Master Plan Citizen Oversight Group - 2026 - Regular Meeting

There you go. Thank you. Well, welcome my friends to the show that never ends. Come on in. Come on in. Thank you so much for attending meeting number 15. Uh, I can't tell you how much it's appreciated your attendance and your input. So, thanks again. Any comments from the mayor this evening? Then, okay, Melanie, please roll call here. Uh, vice chair loyal

here. Member Avery, member Baker, member Batty, member Boomer here, member Borne, member Clark here, member Clayton here. Member Coleman here. Member Deppler here. Member Hellfrey. Member Hman. Member Rubis here. Member Jackson. Member Conn. Council member McCutchen here. Member Mets

here. He's here via Zoom. Correct. Member Pic here. Member uh council member Rambo here. Member Ren here. Member Shiken. And we have a quorum. Thank you very much. Thank you. At this time, would you all please join me in the pledge of

allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Moving on to the approval of the minutes from last month. Do we have a recommendation to accept as is? Are any comments thereof, Teresa?

Yeah, I'll I won't move to accept them except there's one thing. Um, I know that the sunshine law does state that the motions uh should be documented in the minutes, but um not explicitly require that the motion itself is recorded. But there's one, let me see if I can find it again. There's one clause that I I would ask that we add if possible. And that is to the motion that was made regarding the um the recreation center. if we add in there that it's and or um the um um partnership with the YMCA.

I think that's how it was originally presented. So I think we would all be in favor of that. Any discussion? It's Yeah, it's not in the minutes.

So, Mr. Chair, since the reference as described by Miss Clark is absent from the minutes, when the maker and second of the motion to approve the minutes um is complete, pardon me. When the maker of the motion, we would like you if if the group is agreeable to the change, then the maker of the motion would say approve the minutes with the change as described by Miss. Do we have a second? Okay. All in favor? I

All oppose. Motion passes. Thanks. Joe,

Mr. Chair and members of the group, I would like to echo Chair Routton's comments. We want to thank you for being here tonight. Um, obviously, as you know, if we don't have enough of you, we can't do business. So, your role is always critical and should never ever be underestimated. So, thank you very much for your attendance. I do want to thank those that brought treats tonight. We have a special from Miss Bloomer Schlaggel. So, thank you. And as always, Miss Cl. Um, so yeah, if we do anything, we have nice snacks as we talk. So, and and we appreciate that as much as anything. So, thank you again. At the meeting in January, we had two, but the first of those, January 21st, we held a lengthy discussion relating to transportation and the arterial road system as described in the master plan. As you know from conversation we held that day, January 21st, the original crafters of the master plan felt it imperative that we define the arterial road system first because there are special provisions associated with arterial roads in terms of how we fund them, maintain them. And then the department also mentioned we have special provisions in our zoning ordinance for properties along arterial roads relative to signage and setbacks and things along those lines. So arterial roads are important. I also kind of alluded at that time that as part of the incorporation, one of the departments at St. Louis County that was very adamant about not supporting Wildwood regardless if it was in their best interest or not was the Department of Transportation. And as the clock ticked toward September

1st, 1995, and the incorporation was to occur, for all intents and purposes, the Department of Transportation started pulling out of the city of Wildwood before that date. So there was some apprehension about what would be their next step. As part of a voter enacted authority, St. Louis County can designate roadways for arterial purposes and then control access improvements etc. And that was a concern to that group that formed the first master plan advisory committee. And so often times the thought was if we designated arterial and do the necessary steps to ensure our arterial road is system is protected that's the approach we should take. So as we found when we went through the list of streets west farm thunderhead canyon those kinds of streets may not normally be thought of as arterials but they do provide connections between other collectors and arterials. So I think there is a bit of caution to all of this. As the discussion concluded, Mr. Brown, our expert, was asked to help um the group members understand what an arterial is in many ways. And so um with um with Mr. Brown's assistance, we have prepared tonight for you that definition. And so I'm going to yield the podium to Mr. Brown and kind of let him go through that list that he's developed. The goal will be is after Mr. Brown has kind of gone through the components, responded any questions or comments, at our next meeting, we'll return back to that list of arterial roads and re-evaluate them based upon the new

