Historic Preservation Commission - Regular Meeting

Oh my gosh. Mr. Chair, we are live now. Robin will call the role. Secretary Commission present. Commission here. Ber present. Commissioner Berow here. Commissioner here. Uh, council member Leaison Mabry here. Council member Leaison Rambo

here. HPC advisor Scott and our youth me member Raguy Ramen is not with us and our commissioner B here and Wildwood Historical Society liaison Bong Ruben here. Jill, are you with us? Here. Well, I see her on Zoom as your chair. on the marker present. We have a quorum. We do. Thank you. Thank you.

Kurt will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all are in front of you. I hope you've had an opportunity to look at them in our delay here. And uh I could see nothing that needed to be added or deleted. If you do, please respond now. Otherwise, they will stand approved as presented. Anyone have any additions or corrections to the minutes? There being none, they stand approved as published. Thank you. Public comment. Is there anyone for public comment? Robin.

Mr. Chair, I do see one raised hands. Going to promote them now.

Is are they are they connected or Mr. Chair? They are on Zoom with us now. Hello. At this time, that's better. Can you turn that up a little? I'm having trouble hearing you. Just a moment. That's better. Much better. Thank you.

Okay. Good evening everyone. I just wanted to say hooray hooray for the HBC because you were wonderful with the parade. I was so excited for all of us. So, I'm glad to be watching and hearing what all is going on tonight. And thanks to everyone for the cards and emails I've received. Thank you. Our cheerleader. Thank you. Anything from the historical society that we should be aware of.

I have a couple comments. Do you hear me? Yes.

Okay. Uh first I have a uh update for Celebrate Wildwood from the historical society standpoint. We had a lot of activity and traffic in the tent as I observed as I was taking care of the the book. uh they were drawn in by our new route 66 posters which are based on the 2026 calendar which we had ready to distribute. Um we also have a new poster that talks about our mission statement which is basically protect, preserve and educate. And um then became the transformation of the rain. Uh and that required that group uh our group to uh close up shop for the day. Uh everything survived well. Some of our older posters had sustained some of damage. Um and just a couple of other observations if I may just because it's hard for me to jump in uh on Zoom. is that it's so important and I you all get it but not everyone else gets it is when you when we talk about why somebody asks why is it important to preserve our history? Why do you talk about it all the time? Why should we do this? And I go back to being the author person and you always want to answer the who, what, where, and when. That's what everybody thinks of when they talk about when they think about history. But it's that why that's so important. Why did people come? Why did people stay? If they left, why did they go? And if they came back, why did they come back? So, it's those

why, whether it's the story that's 190 years old or whether it's a story from a year ago, those are the things that drive our history. And that's why it's important because if we answer those questions, it helps plan for the future. And then, as all of you know, I got the amazing opportunity to to um be at the National World War II Museum at the beginning of the month. And um my biggest takeaway from being there is that all history, the study of history is historic preservation. uh it's an action verb. It's not a static situation. So if you're taking a subject and presenting it within the worlds or the nations or the local events and drill it down to the why, it makes it very real. And what it takes when it makes from reality to making it very personal to the viewer is the personal narratives and how they're presented. that makes the presentation visceral to the observer, to the person who's in the museum or looking at posters or or whatever venue media that a organization wants to use and does it make a difference that the world national war museum has these top people in the world working for them and are the top of their game at what they do? But again, yes, it does. But again, it basically comes down to why is that experience going to that museum different than watching a movie about World War II? It's the fact that the wise are combined with the personal narratives. So that brings us to us, the

historic Marramac Township, the city of Wildwood. Uh the wise are critical and the personal narratives that we have collected and that we're sharing through our book are just some uh take it from just some stories to the reality that's tied to the buildings, the homes and the very land. So I personally feel very uh privileged to be part of all of this to be preserving and teaching and uh so that all these stories are important because we're talking about the why. Why did people come and why did they stay? So thanks for all of the opportunities. That's it.

You for your reminders and for your help and for all that you continue to do. Jill, you're you're a treasure to us as well. Thank you.

We'll move on to old business and the Essen log cabin is on the top of the heap. Heard there was a little consternation and and uh we came out okay thanks to one of our members. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the department has a request. Respectfully, if we could move the agenda item relating to the JP Connell House to the first item on tonight's agenda, it would be much appreciated. We have a representative from the owner under contract, Miss Guey, here. instead of maybe having her sit through an extended discussion on some of the items if we maybe could move forward with that particular one. That does require a motion and then second and a majority voice vote to amend the agenda. So, department would respectfully request such.

Is there a motion? I move that someone move that we change the agenda. Is there a second? Any opposition? The agenda is changed.

Thank you, sir. Thank you all for accommodating my request and allowing us to discuss the JP Connell House. The Department of Planning has prepared for your consideration tonight a memorandum that summarizes several years of discussions relating to this particular historic asset, the JP Connell House. As you all are aware, it's located on a large property that is along Manchester Road, historic Route 66, St. Albvin's Road, and then the new State Route 100. It is a property that was visited by the Historic Preservation Commission back in March of 2024 when a request by St. Alvin's properties was submitted for the demolition of the historic asset and several other outbuildings that were situated on property. The owners of the property were gracious enough to extend a period of time for the city of Wildwood, primarily the historic preservation commission to undertake study of options to preserve the JP Connell House and potentially have a buyer or buyers for the property. The owners St. Alvin's properties met with the city on two occasions and ultimately the options that were presented were not satisfactory to them. Those options included zoning incentives allowing potentially a commercial use on a residentially zoned property and increased density of use on the residential property instead of 3 acre density potentially something different. And then finally, other incentives relating to fees, permits, etc. and subdivision as well. As I mentioned, none of those were satisfactory. And more recently, the

Department of Planning received a request to proceed forward with the demolition. In that period though, a group called the Wildwood Property Sanctuary, which was Mr. Essen and Mr. Roberts, had been engaged with the owners of the property and had in principle reached an agreement far enough along to proceed to contract. That contract was in the works and for the most part as Keith and I had not heard from them in terms of had it been signed, had it proceeded forward to closing, etc., etc. And within the last few weeks, another entity approached the city, that being JG Gruy, which is a major commercial developer, not only here in the St. Louisis region but across the country saying that they now had the property under contract and they were very forthright. We want to save the JP Connell House. They would like to basically restore it, preserve it and expand it to a certain extent to make it more viable 2025 residence for some future occupant. in that discussion and it was a very brief discussion but one that was very fruitful. I thought we talked about incentives and the principal incentive that the current owner under contract would like to have is to place the JP Connell House on the smallest lot possible. Meaning instead of a 3acre lot or the current size of the lot, the smallest parcel of ground that could be accommodated. and it's intentional. The intent would be to minimize property taxes as part of the preservation

effort. Certainly, that sounded reasonable to the city and from the standpoint of the historic preservation commission and ultimately our city council, entirely doable. The remaining portion of the property would then be designated for property tax purposes as agricultural. The grewies actually raise cattle. So it is agricultural activity stepswise the process or in general terms is as follows. The first step is tonight to kind of kick off the discussion with the historic preservation g committee commission. Give Miss Grley an opportunity to be seen and heard if she should choose tonight. She will be representing the family and then if all goes well the next steps at least are as follows. The department would present to the historic preservation commission the proposal in some form and we would discuss the historic land use category of the master plan that is critical from the standpoint of the city to proceed forward with an incentive package. The fifth land use category as we call it or the historic land use category allows the city council, the planning and zoning commission and the historic preservation commission to make changes to the other categories in the master plan for land use. In this case, the non- urban residential area, meaning we can offer those zoning and subdivision incentives. The next step under the historic land use category if recommended by the historic preservation commission adopted by the planning and zoning commission and then

ultimately endorsed and ratified by city council would be to place the asset on the city's register. Those two steps are intricral to the incentive package. Thereafter there may be a need for reszoning of the small parcel of ground and then the subdivision process the flatting. So as we create two lots where there is one one very small for the asset and the remainder for the farm for agricultural use. So collectively it involves the historic preservation commission, the planning and zoning commission and city council. But as a preservation effort, you as the HPC, the commission lead that process and it starts here with you as members. Obviously this is a golden opportunity. We are still within the shadow of the Marcliffe residence being removed at the Marinus Retreat Center. We had high hopes that the JP Com House through the Wildwood property sanctuary would not follow suit and end up with that same conclusion. The Grooies have been in Wildwood for many many years. They own substantial properties in the city of Wildwood. They are a first class commercial developer and I hold high hopes that if they are interested and we can find the right set of incentives and do it in a timely manner, we will have the JP Colonel House for a future generation. With that, Mr. Chair, Mr. Miss Grew would like to add anything at this time. If there are no questions of Miss Grley, I'll be glad to ask people.

