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West Newsmagazine
is West St. Louis County's exclusive direct-mailed community newspaper. |
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| News Briefs |
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WildwoodNew City Hall open house
 The city of Wildwood is holding an open house for its new City Hall location, 183 Plaza Drive. Wildwood residents are invited to come out and see the new location.
City officials moved into the new location at the end of January. The location is being leased while the city searches for a permanent location.
The open house is from 4 to 6 p.m. on March 26. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 4 p.m.
Zoning for movie theater approved The Wildwood City Council on Feb. 23 approved the zoning of a 2.25-acre parcel of land for the use of a movie theatre. Greenberg Development and Wildwood Cinema LLC intend to build a 10-screen movie theater on the south side of Main Street at Fountain Place.
The proposed theater will house 10-screens in a nearly 40,000-square-foot building. The developers hope to have it opened towards the end of the year.
West CountyLegislative forum is March 13 The Wildwood Family YMCA (2641 Hwy. 109) hosts a legislative forum from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. on March 13. The forum features Missouri Sen. John Griesheimer (R-Dist. 26), Missouri Rep. Tim Jones (R-Dist. 89) and Wildwood Mayor Tim Woerther. The state-of-the-state and state-of-the-city will be presented followed by a question-and-answer session. Light breakfast will be provided. Seating is limited. Register by calling the YMCA at 458-6636 ext. 228.
MSD selling rain barrels The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) is selling rain barrels to its customers. To qualify for the MSD rain barrel purchase, the person must be an MSD customer who is current on his/her sewer bill. Those who live outside MSD's service area and those who are delinquent on his/her MSD bill do not qualify. A rain barrel collects and stores rainwater from a home or building's roof. This water would normally flow through the downspout and eventually into the storm drain. The environmental benefits of rain barrels are numerous. Water collected in a rain barrel can be used to water a lawn or a garden. Rain barrels can reduce water pollution by reducing stormwater runoff, which contains pollutants like sediment, oil, grease, bacteria and other nutrients. To purchase a rain barrel, customers must call the MSD Billing Department at 1 (866) 281-5737 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Rain barrel sales take place until March 20. Payment is required at time of purchase in the form of a debit card or credit card payment. No cash or mail-in payments are accepted. MSD rain barrels are $45 per barrel, and customers can purchase a maximum of four barrels. Customers also must pick up their rain barrels from MSD and install the barrels themselves, which will require disconnecting a home or building's downspouts from the sewer system if they are connected. MSD will not deliver nor install rain barrels, but detailed instructions on how to assemble and install the rain barrels will be included with the purchase. Customers will not receive any discounts on their MSD bills for purchasing and installing rain barrels. All sales are final, and no refunds will be given. For more information on the MSD rain barrel program, call (314) 768-6238.
Companies support new K-9 The St. Louis County Police Department K-9 Unit recently received a $5,000 donation from Del Monte Pet Products and Milk-Bone in partnership with Dierbergs for the purchase of a new police dog. This donation is part of an on-going effort to support local law enforcement and security preparedness nationwide. This is the ninth K-9 jointly donated to police departments since the initiation of the partnership with Dierbergs. As part of the Milk-Bone Canine Heroes ProgramTM, the Milk-Bone nationwide police dog donation program helps law enforcement agencies add to or maintain canine units at no cost to tax-paying citizens. More than 900 police and service dogs have been sponsored by Milk-Bone to communities across the country since 1997. "We appreciate the opportunity to expand our K-9 Unit," St. Louis County Police Chief Jerry Lee said. "These companies should be commended for their support of local law enforcement in assisting us with efforts to keep our citizens safe."
Prepare for spring break St. Louisans can help ensure a safer spring break trip by taking a few steps ahead of time to get Red Cross Ready for disasters and other emergencies. "Leaving for vacation without taking the following actions would be like neglecting to pack a suitcase: extremely inconvenient and potentially dangerous," said Nicole Holtgrefe, director of preparedness and client services for the St. Louis Area Chapter. "So before you go, we recommend you take a few actions to prepare for the unexpected in unfamiliar surroundings."