definition if acceptable to the group. and then we can see if the you need to keep, add or subtract. Mr. Brown, I want to thank you for completing the assignment. And I do before I forget, want to thank Robin, Melanie, and Travis for all their work today getting things set up. So, thank you. Um members, um just wanted to bring to you the my homework assignment effectively. I don't know that I got an A on it to be quite honest because I don't know if I totally fulfilled the intent of the motion as I was reading it, but I was had every u desire to provide you a definition of an arterial roadway as we I think have collectively developed it here as as the city of Wildwood as the Department of Planning and Public Works. um because Joe helped out a little bit in terms of this. So what I put together in my memo, if you have it in front of you, was just essentially these are the main criteria I think that we would look towards whether to define a arterial roadway in the city of Wildwood. And so there's eight different criteria that would would put on paper for you um to define um those main arterial streets for the city of Wildwood. now where I didn't go too far or I didn't maybe go far enough um didn't develop the whole system of street classifications typically includes our trail roadways collectors and local streets. So and you can you can subdivide our tur roads and collector streets as major and minor as well. So you can slice it pretty finely if you desire to do that. So we didn't get in the master plan into the weeds in terms of water collector streets and local streets. We do list the arterial roadways and I can say I've already

bored Council Member Rambo apparently. I'm just teasing. Never lost my audience so quickly. So, um, okay. Thank you, Joe. Keep me going here.

I know it's an exciting It's a boring topic. It is really. So, if you'd like me to, I can go through the eight criteria um, one at a time. Basically the first one is serve as a major transportation corridor corridors within the city. Number two is these are generally roads that are longer in length uh which provide connection to and from other arterial roadways. Number three, roads that have a width of at least 20 ft and are striped with a center line and is generally a speed limit of 30 mph or more or greater. Number four, provide citywide travel. Essentially, these are roads that we would typically use to travel citywide or in case of MDOT or county roadways, it could be enter or intracounty travel. Number five, help distribute trips or traffic from to and from lower order streets such as collectors or local roads. Number six receives priority in terms of revenue allocation for maintenance and repairs. Number seven receives priority in terms of snow removal operations. And then lastly allow certain signage accommodations regarding type size and numbers. So with that um certainly open to any questions or discussion. What I didn't do is go back and then look at the list of arterial roadways that was presented previously or was in the last draft of the master plan. I told Joe that I felt like there's a couple roads on there that likely would probably fall off, primarily West Glenn Farms and Thunderhead Canyon. And then I know there was discussion uh last or in the January meeting relative to adding potentially pond road and there was discussion up about old fairway and I don't know that old fairway based on this criteria I would recommend adding

um it's got a 25 m hour speed limit. Thunderhead Canyon plus Glenn Farms have 25 m hour speed limits. They have the um special uh zone, the keep kids alive, drive 25 speed zones, which are intended to be imply applied on those residential streets that are near schools or public property, um playgrounds, things like that, which is the case of in parts, Westben Farms, maybe less so West Thunderhead Canyon, but certainly Old Fairway. Um, so I don't know that I would recommend based on this definition adding old fairway to the list and I would probably suggest that um, Westland Farms and Thunderhead Canyon be removed. But you might be able to make a case that Pawn Road should be added to it um because it certainly does. It is longer in length. It connects to Route 100, connects to Route BA, so provides a little bit longer trip length and duration. So, um, with that I would say I'm I'll stop for now and I guess address any questions or comments that you have if that's okay, Joe. Or or do you want to add anything?

Yes, ma'am.