Thank you for being with us tonight. There any questions of the commission members? Is would there be one owner for both parcels? Is that that's my understanding from talking to Terry Grew is the individual. But

so in order to have a designation for wouldn't it be possible for have the whole property under one as a uh agricultural? Like if you have a farmhouse on a farm, it's one piece of property and it's all zoned agricultural. Huh? Okay. Okay. Sorry. Thank you. Yes.

What we're finding is regardless of if the house is in support of the agricultural activity, St. Louis County will assess the house as a residential um um at a residential amount 19% versus the 12% agricultural. So from the perspective of this proposal, the agricultural assessment is key forward.

Yes. Can't hear you. I'm on six acres. Three acres is zoned. That's exactly the same as u as stated. The other three llays follow is bunch of woods. This property is how many acres total? I'm going to say that my recollection was about 17 acres. Thank you. 15 acres roughly.

I want to pretend I'm I want to pretend I'm slow so I don't have to ask too many dumb questions more than once. I don't mind asking dumb questions, but I like to keep it once. Are we talking about I heard the word subdivide. I know. I heard the word. So, is this 17 or 14 acres ever intended to be subdivided or will it remain one parcel? That's the intention because I don't I don't care if they go after resoning. Honestly, I just want to know what we're dealing with. So, will the structure start off as a farmhouse on a 17 acre non-urban farm and then later someone comes and reszones it for a bed and breakfast or an office building or a or something? And another question goes right along with that. What other out structures are allowed to be built on a 17 or 14 acre farm with a farmhouse in the front of it? Sheds, garages, shops. What's the What do we expect to find as as as differences in a 14 acre parcel with a farmhouse on the front that someone's pretending to live in, but they're going to turn into a B&B? What kind of resonings, what kind of subdivisions do we end up talking about as this property grows its life?

Well, currently the 15 acre parcel ground, I stated 17 acres, so my apologies. The 15 acre parcel ground is a single lot of record with the JP Connell House located upon it and one out building. St. Alvin's properties retain the newest of the out buildings to store their maintenance equipment for the lot. So there's one lot, one dwelling, the JP Connell House, and one out building that at this time is all that occupies the property. under the proposal that was explained to me by Cherry Griie, Miss Griy's brother, is that they would like to place the JP Connell House on a new lot. So now we're at two lots. one that would be somewhere in the range of maybe 3,000 4,000 or 5,000 square feet in size. Meaning that there' be approximately 14 plus acre parcel that would then be standalone and agricultural in nature. And that's fine because agriculture or farming is a permitted use in the non-urban resident district. All you need is a minimum of five acres to be considered a permitted activity or permitted use. So in the short term we have the current situation. In the intermediate term we would have a small lot for the historic asset and then the largest lot the remainder of the lot current lot for agricultural. Now, saying that, what would we offer as a zoning incentive? Well, first and foremost, we're allowing a lot that's under 3 acres. Secondly, as part of our process, we could go ahead and say it could be a bed and breakfast at some point in the future. We could also

go ahead and say it could be a professional office or a general office in the future. We had talked in the past when we were working with the current owner, St. all its properties about the Route 66 association moving out there and using it for its offices or some similar organization. So we have the latitude based upon the input from the owner under contract to basically add a list of uses to the zoning process meaning that it's now historic under the master plan. It's on our local register and as part of the reasonzoning and subdivision we can set a range of uses. So as in the future if the guruies were to say we think it'd be a great bed and breakfast it's here along Route 100 near St. Albins's the development it's on Route 66 etc. So as we move forward and explore this with the owner under contract JG Gruy then we could we could zone so as in the future the only the only component that would be necessary is to come back get approval from the HPC because it's on the register and then move forward with the license and the occupancy components and things like that

like sorry after two more years I'll get this well it's more for Zoom than me but like I say how much of what you've just described can be frontloaded into an action by city council at its first and second reading

I to think anywhere from 80 to 90% let's do it up front while all are at the same table instead of let's say JG Brewy the company coming back in two years new faces on the commission new faces at the planning and zoning commission new faces at city council and potentially new face at this podium let's do it now while we're all here and we get we have a complete understanding thank you director you're welcome sir

questions yes I do um first Thanks, Miss Gruie, and your family for um for bringing this forward. I think it's a great idea. Everybody up here is is thrilled, I'm sure, to hear to hear it. Um my questions are uh kind of along the same lines as Bob's. Um uh uh once you have the lot, that is an established fact. And then you can come back later and ask, okay, well, this is on a small lot. It's a separate piece of property. We'd like to zone go from agriculture to commercial and put a quick trip or something there. I'm not even suggesting that that is anything in their mind, but things change and um pe you know people and I'm not suggesting they would fall in hard times or anything like that. It's just it's a possibility that someone new would um some new generation perhaps would say, "Okay, I want to live in New York City. I, you know, I've got this asset. I want to, you know, uh maximize the value." How is there is there any way to build in some inertia to the uh zoning um so that that doesn't happen? You know, sort of restrict the possibility of that happening. But and I also have another question that's along the same uh vein. Um uh three or 4 thousand square foot lot. That's so incredibly tiny that the um it's a possibility that the um surround the yard would completely lose the character of of the JP Connell House and we would have a house there. There's nothing sadder than going into a city and there's a little tiny little house there, a log cabin or something and there's big old office buildings and so

forth surrounding it and um it doesn't have the feel. I mean, yeah, they preserved the building, but they didn't preserve the actual, you know, history, you know, historic um uh look and feel of it. So, is there is there a way to um to win that fight? I mean, give them what they want, but um three or four thousand square foot, that sounds awful to me. Well, and again, I'm just you're just throwing things out. I'm just working from what I know are allowable zoning would accommodate. Okay.

In the our districts, we have lot components that can be that small, but that's an R6A. That's like a multiple family district. So again, I'm giving you the benefit of just one conversation with Mr. Gurley on this particular subject. Conversation was thorough complete, but I'm just again saying I don't know for sure. Is there a way to pro to place inertia or protections relative to the incentive package? Certainly. Because here's the key element. If we allow the JP Connell House to become something of a commercial major,

the JP Connell House, the exterior will still look like the JP Connell House and a small parking lot or something akin to that wouldn't be out of the ordinary either. And so what we're doing is we're basically preserving the character not only of the asset, but the area around it. Mhm.