Citizen Police Academy begins April 7 Creve Coeur, Town & Country and Frontenac are teaming up to hold the 11th installment of their Citizens’ Police Academy. The academy is designed to give citizens of the three communities the chance to learn about law enforcement through practical training and exercises. Residents will explore Constitutional and criminal law, the “use of force,” criminal investigations, traffic safety, pursuits and DWI enforcement. Those who participate will have an opportunity to fire a department-issued firearm and experience real-life, role-play scenarios. A ride-along with a patrol officer will be available to those who successfully complete the curriculum. The nine-week course is from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays beginning April 7. The academy is free. Participants must be 21 years of age or older and can be either a resident or non-resident, provided space is available. To register, contact Town & Country Police Officer Chris Hunt at (314) 567-4900, ext. 139; Creve Coeur Police Officer Phil Lane at (314) 872-2540; or Frontenac Police Officer Ryan Cornelius at (314) 994-9304.
AmerenUE sees growth, reliability in system In 2008 AmerenUE’s Twin Rivers Division invested $10.8 million to increase reliability and growth in West County and Franklin County. The work is part of UE’s continuing investment in upgrades and improvements to enhance the performance of every facility in its distribution system. Specific projects in West County include: Investing $361,515 on upgrades to facilities in Chesterfield, Ballwin and Eureka as well as improvement projects, including inspections, circuit performance and tap fuses. Completing feeder, cable and switchgear replacements to improve reliability for tenants and customers of Chesterfield Mall. Increasing capacity at the Olive substation in response to continued growth within the Chesterfield Valley area. Completing relocation and extension projects to accommodate St. Louis County and Missouri Department of Transportation projects at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport and on Kehrs Mill Road.
In July 2007 UE introduced Project Power On, a $1 billion, multi-year effort to improve reliability, upgrade delivery systems and enhance the environmental performance of its power plants. The Twin Rivers Division trimmed more than 705 miles of overhead line, a 40 percent increase in tree trimming since 2007.
MissouriProperty tax legislation filed Establishing predictable and fairer property taxes for Missourians is the aim of legislation that Missouri Sen. Jane Cunningham (R-Dist. 7) recently filed. Senate Bill 99 and Senate Joint Resolution 4, the Predictable Property Tax Act, would freeze property assessments until the resale of homes but allow for a limited inflation increase up to 2 percent annually to protect taxing districts, creating predictability for the homeowners and the taxing districts. SB99 is patterned after the California Proposition 13 model of locking in the annual property taxes. With the exception of an annual cost-of-living increase, it would remain at that level until the property is resold. Ongoing maintenance and improvements would not increase assessments. “Penalizing homeowners for improving their property is a major disincentive to keeping up the attractiveness and value of our communities," Cunningham said. “This commonsense property tax process will provide home buyers with a stable planning calculation they can depend on without decreasing revenue for needed governmental services." The proposal also calls for protections and opportunities for Missourians ages 55 or older and for certain property transfers among families that would not require a reassessment upon transfer. "There shouldn't be a tax penalty for homeowners who have lived in their home for a number of years who want to downsize nor should families be hard hit with immediate property tax increases the minute they want to deed their residence or farm home to their children or grandchildren," Cunningham said. Cunningham's bill would not exclude voter-approved tax increases or prevent homes from being assessed at lower values when their market values decline.
Exploring the state’s biotechnology industry Missouri’s burgeoning biotechnology field will receive added attention from the Missouri General Assembly as a result of a legislative caucus recently formed to study and promote the various aspects of the industry. Missouri Rep. Cole McNary (R-Dist. 86) joined with more than 25 of his fellow legislators from both chambers and parties to form the Missouri General Assembly Biotechnology Caucus. The Biotechnology Caucus will explore the state’s biotech base of assets and consider market factors that affect Missouri’s bioscience sector. The caucus also will examine the state’s ability to leverage its scientific research base in support of global health, agriculture, environmental, commercialization and economic development initiatives. “Missouri is positioned to be one of the nation’s leaders in the biotech industry, but our state must make a stronger commitment to supporting research and development in this field,” McNary said. “As a caucus, our goal is to examine what we can do legislatively to help build on our already-successful agriculture and plant sciences industries and to spur further innovation at the many world-class research institutions located in our state.” Missouri joins several other states that have created biotech caucuses, including Massachusetts, Virginia, Iowa, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Florida.
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