So, I would just So, I like numbers. Um, and so that particular one where you say at least 20 feet strike with a center line speed limit, I like that because it has some guidance around it. Some of the others seem a little nebulous. Um I do think in my opinion I think Thunderhead Canyon and Westmin farm should be considered because they are main connector between 100 Clayton and 109. Um I know there is that caveat of them your schools. That's the reasoning why the speed limit is less than 30. Um but like one of the others it says um generally roads that are longer in length. I mean do we have any guidance on what you would consider longer in length? And I guess that's my question. I guess that's my comment that I'm a numbers person. So like any kind of you know numbers associated with any of these would help right I don't know that we could come up with an explicit objective length frankly but um and I'm not sure I can point to a road that would be excluded because of shortness necessarily. Um, so yeah, it's it tends to be a little more subjective. Um, and I can appreciate that. Um, Pond Road, again, I don't know. I don't know the exact length of Pawn Road. It's must be a few miles long. You know, if it was a half the length, I'd probably say no, but it it's a it's certainly long enough that I would think it would be in that category, but you could probably argue it either way. Um, Mr. is Melrose on that list is an arterial but you would not recommend any change

to Melrose. Well, I mean my recollection was that the only section of Melrose was the section that connected from Allent Road to 100. It wasn't the remainder of it.

If you would drop off Westland Farms in Thunderhead County, would you see a change in their snow removal priority? I I would not. And so and so part of that was in public works. So we've we've tried to categorize our roads as tiers. I think you're so aware of that. So um essentially we've got collector streets and what we've done is said well our arterial roads are going to be that that are top priority will be the roads that will be top priority for snowbill will be the arterial roadways and the major collectors. So other roads that we had classified like Westland Farms would be in that major collector category. They would be the top priority. No, I he he would make a motion or recommendation that we retain Westg Farms and Thunderhead County as as our couriers and that we add two additional that being Pond Road and Old Fairway Drive even though they don't specifically meet the exact criteria of the recommendation. How would the group feel about taking them one by one and taking votes one by one?

Well, Rick, is there possibly a um a traffic component that like a direct traffic count that you can add to the criteria because I don't see that on your memo here.

No, I didn't include that. I thought about it. Um honestly our the traffic volumes range so dramatically throughout Wildwood you can find in our some of the roads we have classified as arterial and some locations can range pretty widely. Um well maybe just for these decisions for these three that we're talking about or so I mean is that a possibility? I'm just trying to narrow it down and give us more uh uh food for thought. you what you're see I want to be sure I understand what you're saying council member

well I can certainly provide I think I have traffic numbers on pretty much all of our arturial roadways um I don't know that I obviously I didn't bring that attention to my memo or make that available to you right now we could provide that at a latter date. Some of those we could probably look up pretty quickly. Um, but again, they, you know, when you look at, especially when you look at pulling an old fairway and a road like that, your volumes are going to vary pretty significantly. So, it's hard to, again, it's hard to be strictly objective about those kind of things. Um, it it's kind of like you you it's going to have to be subjective. You're going to have to say, well, it meets this more than that. But overall, it does tend to to fit. Um, at least that's been my experience. I I don't see other than coming up with a definition of the roads, uh, if Old Fairway, Thunderhead Canyon, Westland Farms, and Pond Road. I mean, they're all important roads. they don't fit the definition. But if if if they're not going to be slighted as far as snow removal and and repair, I I don't see any any need to add them or subtract them. Just let's just go with the definition and and you guys work out how you want to fix them or or remove snow from them. Any more discussion? Yes,

ma'am. other.