A quick trip or some intense commercial use isn't going to fit with the historic component. No matter how much we've saved the asset, it's going to detract from it. It's going to look like you said, it doesn't belong there. Neither really belong together. And so the idea would be is to ensure that if we do give a range of potential uses, they complement the asset first, not necessarily provide the incentive for the action. So the register could start that process because as you know to be on the city's register it has to be approved by ordinance via city council. The reasonzoning ultimately has to be approved by city council via ordinance. So those protections would be in place. The difference here in some instances we're telling the developer here's what you can do. In an instance of historic preservation, JG Brewing and the city of W would be in a partnership and the partnership would try to benefit both parties and ensure that both get what they want to justify them spending the money to purchase and restore and preserve and us to take that leap of faith and do something on that property we wouldn't do anywhere else west of Route 109.

Sure. It just it seems like it's a a bit untenable to to say that this will be egg forever. The the western end of that is so far from the Connell House. I wouldn't mind seeing some sort of a commercial thing as long as the lights and the noise don't, you know, bother the neighbors because it would be, you know, would it would kind of uh serve our ultimate goal of preserving the JB Connell House. My you didn't address my my sort of secondary question which is is there a way to um proscribe any you know removal of those genuinely grand trees that shade the place and make it look like you know like it's supposed to be there and like it's been there forever. So what the department would recommend and again I haven't talked to the GREs at length about this is doing conservation easement the county or an easement county doesn't care

what the zoning is right they don't care it's the land use land use and so we would do an easement around it to preserve enough of the site to ensure that it's in its appropriate setting all you had to say that's that's a that's a great solution So, um, okay. Thank you. Thank Thanks very much. You're welcome. Okay. And thanks again, Miss Gre.

Yeah. Well, if if I may. Well, I I think uh I think it would be hard to subdivide that with the lot size of the the area we're talking about because I think pretty much the property lines are going to have to be Manchester, St. Albvin's, and 100. And then there'll be a property line real close to the house. So it's going to be a decent size. I I would think practically speaking it be decent sized property, but I think in part of our review and approval, we like to see, you know, a survey of staking out what those lines are and make sure it's not just a little box around the house. But a question I have is what would happen if this is the both of these parcels are owned by the same person. Could that person just sell the house and then we'd have just a house on a subsiz lot. It wouldn't be tied into the agricultural that's adjacent to it. And that that that would that would concern me a little bit. Well, certainly protecting the investment of the city in terms of zoning and subdivision incentives is a key component for this kef and I and obviously making the incentive suitable so that it's worth the time to basically move forward. I guess what I would say is first and foremost um the the protection of the asset is in their interest as well. They're not they could purchase ground anywhere in Wildwood that's over five acres and do do a farm.

They're here because they like the JP Connell House. They think it has something that they like to try to do as as not necessarily a hobby, but certainly something for their family. And so I guess what I'm saying again is

I think we can find a solution that addresses your concerns about somebody selling one lot and the other being retained. Because when we did a similar process to the bungalow that's across the street from the Grover post office and we offered incentives and some of those incentives were substantial. We waved the traffic generation and assessment fee which was in the tens of thousands of dollars. What we basically said in the ordinance is if you sell and the business doesn't move into the bungalow, you have to basically repay the city. Now, how's that done? I'll leave that up to the city attorney.

Yeah.

But again, in this instance, we're dealing with a development entity that basically owns Grace Bluffs in Fenton, probably one of the most successful commercial centers in all of the Midwest. So, some of the fears I have, I don't have because I know the family and I know their reputation relative to commercial development and what they've done here in Wildwood. And so, I feel comfortable that if we can basically agree upon a proposal that's accepted by the commission, endorsed by council, we'll have a winning proposal for a long time. Well, I I mean I think to be able to save that house, the commission should be very generous in their consideration. I mean, there's a lot they can give to save that house. And uh but uh and I I do have I I kind of question the value of that property. the remaining property for residential given where it is and its exposure pretty much on both sides if you're going to go to 3acre lot. So, it's it's an awkward piece of property. It may need some future resoning or something, but I I do think we just need to know what's going to happen. And I'd like to see, you know, how that property would be divided and not not put the house in a little box

with farmland around it.

I think it's a great idea, say this house and what's being proposed. My only concern is does this creating a small lot there, set a precedent for developers to come out there and try to change the zoning for small lot subdivisions because we can't we can't have any more of what happened here at 109 and 100. That's a disgrace. So what happened there? And we can't have anymore. So that's my concern that you know small lots don't start extending west. Well, just commentary on the reserve at Wildwood. That's Town Center and we allow that in Town Center. We've allowed that since 1996. It took that long to find a proposal that it could garner enough support on city council. Does anybody like the tree removal? Certainly not. But if you want density and you want to meet the concepts of our town center plan, we can't save everything. We're saving basically 98% of the city by allowing that type of development in 2% of it. 2% of 68 acres. So from that perspective, I'll defend what we've done. It's not the best project. It's not something I would basically put on a resume and say, "Look at the reserve. I did a great job." No, we all collectively, city council, planning and zoning commission and the department recognize that in town center, we allow density. And by the way, we need density. We have business uh businesses that aren't being successful because there's not enough people. And we have a declining population, which is never never a good sign for our community. And so, if you don't like it, I appreciate it. I will always try to do better. I forgot your question though.

Sorry. Sorry for my commentary too, but I have to drive by that every day and it just it'll get better. I promise you. There's all those trees out there that are this big and they're going to come back and find trees this big. Um it'll get better

that um it doesn't set a precedent for smaller lots being moved west. No, because first and foremost, we have the fifth land use category, the historic land use category of the master plan, which is only applied when an historic asset is involved. And in the charter, the city council is prohibited from approving a zoning which would allow smaller lots that's inconsistent with the master plans land use categories. So the only way that someone could replicate this is if there's a historic asset of the same quality and importance as the JP Connell House. Somebody come in with a bungalow and say, "Yeah, I want to do the same thing." Well, it's not the JP Connell House. That was built by the same builder as the old Pot School.

It's just a very important piece of our history. Yeah. No, I agree with what's being proposed. And again, my own problem was the is it a precedent?

Yeah. And I think we can address that because when we created the the historic land use category for the master plan, I can assure you that city attorney and others with interest, the incorporation group, the city council, everybody was involved and said, "We don't want this to become something we didn't plan." And to date, we've had several applications. Quite frankly, none of them have come to fruition. Um because it's it's a difficult process because more so than not, the asset was secondary to the to the incentive. Here from talking to Mr. Gruy, the asset is more important. They're just wanting the property to basically put some more cattle on. So, and that lot being that size, like you said about putting in a parking lot, is it big enough to put a parking lot on 4,000 square feet with the house?

Well, again, depending on how it all moves forward, it it may be in an easement dedicated to the the owners or occupants of the house.

Again, the idea here, at least what was described to me, and if I'm stating this wrong, Miss Guru, you can certainly correct me. They want to pay the least amount of taxes on the improvement and obtain the best amount of the least amount of tax burden on the remaining property. You me too but go back to the tree thing that Rob was concerned about. But again that Wildwood still has all the restrictions on removal of trees too. Correct.

Yes. There was a decision made um back from before CO I guess it was or right after CO I can't remember the exact date that the city council concurred that we would retain the old regulations of the tree preservation and restoration code given that the zoning had been approved for this project long before we adopted the new regulations because the new regulations as Miss Dr. Rambo will attest wouldn't have allowed them to remove the grand groves of trees. We saved the grand trees and the ones that have been identified by their arborists and reviewed by ours and concurrence. But the grand groves of trees, those that weren't necessarily 24 in or greater in diameter at breast height, those groves were just that's what made the property. A lot of them were the evergreens, conifers, cedars, things like that. So,

like I say, um we're going to have 115 new families that are going to bring vibrancy to our town center. So, we're here. Joe, would it be helpful to you at any point here that we we appoint a a committee to work with you on this? Because I if certainly I think the GREs would appreciate. I'm thinking that two or three people here can come up with a lot of answers already and and we can avoid this because I could see this go on every meeting for quite a while. Um because it's a it's it's a new concept and I'm thinking maybe that that a committee working with you to report to us would would be very beneficial.

