” As a result, Spire must file reports by the 15th of each month from November 2021 to March 2022 and quarterly after that. Spire must also provide PSC with addi- See STL PIPELINE, page 14 HONOR A CIVIC LEADER | SUPPORT A GREAT CAUSE Tom Shaw Memorial Walk to benefit Alzheimer’s Association HELP WANTED – EXPERIENCED TAX PREPARERS *SIGNING BONUS* 2020 EXTENDED PERSONAL TAX RETURNS DUE OCTOBER 15TH! Sunday, October 3 | 9:30 a.m. (Check in at 8:30 a.m.) Katy Trail Trailhead | 5521 Water Street | Augusta, MO 63332 For information on sponsorships or to register, visit www.tomshawfoundation.org or email tomshawfoundation@gmail.com SPONSORS THE FAMILY OF PAT HOFFMAN • TOM FLEMING FAMILY OF CATHY SHAW CONNELY TRISHA McCULLOCH & FAMILY • GARY & GAIL GRIFFIN COMMUNITY ABOVE SELF
FACEBOOK.COM/MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM September 22, 2021 MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE I NEWS I 13 DARDENNE PRAIRIE, from page 10 • To encourage increased private investment. • To encourage an imaginative and innovative design of land development. • To promote development compatible with the city’s Comprehensive Plan. According to the ordinance, “all existing and proposed developments approved prior to Sept. 15 shall continue to be governed by the existing applicable approved area plan or site plan or such plan as may have been approved for a proposed project not completed as of that date.” Hence the reason why Gotway said The Prairie PUD required “tweaking.” Overall, Gotway said the development is a “good fit for Dardenne Prairie.” Kaiman heartily agreed. The Prairie will support the live, work, play lifestyle that “has become more desirable as the pandemic has shifted the culture toward working and recreating at home,” Kaiman noted. The multi-phase project includes the construction of five, three-story luxury apartment buildings consisting of 120 onebedroom units and 60 two-bedroom units. Benton Homebuilders also is constructing nine buildings featuring 60, 1,550-squarefoot villas, each with three bedrooms, a full basement and a two-car garage. One of the apartment buildings will feature 12,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor. An additional 4,500-squarefoot retail center will be home to a new Imo’s Pizza. A future restaurant also is planned on an out-lot within the development. Kaiman founded Mia Rose Holdings in 2014 and has overseen more than $1 billion in projects including multi-family and mixed-use developments, as well as ice rinks and other athletic facilities – an expertise that grew out of his professional hockey career playing for the Arkansas Riverblades, Baton Rouge Kingfish and Lowell Lockmonsters. Kaiman isn’t the only hockey player developing property in St. Charles County. Last year, former St. Louis Blues player Brett Hull put his name on a $4.3 million sports bar and restaurant in Wentzville that Kaiman also developed. Brett Hull’s Junction House is the anchor tenant for The Junction of Wentzville, an 18-acre mixed-use development at the intersection of Lodora Drive and I-70, which is also home to Sugarfire Smokehouse, Junction Apartments and an F45 fitness center. Wentzville-based entrepreneur and owner Keith Horneker took a chance on Junction House as one of the first new restaurant projects to be announced after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shelterin-place orders. Pointing to both The Prairie and The Junction of Wentzville projects, Kaiman declared, “We love St. Charles County!” “Our whole business model is focused on the growth in that area,” he said. “These are amazing sites, strategically located. You cannot replicate the Wentzville location. Everyone has to slow down on that curve on I-70 and they see us up on the hill. It’s right in their face.” He said he expects The Prairie will fare the same situated just off of Hwy. 364. “Finding a city that’s open and receptive and wants to see our vision come to fruition in their boundaries, having that support from Mayor Gotway – it makes Where will you begin your experience? St. Peters | Ellisville | The Grove | Delmar | Cherokee FIVE STORES TO EXPERIENCE... IMAGES BY AARON BUNSE it easier to get a project approved and get it done,” Kaiman said. “Dardenne Prairie had a ton of folks in the right seats politically and administratively willing to work with us. There are certain municipalities in St. Louis County, and even in St. Charles County, that were not supportive. Our vision is a very simple – mixed-use development anchored by amazing multi-family components in strategic locations that are not all retail or all commercial.” Dardenne Prairie Economic Development Coordinator Doug Potts called mixed-use developments are the wave of the future. “In economic development, mixed uses and market development are very hot right now. It is the way things are going,” Potts said. Not just locally but nationally, there is a real push for developments where basically your residents are also your customers, that capture the local marketplace and bring the amenities and services to them and making it all part of the overall development plan.” Kaiman said Phase II of The Prairie is slated to begin by the end of 2022. It will include additional retail spaces as well as 24 more multi-family units. We’re committed to providing our customers a quality cannabis experience that begins the moment you step inside SWADE. In-store specialists are here to guide patients through product options, proper dosing, and methods of delivery. Stop by one of our five locations today and leave feeling lifted.
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Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 9-22-21

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