Thank you, chair. Um, and I would agree with Heather. Um it's um we don't have enough information I think for well some people maybe they understand this better than I do but um I don't understand all of the benefits or the risks involved one way or another of having these called arterials. Does it affect our um our funding, our federal funding, our state funding? Does it affect our um our budget for say no removal or repairs? How how is this affecting the city of Wildwood if we call something in an arterial or not? And we can call it an arterial if we want to, right? We don't have to go by the exact guidelines of the state or federal. Um, so Miss Clark referenced so there is a there is a federally approved system of functional classification for the St. Louis metropolitan area that is a set of roads that has been reviewed by MDOT and East West Gateway, the Council of Governments that is our regional metropolitan planning organization. Wildwood is part of that metropolitan area has our has a has all our roads considered for that map. Um so that that does not necessarily that's a total separate system of roads. Um that that is what does dictate the eligibility for federal funds at least for highway funding. Um not not this listing. So this wouldn't directly tie I don't believe to any federal funds or funding allocations necessarily. It's really for

the city to use for our own purposes going forward and planning and making decisions relative to our roadway network. Um, so it's it's a guide more than anything. That's I guess I don't know, Joe, if you want to weigh in on that, but it I don't see it having a direct tie to federal funding. the the classification system that's in place right now at East West Gateway is what governs it does not match this directly and that's okay.

So I guess my question is if we put it on the list or we take it off the list what's the benefit or the downfall? What's it really?

Well, Mr. Sure. I guess I would reference the definition. If it goes off the list, the likelihood of priority funding in any given year may be lessened because again, per the definition as defined by Mr. Brown, arterials generally get priority when funding decisions are made. Secondly, if they fall off the list, it could mean the snow removal was impacted. But Mr. Brown has told you that given that they're collectors relative to our snow removal criteria, that would not change. And from a standpoint of zoning, obviously if they're not arterials, for example, West Glenn Farms does um have a area of commercial development, village plaza, and so signage requirements may change relative to that particular center and the property. So that's the removal. On the flip side, adding Old Fairway Drive and Pond Road to the arterial system then avails them to the items. Priority funding, priority snow removal, and then if there are commercial or institutional uses, potential for signage and setbacks that are a little more liberal. When when we have a a a snow and Rockwood closes down, does that have an effect on your snow removal plan? I.e. we don't move up. I mean, we don't give any priority to like O Farway that has the

school on it or Westland Farms that has a school on it or

um No, it doesn't really have any direct impact on us. And I guess know if if you don't mind the issue of funding. So I I don't want to give you the impression and you know as as we make decisions about roads to resurface or potentially repair certainly this could have a bearing to say okay if we're comparing two roads of equal value if one's an arterial and one's not that would give us an indication that maybe we should move forward with that repair first and maybe that should be part of the budget for next year. say than the other road. So that would be an example of it may have an impact on funding maybe not so directly but it would allow us to make those decisions as to what road would be more important or the priority.

Go ahead. So we don't have not yet we have it first and mention your roads again. My roads would continue to have West End Farms and Thunderhead Canyon retained as arterials and the addition of Pond Road and Old Fairway as arterials. And we're looking for a second. Absolutely.

One one more comment and Joe's comment point kind of brought this up to me like Westland Farms, it has the added component of it having commercial things on there. So maybe we could add that to this definition that if it has some kind of commercial or um like pond road has like the um has the ballpark yeah on it. So you know those things you know with the park or commercial might impact the definition of what we would consider to art.

Yes ma'am. Um well my question is you mentioned commercial. So if you decide like Pond Road to be a major artery, would that open it up for some kind of commercial property going in or again remember there's a master plan

and it has that land use category and regardless of the roadway classification the master plans land use component is going to trump So, which on your list, Vince, are already there? Westland Farms and Thunderhead Canyon. Okay, they're already there. We could have a discussion on they stay or not. And then which ones do you want to add?

Road and Old Fairway Drive. You want to split those into two or do you want to keep them as one motion? Can members if you could talk into the microphone? I don't know if Mr. Betts can hear without the microphones on. I can hear. No, I mean I think the other alternative would be as Jim recommended, don't discuss any individual roads and just accept these as a definition of art or rob I'm sorry. Yeah, several. Yeah, I would agree with that. That's why

and I'd be happy to withdraw my I guess my biggest concern is we were discussing removing some and that concerned me. I agree. I would be willing to everything stay as is and then adopt these as definition of arterials and at some point in the future something could be hammered out whether it is or it's not as opposed to I don't mix the expert certainly we're not as far as it that kind of thing but I think it's good definition so we have a motion do we have a second to accept these rules yes Are you seconding? Which how about Can I withdraw my motion?