Certainly. And the other um request I would have respectfully tonight is maybe just a motion to endorse moving forward acknowledging what we know at this stage. That would be helpful. Okay. Would would someone make that motion? Someone ready to do that? I will. Thank you. Is there a second?

It's been moved and seconded. I I'm everyone understand the motion that we continue with this development and and uh Joel you just keep us informed um as to how we can be helpful to you if if a committee is helpful and we'll proceed. If not we'll we'll do whatever you think is appropriate. But I could see this getting out of hand if if we keep this up and there's too much going on here. Uh

and again I think Miss Keith and I are open to having a small group of commission and we don't work enough in committees. We were we're we have the decision makers in the room when they propose or say we can't do this because instead of Robin and I coming back and saying they can't do this because you'll hear from them the obviously the petitioner the applicant which I think is beneficial. It's the partnership component that I spoke to before. The motion goes before you. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Thank you.

Thank you. We appreciate it. And thanks for rearranging the agendas. It's much appreciated. I'm sure and thank you again for being here.

Thank you for standing up and proposing this. Now we'll go back to the log cabin.

Essen law cabin. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair and members of the commission. As you know, the SNL log cabin has been something we've been discussing as a group, not necessarily all of you, but the commission for approximately 10 years since the donation occurred. Recently at a city council meeting by the barest or thinnest or the closest of margins the contract which creek excavating was approved. I believe the vote was 9 to7 that occurred on rec consideration because the original vote was 8 to 7 and it failed for lack of a majority. Fortunately one of the members on Zoom was able to return. The reconsideration vote was approved and success was found. The question probably on your mind is when is the reassembly going to start? And Mr. McDonald, the owner of Cherret Creek Excavating, is asking that as well. And I am trying to get an answer from our general contractor on phase one of Village Green because right now his equipment and the lack of flat work is blocking access to the cab site. So wish I could tell you that it's going to start tomorrow. My guess is that the contract with Cherret Creek Excavating will be completed and the notice to proceed will be done the second week of October. In the contract which was provided to you as part of the memorandum, it noted that they agreed upon completion date was November 30th of this year. I think that's a little ambitious now given that Village Green phase one is for the most part not ready to provide the necessary access for the construction and reassembly of the cabin. Um but I still think we're within a couple of weeks of getting started and if there any

questions regarding the memorandum key and I are available and as you know as a footnote miss Keefe was able in a very nice way to Mr. McDonald's arm to participate at Celebrate Wildwood. We had him there in the tent with some of his construction equipment, tools from

uh yes, he he brought um some uh early equipment and tools uh from from the front frontier period uh for display. I did not have to twist his arm at all, by the way. He he volunteered. he was going to bring, you know, as much stuff as he could cart over later in the day. If we hadn't been rained out, his father would have joined. Um, his whole family was there and he can't wait to recruit basket weavers and all kinds of programming activities for the future when we do have a log cabin. Um, so I think I think we have a great partner in uh Mr. McDonald. Um, so I look forward to working with them very much on his dog.

Is he a resident of Wildwood? I believe he lives in Herman, Missouri, and that's where he done most of his uh log cabin reconstructions.

So just as a footnote in our charter, there's a provision that no project single project so to speak and exceed now under the inflationary allowances 4.2 2 million. So, the fact that the cabin is in Village Green, we're trying to figure out if that impacts that shorter component because we have Village Green phase one that's going to end up somewhere around 2.2 or 2.3 million. We have the playground that's going to follow the all-inclusive playground somewhere around 2.2 or so. And we have a cabin at just under $300,000. So, we're investigating that to make sure that we don't violate the charter. Mr. Mayberry,

I'm sorry, Mike. Forgot my train of thought. Sorry. No, this Mike can apologize. Um, do we need to artificially stall the completion of of Do we need to stall the installation until the completion of phase one as a project as a remedy to having the log cabin as part of phase one of the project?

Absolutely not. I don't believe that to be the case. I think that the cabin itself can be the components of the cabin, the footing foundation, the slab on grade, those things can get started um even with let's say less than ideal conditions. We'll lose that additional $5,000 deduct that was part of the bid Shere Creek Excavating provided, but I think that's a small price to pay. They're still at $280,000 even without the additional deduct, which is $40,000 less than the best bid through round one. Um, so I think we can move forward. And if you're worried about the cabin, I think the solution that city administrator Tomley and I've come up with is the all-inclusive playground is the premier design. That was the choice of city council. We can certainly scale that back if necessary. And scaling back on that means instead of it being almost 40,000 square feet in size, somewhere less than that. A mechanical means of stalling the ribbon cutting and the official turning on of the lights of the log cabin. stall that until after the official completion and ribbon cutting of phase one of Village Green. It's legal. Um it's mechanation, but uh it's it's it's a mechanical requirement and it doesn't keep the log cabin from being done. Just it keeps it from being contractually completed. I'm sure you've thought of that. And five more things. Well, I feel confident with Sheret Creek Excavating that if they say it'll be done on X day, it will. I have limited confidence contractor for phase one. We have made promises in terms of completion dates,

none of which have been met to date. In fact, the last four days due to the rain and wet ground conditions, there's been no one there working on the on this one village green. And in the opinion of the department, there are a number of things that can be done regardless of what ground conditions are raining. A number of light standards that need to be installed. We have a drinking fountain that needs to be installed. We have a landscaping that needs to be placed at a loss. Thank you.

If I may, we we we um we talked about that very eventuality when we chose a contractor and it's that chickens coming home to roost uh uh to a certain extent, but the the cabin is really has it been presented to the bombshell folks as priority one? get your flat work done in that area and move your equipment so that we can start on the cabin because he bid on the cabin. So maybe he doesn't feel the the the the pressure to to to clear the way for some other contractor to be working there. I can assure you our city administrator Tom Lee sent an email that that would very clear

in the urgency of the completion. Very very clear. So, um, which I appreciated from our city administrator.

Yeah, that's that's good. Um, the, uh, uh, this cabin is so important. Um, but we had choices on where we would locate the cabin. It didn't have to. It just that was the best place for it. and you know to ding us for putting it in the best place for the community when we had choices um I mean it it may be legal but it doesn't seem fair and the same thing with the um with the million-doll playground we wanted it that's a good place for it but it wasn't part of the original plan for counts for for the village green at all

exactly and so from the commission's perspective don't feel like you've done something like, "Oh, we've crossed that line." No, you haven't. Because the all-inclusive playground wasn't an idea till December of 2023, and it was to be at Gleno City Park. Then we needed community park and then ultimately the commission decided needs to be here at the center of city and town center. So to that end,

we were we were here first. Our recommendation, it was the playground that followed. And as I say, we've been doing the math in a general way, but we're getting close to understanding what we have to spend. Uh we have a bidded price for the cabin, almost completed project for phase one. We just need to adjust the price for the all-inclusive playground, which is entirely doable, and it it'll still be a wonderful facility. I can guarantee you that.

I would hate to cut back on that. Just I mean, it this seems arbitrary. I mean, we we um there's a really good case to be made that we are not in violation because we had, you know, we made those choices at the 11th hour after the the plan was in place for phase one. And I am just reciting what the city Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know. But I I would go I would I would really fight that. I'm sorry.

