MINUTES

Meeting Called to order (Dan Doelling)

Neighborhood Association Updates

Treasurer’s Report (Adelina Mart)

  • Expenses were $92.50 for the Ice Cream Social.

STL City Government Reports

Crime and Safety Report (Ed Slade, SLMPD Liaison)

  • Stolen cars reported near gas stations
  • From June 1 – July 15: 14 shots fired calls reported in the neighborhood over that span; several of the same shots fired
    • Officers sent out the morning after (when calls come in late at night)
    • Always call 911 and report if you hear shots fired.
  • Request by General Member to have a representative from The City’s Finest provide updates in future FPSE NA meetings

Neighborhood Update (Ron Coleman, NIS)

  • The old gas station located at Gibson and Tower Grove Ave will become a location for The City’s Finest to check in and check out.
  • Service Bureau number is now just 311. You can also send service requests
  • Exercise equipment is being installed at Chouteau Park. Included will be playground equipment, a basketball court, picnic tables, and maybe an amphitheatre. Money comes from Alderman’s Capital Ward fund.
  • Rainbow Park will be raised. The property was private and was sold.
  • Recycling: do not throw away any plastic bags at all. They jam up machines. Don’t bag your recyclables in plastic bags.
  • Regarding the intersection Swan and Newstead: General Members have concerns about speeding and blocked views from park cars, and the increase of traffic from new residential properties going up.
    • Traffic study indicates that the present two-way stop is safer than installing a four-way stop
    • Suggestion from a General Member for the infrastructure committee to look at installing balls. Other General Members bring up concerns about difficulty in turning and avoid balls; another General Member shared a study from the Tower Grove East neighborhood that the installed balls there were frequently hit.
    • If Infrastructure Committee finds concerns they can have a study done

Guest Speakers and Discussion

Missouri Foundation for Health (CFO Jill Nowak)

  • Discussed plans for the two buildings on the Tower Grove side. 
    • Through decades of improper rehabbing there were multiple layers of wall that were not structurally sound. Due to shifting in the site during construction and subsequent heavy rainfall, the building became unstable and began crumbling at the rear corner.
    • The corner building has received approval for demolition and will be rebuilt in a similar manner. 
    • It will be a replica of the previous building, but functionally will only be one story instead of two.
    • Will take time to approve plans, and there will be impact to the street potentially through the end of the year. 
    • MFH is working with the city to get permission for demolition as soon as possible, since it is a danger to traffic (both pedestrian and car). Work will start on the second building this fall, with tenants expected to move in by the end of the year (WashU Redevelopment Corporation and Kaiser Health News). 
    • Two questions were asked about what the foundation does and how much their highest paid executive makes. The mission of the foundation to improve the health of those most in need throughout their 84 Missouri counties and City of St Louis service area. Also, that information about executive compensation is available on the public IRS 990 disclosure, which is available online or by request. 
    • MFH staff is going to occupy the corner building.

Great Rivers Greenway (Emma Klues)

  • Great Rivers Greenway is the public agency connecting the St. Louis region with greenways. Greenways are outdoor spaces connecting people & places. Each greenway is unique, reflecting the character of the communities it connects. 
  • Chouteau Greenway Project
    • Two upcoming feedback events in July for feedback on the Chouteau Greenway project
    • Feedback includes renaming of the greenway to make it more representative of the city
    • You can take their feedback survey here
    • It looks to connect Forest Park through our city to downtown and the Gateway Arch, with spurs north and south to Fairground Park and Tower Grove Park, connecting 20 of our city’s vibrant neighborhoods plus parks, business and arts districts, employment centers, transit and dozens of cultural and educational institutions. 
    • Of the four now-in-public-se designs submitted in the design competition, STOSS was selected
    • Intended outcomes of the Chouteau Greenway:
      • Exceptional experience
      • Civic well-being
      • Connectivity
      • Economic growth
      • Environmental leadership
      • Healthy lifestyle 
    • The first small piece of the greenway is in the Cortex, but bigger construction would likely be in segments. Some design and engineering could get going in the next year or so, but ground won’t be broken soon. Timeline is really hard to nail down – requires funding and a robust community feedback process
    • For updates, you can go to greatriversgreenway.org, or sign up for text and email updates

Alderman Joe Roddy

  • Credits Steve Smith, developer of the Foundry, for moving the Chouteau Greenway up the list and progressing
  • Sees Chouteau Greenway and the current Trail Net paths as activating one another
  • On the privatization of the airport: 
    • Has received calls and emails on the process
    • His position is that he doesn’t support the selling of the airport 
  • Talked about the Central West End’s form-based code in relation to the new developments that are happening in the neighborhood and the new proposal at 4545 Laclede
  • Noted that he hasn’t been at the past few meetings and was surprised at tonight’s attendance size
  • Spoke on his passion of economic development and his heading of the HUDZ committee that oversees the development of the city
  • General Member/Board Member Dan Scott: Partnerships are most impactful when you have shared goals and decision making. Having a problem with communication with PCD. Haven’t been attending recent meetings. Requesting accountability on spending, grant funds, and working with them to distribute funds and how we can get them to work with us and the larger community. 
    • Joe: PCD has not received money from block grant at this point. Agrees that PCD should have a member of the staff at FPSENA meetings. Funded by WashU, SSM, Cortex, taxing districts, SLU. Will talk with them.
  • General Member: Wants to know what Green Streets plan is regarding their recent purchase of a building at Swan and Newstead. Joe could not provide an answer.
    • On August 27, 2019 at the Forest Park Southeast Development Committee, Recess STL, LLC is proposing to open a “pop up” activity bar that includes a number of games like shuffleboard, bocce ball, and a new game called “air bowling”. The space will be open for 3 to 6 months until the building owners decide to move forward
  • Roddy says parking in the neighborhood over the next 5-10 years will be a headache and expects autonomous vehicles to be here in 10 years. What the neighborhood has attempted to do is make parking districts in the neighborhood, which has caused overflow into other residential streets. PCD administers the parking.
    • General Member says it’s been frustrating along the 4500 block of Chouteau, noting that there hasn’t been much enforcement or awareness that that section of the street is a parking district.
  • General Member: Worried about the WashU shuttle not abiding by their designated stops, dropping people off where asked, causing more and unnecessary congestion, and more street parking in the neighborhood caused by WashU employees parking in non-parking districts. Requests WASHU to better communicate to staff about the districts.
  • General Member asked for an update the Drury property along Kingshighway and 64.

Park Central Development Committee Liaison (Abdul Abdullah)

  • Abdul gave a brief update to the Missouri Foundation for Health building.
  • Hopes to see some progress on the Ronald McDonald House in the next 3 months on what the final building will like for approval. 

Community Forum

  • Dan Scott wants to work with home repair, to see the grants and work with Park Central and help allocate the funds. Wants an open dialogue.
    • Abdul: Some of the money is earmarked. Of the $36k that was raised at the Gala, the first $20k is earmarked.
  • General Member has concerns that the meeting minutes from Development and Infrastructure Committees don’t properly and accurately give the community the information of what’s going on, and are not being distributed and communicated to the community. Concerns also include recent months’ minutes are not showing up on the PCD website.
    • Abdul: Redesigning the website to make information easier to find.

Adjournment (Dan Doelling)

*We have requested copies of Joe Roddy’s full presentation handout and will update this article upon receiving it.

** Meeting Minutes sent via email did not include the Treasurer’s Report but is reflected in this article. You can find the live and updated Treasurer’s Report on our website here.

You can download this month’s meeting minutes below.

July 2019 Meeting Minutes