Withdraw your motion. Withdraw my motion. You make a new motion. And I make a motion that we accept the definition as provided by the public works. Can we add the commercial component as being part of the definition? Yeah, I have no problem with adding adding that. Thank you, Teresa.

I would also ask that maybe you add in the first sentence at the top of that definition says um consist of a network of streets with the following service characteristics. You don't mean it has to have all of these, right? If there's one one of these missing, then you can't call it an arterial. But are do you mean that you have to have

I'm comfortable that No, I think there's some wiggle room here. I think that again it's although there's a desire that it's strictly objective, I don't think that's really realistic. So, um if you would prefer that we say something along those lines. Yeah. um to make it a little more uh clear that it it's not intended to meet every one of them. Thank you. Yes, that's what I would ask.

Okay, Mr. Chair, before the vote, so if the vote is positive on the motion that's been seconded, we'll revise the definition and have it available to you by the end of the month at our next meeting. And if possible, we'll return the list of arterial roads based upon the adopted definition. So you can see what Mr. Brown and his team as well as with support from the department of planning have decided relative to your trust in us and the definition

for Joe's input. All in favor of the motion as I. All oppose. Motion passes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. chair and members of the group, as you know, at our last meeting, I begged some patience on all of your parts because we had the meeting on the 21st and then kind of um right back at it on the 28th. So, approximately one week between our meetings and the department was unable to make the changes to the open space and recreation element. for tonight's meeting. The discussions relative to the goals, objectives, and policies have all been added to that element. And I do want to just kind of briefly highlight a few of the goals, objectives, and policies that I think had the most discussion amongst the group members and certainly from the perspective of the department are interesting onto themselves. And the first of those is goal number one. And we talked at that meeting just ensuring that there is a reference to the well-being of our residents whether that's health or physical fitness things along those lines. So the department did add another uh statement relative to that that for the most part says assist in simulating fitness and the well-being of users. So that would be our park and trail system. Obviously,

one of the major items we talked about and there's a gold objective and policy is the recreation center. The motion had it as a standalone, but I thought that goal two was an appropriate place to offer it as um a next step. And it reads, "Wildwood facilities and park and recreation programs should meet resident needs and preferences within prudent fiscal constraints, which could include, if supported by data and funding, a recreation center. I wanted to emphasize data and funding because that was part of the discussion. There was a desire to do a feasibility study led by a group of residents to determine if first and foremost how to fund it which we thought would be via bond issue and then if we could maintain it for that long-term period which I don't know if 50 years 100 years whatever the situation might be. So that's how the department's addressing it. Certainly if there is a preference in another way we'll be glad to do that. Um yes ma'am.

So should we put in there andor the um partnership with uh another provider?

Um I have that later. I I can't remember when we get to it. It'll either be in an objective or policy. So, can we put a pin on that and come back and see if it needs to be more of a gold or and it stay where I have it at the moment? Um, so we'll be back, I promise. Um, we had two new uh goals. Um, so that was part of our good discussion. U, the first is the city's parks and open spaces, whether in public or private ownership, should be protected from noise and light pollution. and invasive growth growths and their intrusion into the natural environment while preserving habitat. It's a lengthy statement, but remember we talked about intrusions from sound, noise, invasives, and then obviously we wanted to address the deer management component and that's the last component of that overall statement. Um, so that's one of the new ones. And then finally, planning, design, engineering, and construction of park and trail facilities should prioritize safety of all users. And again, we talked a lot about ensuring that whenever people are on a trail, at a park, whatever the situation might be, safety is the priority when we plan, design, and construct. Those are the revised goals. Um, going to objectives, do want to mention number three, you've talked about protection of the diversity and health of vegetative and wildlife species. Um so here again this is taking the gold and going while implementing programs to promote the use of native plantings within all public