The charter provision is very clear. It's one of those provisions that I argued against, you know, this democracy. It's our elected body, they will make the best decisions. Going back to the voters is almost always an assurance that you're going to do it only once or twice and you're always going to pair down what you submitted first. That's the process. So, it is what it is, but we're going to get through it. I promise you. Because we have three great projects. Village Green phase one, Village Green phase two, the playground, and our cabin. three great projects that most communities would love to have and be be concerned about.

The cabin's even I'm feeding this to death. I'm sorry. I know I am, but it's just it's it's very important uh that we not skinny back on the on the the the little playground or the not so little playground, but the cabin is right there on the corner. Just cut that out of the village green scenario and we're done. Right. I mean, uh we it's it's right on the boundary. And there is such a thing called as a boundary adjustment plan. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly right. Talked about that just pling that line a little bit to the west and all of a sudden the cabin's on city hall site and so is the playground. I mean playground is you know. So anyway, you're on top of it. I'm just whining because

talking about it tonight, but we're getting Okay. Let me know if I can help. Thanks, Kevin. No, sir. I'll sit down and be quiet. Thank you. Robin, you waited long.

Oh, it's it's nice. I'm I'm getting plan.

Uh Mr. Chair, members of this commission, uh as you know, our our big undertaking this year has been our historic preservation plan. Uh the first uh citywide historic preservation plan for the city of Wildwood. Uh we've had a number of updates uh since we last met on this topic. Uh one uh right after we met, we held another focus group uh with a bunch of individuals on uh Monday, August 25th. Uh the primary topic for discussion was indigenous history. Uh so we we did get to uh touch on that and explore um some different topic areas than we had previously at some of our other focus groups. Uh following that on September 8th uh MIG or Marsha Bole of MIG uh gave presentation to the Wildwood City Council. Uh so we've now um we've now presented the historic preservation plan effort, its current status and ongoing engagement uh to both the master plan committee as well as city council. So uh so everybody should be in the know. Uh following that uh we did receive comments from the state historic preservation office uh back on our historic preservation plan outline. our um current uh existing conditions report as well as our community engagement summary. Uh so Shipo did provide us some very thoughtful comments. I've included that in your packets this evening and we'll be addressing that as part of the next iteration of the plan. Um and we believe that's very doable. We've discussed that with our consultant as well. And finally uh for the big harrah

last Saturday uh Marsha Bole uh did come home to Wildwood uh to be a part of that with us and it was really nice having her there. She brought a lot of energy to the tent. Um I think the activities were very wellreceived. Um we did a lot of engagement throughout the day and got some more feedback on our historic preservation plan effort. And I'd say one thing that I continue hearing over and over again is that people would like to see more heritage themed events. Um so that seems to be a common thread across all of these um areas. It's it's maybe not number one, but it's been in those top three or four um for every activity we've done. Um and that that brings us up to our present day. So the next step for this historic preservation plan is um a near final draft of the of the plan 70% completion is due in this December to the state historic preservation office and that means uh that this draft will be available for your review in October um because we'll need to we'll need to take a look before it uh goes to the state. Uh so that's the goal is that at your next meeting uh you'll have um a much um more robust uh historic preservation draft to look at. Uh secondly, uh at Celebrate Wildwood, I did go around and I talked to the different local vendors and different clubs. And I wanted to note that the Lions Club has expressed interest in having this commission present to it along with the Wildwood Historical Society at one of their future meetings, which is usually held on Wednesday evenings. Um, so if anyone is interested

in making that presentation, um, then I can go ahead and try to set something up with them, uh, so that we can potentially, uh, find some ways to work together, uh, for future, uh, historic preservation efforts, uh, because that would be the goal is, uh, presenting what we do so that potentially their membership can get excited and the Lions Club can show up for us, um, at a future date. Uh so if this commission is interested I would certainly love to know that at this time

certainly

it's a president organization not here in St. But real sound and it was fabulous what they what they will come up with and help with and not just the men. The mothers are there too. Wives are there too and the kids are there. So I think it's a it's a wonderful idea. might be an opportunity also to do a little membership plug for both organizations. I would assume it's our local Lions Club since they were at Celebrate Wildwood. I don't know. I didn't

I would propose we Sorry, that was on I propose we would have not only the Lions Club but the Wildwood Historical Society as far as presentation. I think that's a great start. Right. Wonderful. Well, if this is the general consensus, then we can certainly move forward and reach out to the Lions Club and send something up. Um, and then I'll communicate with this group via email.

It would be a good idea to also ask them what specifically maybe they're looking for as far as what topics or what they want to know about. So maybe in advance um kind of limit the the narrative and and see what they want. Sure, sounds good. I might suggest that they think about holding the meeting at the historical society. That's not a bad idea. We could certainly offer that to them. Uh currently they meet at Salt and Smoke uh at the uh Clarkson and Clayton Center in Ellisville um on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. Oh, there's your answer.

I will I will first talk to the Wildwood Historical Society before offering their facilities, but uh we can see what just a thought. We can see what can be offered. Chair While you're up, you want to go on with Route 66? Uh, well, actually, I I'm not quite finished with Celebrate Wild.

Uh, so another vendor uh that I I spoke with was the Department of uh Missouri Conservation and uh the one of the ladies at the tent uh was uh specifically uh based at Rockwoods Reservation. And so I told her all about our historic preservation plan effort and what we were doing. And uh not so long after I received this flyer from her in my email box. Uh ghost of ghosts of Rockwood's past. Uh this event will be held on October 18th from 10:00 a.m. in the morning to 11:30 a.m. And uh it will generally focus on the history of Rockwood's reservation. um as an addendum to this flyer, she invited this group uh the historic preservation commission out to speak to this group as well as part of this tour. So, if we have any ambassadors from this commission, I'm not sure if I can make it. I'm going to be working an event the night before. Um but if we have any ambassadors who would like to show up at this ghost um ghost of Rockwood's past event and say a few words about what this commission does and how people can get involved. Uh we'd certainly love to um be included as part of this. Uh so you can reach out to the department via email if you have if you have an interest. And that concludes my presentation on the historic preservation uh plan effort.

Um may I may I suggest you just put out an RSVP and um you'll get either yeses or nos. I don't know. I'm a yes or a no yet. I have to look at stuff regarding the ghosts of Rockwood's past. Yeah. Being an ambassador at whatever that is. I'll send out an email to this group uh both regarding the Lions Club opportunity. Well, I'll probably get to this one just a little sooner since there's already a date, but I'll be sending out a followup. Thank you. Hey, Robin. Yes. I get so sick of typing. Want to um I want to try to articulate.

Could you use your microphone? It's on. Um

I'm picking you. Okay. Um, is that better? Um, yeah. So, um, rather than type this all out, I was in kind of excited to go here because I've been going to Rockwoods Reservation since I was a little kid. I mean, my family did lots of free stuff because we didn't have any money. And one of the things was the zoo there. And another thing was the they had a beautiful like a museum uh in a gorgeous stone dwelling u and the road was different and this and that was different and whatnot. So I have a lot of historical perspective that I can throw in some very brief remarks along with being your um your ambassador as you put it. As long as you give me a script of things I need to cover um I'd be happy to do that because I'm I'm pretty sure I'm going to go. I have to check my own calendar.

That sounds great. We'd love to have you. Thank you. Now, can we go on Philip 66? Yes. Now I can talk about Route 66. I said Phillips.