and private settings and working closely with expert organizations to address imbalances in fauna and flora types numbers within wild deer management to a degree and just the invasives that we deal with on a day-to-day basis. um a a new uh objective that was supported by the group again connecting Al Foster to Route 66 State Park and beyond. And another new gold inventory where practical and feasible and employes for safety enhancements and feeding from the gold. And then from the perspective of the department we had other objectives but felt those were the major ones to be identified. Moving to policies, we talked about policy number one and the we we recognize that funding is a key component to continue the worldass system of parks and trails. We've started and we need at least from the perspective of the department reading into your conversation and discussion including educational efforts focused on the state legislature to fund acquisitions of additional properties on the boundaries of their existing facilities in Waldwood. That would be Rockwood's range, Rockwoods Reservation and Babler State Park. opportunities to purchase ground around those have come and gone and the parks have stayed static and I think that's a miss on our part and certainly the state of Missouri. Um,

moving on, we talked about um removing on policy four, the word courage diversity and now it reads support variety and avoid repetition when improvements are considered within existing and new park facility. So give it more definition um and clarify as request. Yes. Wow.

Certainly. If there's no objection on the group, we'll add we'll refine that up to address Miss McCutchen's suggestion. And then going to the final page of of policies. Number five, uh thought it was important as the group mentioned. Uh number seven, initiate and implement partnerships as the first step in any growth of programs or facilities with other entities that provide educational, recreational, cultural, or community outreach programs. And then finally, in response to Mrs. Clark's question during the goals explore the feasibility and funding options for construction and long-term maintenance of a Wildwood recreation center andor potential partnerships or expansions of existing facilities to meet needs i.e. the Wildwood family YMCA. So again, I've summarized and certainly as we walk ourselves toward the conclusion of this process, there'll be ample time to refine these, present them to the group, and create that consensus for the final draft. But we have a goal now that speaks to prudent fiscal constraint. I think that's the way it is. green fiscal constraints that talks about data and funding for a recreation center. And then we also further that by saying if there is a partnership that's more feasible, less expensive, and certainly works to the benefit of both parties, that's a policy we should pursue. Teresa.

Yeah. I was just thinking that the the goal maybe if it was a word other than center, a recreational facility or something like that so that it isn't targeted on one or the other. A more encompassing word for that. If there's no objection to the group, we can certainly make that change. Taking a step back a little bit, we're kind of in this conundrum where we're stuck with this no more funding for five years kind of language. If we even back up from the recreational center, I I had a thought to maybe take a broader approach that says develop a long-term value stream to facilitate the funding of current and proposed recreational facilities. Does that make sense or is that too broad?

Funny. It's what? I think it's wimpy. All right. So put some teeth at that point. I think the teeth exist when the teeth the existing one mentions the recreation. I think which I understand what you're saying, but we need a long-term methodology to pay for it and now we don't have I had a Go ahead. Okay. Sure. Uh two real quick ones. Uh policy number nine. Um, what about the existing partnership with the with Ellisville on Bluebird on the swimming pool? Should that go in there or that was eliminated this year as part of the budget discussion,

but we were talking about it as in in the discuss in planning and parks. We were talking about it in in the same discussion that we talked about a recreation center. So, I don't know if this is limited i.e. Wildwood Family YMCA. Um, or you could you just put like or other facilities or something like that? Uh, yes, certainly. We could identify I just want to don't want to close the door on on it, right? And the other thing is Are you done? Yeah.