All right, Mr. Chair, members of this commission, um I admittedly uh I think celebrate Wildwood took most of my focus this past month. Um, but we do have plans for our Route 66 efforts uh going into this next month. And one of those plans is we're going to be finalizing our event dates uh for next year. Uh we've talked about doing a number of Route 66 events, including a drive-in movie with the cities of Eureka and Pacific. Um though I think we've already settled on the next year's back to school party for that one. uh a Bunan derby run, a concert, uh potentially a Joe Sderman presentation and trivia game, a Route 66 cruise event, and a scavenger hunt. Uh so given that we are in this partnership with leader publications to produce a Route 66 magazine uh for the centennial uh we want to make sure that we nail down these dates in this next month so they can get in the magazine as part of our overall uh promotions for city of Wildwood. Um, so speaking of our Route 66 themed magazine, um, I I will say that we had a little bit of a setback this past month. Uh, I had sat down with the city's communications and economic development um, manager to determine a messaging strategy to businesses and we had worked something out and then she left the city unfortunately. Two two good opportunities. We appreciated having her while she was here. Um but uh now uh we're we're having to retool a little bit based on staff availability and what we can what we can do. Um but Leader Leader Publications has been uh happy so far. I was able to give them a lead uh

to uh Fast Lane uh Classic Cars and it looks like they might advertise in the magazine and we'll make sure that we send a a list of Wildwood businesses and organizations for them to contact as well. Um at this last meeting, uh this commission did endorse sponsoring an additional one-third page highlighting the city uh or this commission's partnership with the Wildwood Historical Society. Um, so, um, I went ahead and let them know that we're going to be doing a page and a third. Um, in terms of our our advertising commitment, um, Miss Von Gubin has volunteered to assemble some of the Route 66 uh, history leads um, that we'll then uh, send to leader publications so that their journalists can weave those together into some interesting content for the magazine. Um, and that that concludes my update so far regarding the magazine. Are there any questions about that specifically for the department?

How are you going to disseminate those magazines?

Uh, so Leader Publications is reaching out. Uh, they're looking to distribute the magazine all across Missouri and even up 55 to Chicago. Um, so they'll be reaching out to visitor centers, to hotels, to uh gas station convenience stores along the route and making that happen. Um, if you have any ideas, certainly share them with the department and we'll pass that along as well. I I used to hang out over there at the you know where when these years have passed now, but um I still want to go back and and look at the people that walk in there because they're always looking for a place and they want they want to know. And so we told them, you can eat at this. You can eat at this place and you can eat at this place. And guess what's coming? It's coming soon. What's coming? You're

Well, didn't we spend a lot of time talking about the U place where we're going to stop cars and they're going to look at the history of Oh, you mean the park? The park. Yes. Yes. Coming soon. But it's amazing the people that still run this road as much as they can. Absolutely. I I do hear stories um all the time of people coming through.

There's also tours that run basically from Chicago all the way out to Los Angeles. I don't I don't know how to get a hold of that list, but there are car tours and I would think there'd be a lot of them in 2026. So, um but they would be able to pick up this at maybe at rest areas and and things like that. Yeah. All right. Uh, moving on to the next component, which is the Route 66 historic marker. Um, I will admit there's been a little bit of a delay this year and moving forward with that project, and that was largely because we were uh looking to determine uh whether or not we needed to uh basically it was a question of copyright. who owned the design to our current markers and could we potentially uh go to another entity for future markers. And what we determined was uh that our historic community markers because we're there's a bit of a question mark as to who owns the copyright for those designs. Um they're essentially that design is essentially potentially owned by in graphics uh architectural signage who we've used in the past. Um however, what we're proposing uh so that we can open the door to potentially uh exploring um other um uh signed architectural companies is uh maybe coming up with a a slight variation uh to our signage uh for future markers uh causing them to be distinctive from our historic community markers. And we think that's a good delineation because all of our current

markers are historic community markers. So we could potentially have a different design, not too different, but different uh for all future markers which have, you know, more of a landmark um feel. Like we've got our United States colored troops, we have our Route 66 historic marker, and we're talking about um if Mr. Mabry had his way, 50 others. Um, but the the nice thing about moving towards a slightly different design is that then we could shop around and we're not um we would own the copyright particularly if we designed it and we documented that we designed it and then that wouldn't put us in that same spot going forward um as we're as we're pursuing additional markers. Um so that's what I would like to present to you as the primary update this evening regarding our Route 66 historic marker. We'd very much like to move forward with it. Um but we would like to potentially explore um using a different company than we have in the past. Um largely there's just such a variation in uh cost estimates and materials and just ease of working uh with with the people. Um, so if that's something that this commission would like to explore, I don't have any designs to present to you this evening. Um, but we'd certainly like your endorsement to move forward with the potential of exploring a different design for future markers and then, um, having our Route 66 marker be the first marker with such a design. I I I would love one.

I really like the idea of this having it its own distinct character and and look. So, um I would make a motion to approve your further exploration on that idea. I'll second that. Great.

Mr. Chair, any discussion? Any discussion? Any further discussion? Yeah. So, um you would have right now I guess the uh design of the markers we have were designed by the manufacturer who's making the signs. Is that it? We actually don't know who ultimately designed our current markers. The main thing is we looked in our files. We looked in every location we could think of and we couldn't come down to a definitive one way or another.

Oh, but Wildwood doesn't at least they know you know Wildwood does not own this. We could potentially own it. We just don't know because we don't have document. So, but you would hire say you would have a graphic designer would design it with and give that copyright the with the design. We would buy the copyright and then you could give that to any sign company to manufacture it. All right. Is that correct?

So I believe and director Bunich can correct me if I'm wrong, but in any of the city's contracts where we're directly contracting with a graphic designer, I believe it's included in the contract that we own the copyright of whatever is produced through that relationship. And then it could be bid from five 10 different sign companies that would have That's right. But we would own that design. So even if one company did this next Route 66 marker, then in the future we could potentially change companies again and we're, you know, it gives us more options.

Um, and that's the idea behind it. That be gets a question. I'm going to ask you to repeat your motion. I think it was a long time ago. Well, I think the motion we're looking for, Robin was looking for is to give our approval for their further exploration and looking at another company to poss possibly work the design and and be the one that is retained. Yes, that motion was seconded. So, it goes before you. any any additional comments?

I don't think I understand that that was the motion that was made that you were looking for. Big distinction to me between working with a a some entity that's going to help the city develop a new bespoke marker template. And then I hear that that company that that we work with will retain the copyright or that the city will retain the copyright to be allowed to competitively bid to anybody in the world from that point on. So when I hear that we'll work with a we'll team with someone and then the contract will stipulate that they retain copyright and we have to work with them forever or that we don't and we have it ourselves. That's important to me. Uh so to clarify what I stated earlier uh one I think we're going to start with uh start with designing new marker internally uh with our existing staff

that's the best um but two generally I believe and I will double check and correct myself to this commission if I'm wrong but I believe our city contracts when we hire a consultant to do this work for us It's built right into the contract that we own the copyright. They're doing this work for the city of Wildwood. So, it's our design even though they're performing this the work, but we're paying them for that design. So, um but so we would own the design regardless of whether we design it internally with our staff or whether we hire a graphic designer, you know, through the city's usual process.

That's good. And that is the motion. Correct. Did you want to add anything to that motion? No, that's good. Okay. Goes before you. All in favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Once again carried. Thank you. Thank you. And that concludes my Route 66 update.

And then discussion just a point. We apparently have ordered eight or 10 of these placards already, markers. No, we're in the process of uh we have a city approved uh marker for our United States color troops and we're in the process of designing a Route 66 historic marker u but we only have two presently in the works.

What's driving the change from what we've already got without it? which seems to be the driving motive to make a change at least in part a big part is that we don't know whether we own the copyright to what we already have or don't. So to be safe, we're going to invent something new that we can grab as the owner of. A very simple tactic would be to use the same U template. If it's inoffensive, and there's no other reason than to change it than the fact that we want to eliminate a variable, just put it out for competitive bid and be sure to include the printer that printed the first batch. inform them that we're putting out a competitive bid and then that forces them to disclose whether they think they have a claim to the to the copyright or not at that point. Or else they're they're they're dis they're disallowed from coming back later and and claiming that as a trick that they that they knew that they claimed that they owned the copyright, but then they let us bid it out so that we could violate their copyright. And that's just a simple tactic to weed it out. Uh if we really want to change the template, great. And shouldn't be any reason why we care about whether the copyright is owned by someone else or isn't owned by someone else or we don't have the paperwork. I'm I'm just really trying to deconuse myself on what the real drive is and what's behind each of the different drives. Uh well, we've been primarily having this conversation with our city attorney uh regarding what what those considerations are. Uh that's certainly one approach we could take. Um however, I will say that there's a certain time

constraint with the Route 66 historic marker and that we probably want to get that fabricated as soon as possible in time for the 100th anniversary. And so I I would be concerned that if we do it the way that you're describing that that could potentially delay the project um several more months um as we go through that process and then wait for a challenge and and then and then we might be back at square one talking about the same thing.

You've just added another driving motive and that's the most important one I've heard uh yet. So, I'd say full steam ahead with the plan you have now. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. All right. Any other questions regarding Route 66 revitalization?

I don't believe so. Oh, if I I actually I think now thinking about it that the fact that it would be different from our historical it would be it would look different than our historical community's markers and I I think that would that's a positive. I I would suggest even if we didn't have to change it that it would be good to change the design of it. Thank you. All right. Uh, at your next meeting, we'll bring back a few designs for your consideration. Thank you.

Work program.

Yes. Uh, Mr. Chair, members of the board, uh, most items in our work program, uh, I believe we are touching on tonight, but I will touch on just a couple. Uh first I would like to note that the Missouri uh Department of Natural Resources has informed us that they have indeed received the funding from the federal government which means they can go forward with uh producing a grant agreement for all parties to sign and send us to the national conference uh for the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions uh next next year in Minneapolis. Um, so that is in the works. Um, it would also pay for training for us to attend the next summer short course series as well. Um, and that would cover everyone's fee for that. Um, also I would just like to note that next Thursday, uh, Commissioner Broyals, um, Advisor Scott as a standin for Chair Stevens, our youth commissioners, um, and our friends at SWT Design and I are all going to the Missouri Preservation Conference in St. Louis and we're producing or or we're presenting on our Route 66 uh student task force and youth member initiatives here at the city. Uh so we're very excited to be doing that. Um and I I may even take this session proposal that I put together and submit it to the national conference in Minneapolis as well since we'll be in attendance. So we'll see how that goes. Um, so that's my update there. And the only other update I would say is just to remind you that we have a save the date on hold for the afternoon of Sunday, November 2nd for the memorial brick

dedications for Miss Vong Gruben and Miss Hard Camp. What time is that? Uh, it hasn't. It's a save it's a save the date at the at this time. It would probably be uh let's just say around 2:00 in the afternoon and that's a Sunday. It's a Sunday afternoon, November 2nd.

So just block off the afternoon, please. And that concludes uh my presentation on the work program. If you have any questions of the department for any of the items on our work program, um we'd love to hear them at this time and try to answer them. There being none, we'll move on to new business. Mr. Chair, members of this commission, I attempted to make a video for this meeting. Unfortunately, it apparently takes 5 hours for it to render. I'm going to attempt to show you the preview version from the editor software um now. So, just give me a moment and we'll see how it goes.

12 hours now. Heat. Heat.

[Music] out. Hello. Just give it a second. Yes, while we wait for it to buffer, uh we sold 11 history books at the event and eight Route 66 t-shirts. Uh it does look like getting somewhere. Uh Jill von Grubven was a local celebrity at the History Tent. Uh it turns out that her endeavors in New Orleans were highly interesting to people and so many people came out to see uh her and the history books uh because of of that news um going out.

Mr. Chair, with your permission, I'm going to ask Miss Keefe to kind of curtail the video so that we can move on to the rest of the items on the agenda. We'll have a final version for you at a future meeting, the fun effort um that I threw together right before the meeting. And unfortunately, that's not enough time. Sounds good.

All right, so going on um I'm just giving a recap of the day. Obviously, uh we had some great news in the morning. Um Chair Bockart worked tirelessly for this commission for weeks leading up to this parade effort. Uh recruited a horserawn carriage from his neighbors and invited all of you to the party. Uh Commissioner Berllo uh donated a vintage vehicle to the event as well. And then we had a golf cart uh pooper scooper vehicle uh tailing the whole show. Um all in all it was a fun display uh that everyone thoroughly enjoyed and it actually won you all first place

oh in the celebrate Wildwood parade this year. Uh so once I get this signed from the mayor, apologies, uh we can uh there thereafter display it in our display area here at city hall. Congratulations. Job well done. Yeah, it's 20 hours back.

Yeah. Uh as noted earlier, we also did quite a bit of engagement around our historic preservation plan effort. Uh turns out uh that the top uh response when we gave people 10 choices for historic preservation planning priorities, the top response was protect and highlight the the community's legacy trees, flora, and fauna. That was our top. Um, after that came revitalizing the historic Route 66 corridor. Um, expanding the number of family-friendly events that include a historic theme and installing more historic plaques um, and interpretive signage in Wildwood. Uh, we also produced a similar activity to what we had at the back to school event and again uh, attend historically themed festivals was number one followed by the ghost tour of Zombie Road. Um, and then as in log cabin or visit a reconstructed log cabin did uh come in third place along with eating at a historic restaurant. So that's uh that's what gets people excited about history. Um for our map of historic landmarks activity, Babler Park continues to get the most votes. So um so Babler really does have a reputation for being a historical park um in our city. Rockwood's Reservation, um the Log Cabins, the Korean Camp Store, Stoville's Grove, and Big Chief Roadhouse all uh all got celebration stickers. And a place that's at risk of being lost is the Ponden. Uh the historic community's mapping activity, uh it continues to engage people and bring people in. Uh we actually had that out as kind of the leading activity into the historic preservation plan engagement area. And

so people would come, they would see the uh historic community sticker um activity, they would get engaged in that and then I would draw them in um to the other activities. But it was a very um popular crowd uh attractor. We gave out many many points of interest maps. And then um as we discussed earlier, we had Eli McDonald and his family uh with a full display of those early uh Frontier Life items. Um and he was doing a wonderful job engaging with the kids. There were so many who would just run right up to his display and they're like, "What's this? This is so cool." and he had like an oil lamp from the Katy the Katy Trail uh back when it was um you know actually a railroad. Um so he had he had a lot of uh really interesting items. He said all of them did fine after the rain event. They got a good clean. We took them home. Um but he's excited to help us equip our cabin and and future events. Um, after that we had uh quite the downpour. Uh, we had a torrential rain event that lasted I don't know was that it was a good 45 minutes or how long was it? It was it was a decent length of time. We had like rivers um uh going down the back of our our tent. Uh we had to, you know, cut the electricity. Um, it was pretty crazy. Uh, so thank you to everybody who was involved in that effort. Um, Mr. Mavery was knocking water off the top of the tent there and I had some great pictures of it. Um, we had to throw away most of our our paper items, but thankfully we can just print more of those. Uh, some

of our awards did take a little bit of a hit. I'm sorry, but um, we dried them out the best we could. I I think most of them will survive another day. Uh maybe one of them I might reach out to an organization, see if we can't replace it. Um the other other than that, everyone did good. We rescued items best we could. The history books made it out alive. All the stickers made it out alive, which was great. Um so it was it was great. So thank you um everyone for your help. Thank you for having a good attitude. Thanks for dancing in the rain with me. and just making memories that celebrate Wildwood.

Yes, we did. We sold a history book and two t-shirts while we were under the tent getting poured on. Um, and everyone uh came back to city hall afterwards to help me dry out those items. So, thank you for that. Um, apologies to those who showed up uh later uh to an empty tent. Hopefully, you had a good time at the event. Um, next year we're planning to bring a tarp and some PLA waterproof plastic bins. That way if we have a sudden rain event, we can just toss everything in there and we're not quite um quite as caught off guard. Um, and hopefully we can then proceed with the show after the the rain passes. Um, but we did have a few suggestions that came up uh since the event. Uh, one, uh, concerning the parade, we would just suggest that for next year when HBC goes all out, um, that floats at the front of the parade actually stage, um, at the venue grounds until the rest of the parade has passed and that way we don't have people going against the flow of the parade uh, back to the Shinook parking lot. Um, we are recommending a new uh, method potentially of taking payments. our square reader apparently doesn't connect to some of the newer iPads. So, we're looking into that. And then, uh we've noticed that hard coverver books do sell more readily at Celebrate Wildwood. Um people like the nicer version and so we'll make sure that we have u more of those at future events as well. However, at this time, uh, the department's going to stop talking and turn it over to you to share some of your favorite memories of the day and any feedback that you have for us on how we can make it even better next year. Thank you.

Any comments? Um, I thought it was great that you hand the candy out and not throw it and um because there was a lady in front of me that was throwing it and I'm in that truck trying to slow down and it's old and it made me a nervous wreck with the kids running in the street and you know we're going slow but still you were constantly making sure the kids were okay especially as it get gets more narrow as you go up. That was a great um thing handing the candy to the kids. I thought Any other comments? I do. Right here. I hope we can get the horses back. They all They all went home fine. Okay. They beat the rain. I think they were a big hit. Huh.

I think they were a big hit. Oh, thank you. They were We enjoyed it, too. Well, the dog is a part of a family. So, that's comes along for the ride.

So, Robin, one more for Robin. Thank you for all the work you did setting that up, that booth up, because it took a lot to get all those different elements in there. So, we appreciate that. Well, I I had help uh from uh a woman uh Don Willenbrink with the city. Uh she was very helpful to setting up the tent and so was Marcia Bole with MIG. So uh so together we made it happen. Thank you. Um, and of course, thank you to all of you for everything that you put into that event because it wouldn't have been as successful if we hadn't had the enthusiasm and dedication and um, just everybody here being a part of it. That's what makes those events really special. So, thank you.

Amen. And Joe Joe always likes to do a call out for uh the staff. Would you like to? Well, anyway, I will um just just note that uh it always takes a village to make those types of events come together. And so there's a whole lot of people who are involved in Celebrate Wildwood beyond beyond us and the history tent. Um, but to make that whole event come together, it's a year-long planning effort. With this being the 30th anniversary, was probably even longer than that. Um, so just a call out to all of those behind thescenes folks who were a part of making this event so special. [Music] And that concludes my presentation regarding the debrief.

Do we have any idea how many people actually attend? I heard good things. I heard that maybe we had one of the more well attended events. I mean, I'm just I'm, you know, this the swarm of kids and families at the end of the parade, for example. I mean that seems like couple thousand people at least to me but I I have no way of recently. Yeah. I I just I would love to know.

And here's Paul Officer Dalder with the St. County Police Department would provide estimates. Generally over the course of the day, we have about 5 to 6,000 people. Officer Degelder retired. This year, I don't have an estimate yet, but for the most part over the course of the day, and it's about a 10-hour day, we'll get that many people. And that's what draws the vendors and the different food court providers and etc. It's a well attended event generally. It was nice also that the rain did not dampen the rest of the evening, so to speak. Um, it looked like a lot of the crowds came back. I think we hung around till about 6 or so or 6:30. Um, the band hadn't started yet, but it had been a long day, so we went home and got some dry clothes, but it looked like a lot of people came back. I don't know how it turned out for the fireworks, but um, there were some good numbers from what I saw after the rain.

I heard good reports on the fireworks, too. Okay. Yeah. All right. Okay. CLG annual reporting.

So, uh, my last couple updates of the agenda, um, I can almost lump into one, um, have to do with our responsibilities as a CLG. Uh so as all of you are hopefully aware of by now, but we are a certified local government and that means we work um on our historic preservation initiatives in partnership with the state and federal governments um in terms of you know funding and technical assistance and um designation programs and and tax and tax credits and other incentives as well. So we all we all work together in partnership and as being a certified local government we do have some requirements for that certification and that's enacting our own historic preservation ordinance um appointing a commission such as yourselves uh conducting ongoing survey of our historic properties. um doing the public outreach that this commission does so well and uh satisfactorily performing the responsibilities assigned to it. Um we are also required every year to submit an annual report summarizing all of these activities so that we can continue to prove that we're we're doing what we need to do as a um as a CLG. And so I've reached out to all of you at this point and I've summarized uh how many trainings you've done for the year um and asked for resumeumés in some cases if I didn't have one on file. So um I will be looking at my notes um when I go back to the office. I may be reaching out to a couple of you still to u make sure that we have all of those requirements in place. But just note um that the city does need to submit this annual report by the end of November. And so um your help in in helping me tie

up some of those loose ends is always appreciated. Um but really you should all give yourselves a pat on the back this year because I really didn't have too many people who I could say, "Hey, you didn't complete your training." I think most of you had um and in fact some of you were overachievers with six or seven or eight trainings in some cases. So congratulations. You are more than fulfilling your responsibilities um as part of this CLG. So thank you for that. Um also I'm just like to go ahead and lump that final one. Uh it's under ma uh other matters for consideration. But you might have remembered that last month uh I introduced our new CLG coordinator to you. Well, unfortunately that was short-lived and she has since moved on to other opportunities. Uh so we are once again working with Andrew Dial who is the community services section chief for the state historic preservation office. um he came to visit us uh in October of 2023 for the evaluation visit. He's a wonderful guy. Um we have a good relationship with him. So for now uh we'll just continue working with him um towards our preservation efforts and I'll let you know when they hire a new CLG coordinator. Thank you.

Thank you Joe. Tell us what's happening with the McConnell House. I you lost me for a few minutes here because I was reading that I didn't know all of the things that had gone on uh to this place in terms of the the the uh changes in in uh who's buying it and what they're going to do with it.

The current owner is the owner that has been in place for a number of years. St. Alvin's properties purchased three of the four corners at Highway T and Route 100 many many years ago with the hope of using them as an entryway in to the overall development of Franklin County. The Wildwood pro Wildwood Property Sanctuary which is Carl Essen and Mr. Roberts, they had what we believed for a while a contract for the purchase and then as I had mentioned most recently within the last few weeks, JG Gruy, commercial developer and a longtime family that has lived in Wildwood came and said now they have the contract of purchase and so be moving forward here pretty quickly. Um hopefully we'll have something more for you in October. Are they are they thinking of moving it or are they they're going to move work around it?

They are going to preserve it, restore it, and they'd actually like to expand the kitchen so it's a more functional house for 2025 standards. They are. Yeah. Interesting. Very. And as I said, they own Grandpa's Bluff, um, probably one of the largest commercial centers in the Midwest. They have the wherewithal to do a very good job. And they're a cattle company. They have cattle on the property on Pond Road and they'd like to expand that and bring some here to San Halen's Road. Okay. Interesting. Only in L.

Not quite what we had planned. My wife's antique shop went down the drain here. Yeah. Any other business to come before us this evening? I'll accept a motion for adjournment. Second. All in favor that we adjourn say I. I. I. You're ajourned. Was I supposed to pass these on?

Oh, there's that right there. All evening. I'm sorry. I just uh Okay.