Okay. The other thing is um uh objective number six uh um the arboritum hasn't been the arburetum for 20 years. It's Shaw Nature Reserve. So, if you could just make that name change. Well, you caught me in an old man moment. So, yeah. Yeah. No, I know. I It looked I figured you probably copied that language. Years on the body to remember the I still call it the arboritum joke. I I do 99% of the time. So,

no. Take it, Sarah. Let's get it right. Chip. So, the recreation center, we we've put it in there. It is part of the the plan. We've eliminated the five-year thing. We just said, "Hey, this is what we think we ought to do." So, this goes to the city council and the city council looks at it and we're going to have various opinions on the city council. And so I'm I'm thinking how does when we put this in there, we've kind of opened the door, but the city council is only going to react based upon their constituency or or supposedly to their constituency. We we had one survey that we took in relation to the historic preservation planning, but we have not I don't know if there was a big hue and cry at city hall for people wanting this recreation center or not, but it's it's going to have to come can't come from us. it's going to have to come from the constituency. If they really want it, then the city council is going to have to react. And so if there's a a ad hoc committee for it or something, that's going to have to be decided by the council and the mayor. So all we're doing is kind of opening the door saying, "Hey, this is our wish list." Well, from the perspective of the structure of this group, you are representing certain constituencies. Each there are there is a group of of the members that represent each ward. There's council leazison, there's planning and zoning commission leazison,

excuse me. And one of the first questions that was asked of the department about the makeup of the group was why eight planning and zoning commission members. The state statute says actually the commission adopts the plan. The city council does not. So once adopted by the planning and zoning commission, the council is then asked to endorse and ratify. Now obviously we don't want conflicts, but I think you're absolutely correct, Mr. Lewis. All you're doing is saying that as a group representing constituencies from A to Z, we think this is something that should be on the radar for the next 10 years. When in that 10-year period, it may be year two or maybe year six, but it should be there. Edward, I would say um regarding what the residents wanted us to be aware of and recreation center and less density were two of the highest rated comments from that survey.

Yes. I think the fortunate thing regarding discussions from the recreation center is that we can't afford it now. So it would really be up to the community to decide and determine that they want it because they would have to fund it through some initiative. So it's not as though the city would take their existing budget and say, "Okay, we're going to allocate this." It would totally be up to the community to decide we want this. We're going to fund it. We're going to pay. Yeah. And if for some reason they weren't successful in doing so, then fortunately the existing city operations wouldn't be negatively impacted. Not going to fix it.

Right. Yeah. They wouldn't have to say anything. They'd say, "Okay, you I think what we're suggesting is that was brought to us as a priority. Let's find a way to put it to the people, see if they were willing to, you know, fund such priority and then if they do, then great. If not, then we go back to business as usual." And just one other item as you know once we get to the point and we've talked about that so that's why I say as you know we will do a public outreach on the draft document and so part of that public outreach will be another survey and as part of that survey I hope the group would um allow the department to identify those major additions or subtractions to the existing document. So we could get feedback from our residents that yes, that's good. No, it's not. Did you think of this? So we'll do another survey and and public outreach to kind of test what you've done.

I think the elephant in the room is with a standard budget. This year we're going to budget 10 items. Next year there's going to be 11. The year after that there's going to be 12. and we're going to reduce it by 10% and by 20% as you go and you go and go and without a viable value stream additional taxes or whatever it's just not going to happen. So do we want to push for that increase in that budget through outreach program? That's my question. Well, as you know, this the recreation center component came from the group that was not part of the initial draft that was prepared by the departments for consideration.

But I think at that meeting, we talked about the document being more of an aspirational type in certain instances, not necessarily always just in black and white. As part of this element though, we again step forward and say regardless of the outcome, we should let the voters tell us if a parks and storm water sales tax is reasonable or not. We we've sidestepped the issue many times since 2008, but you all as a group have said,

let's see. Assuming that it's going to fail doesn't mean it is, or assuming it's going to pass doesn't mean it is. Let's find out. That's what you've told the department. Um, again, like most things of late, you got this information on Monday. So, I would encourage you to review it again. and when we get back together in February, if there's anything that we as a group have missed or if something that you'd like to add, we can do it then.

I think everything you mentioned so far has been just a recap of our previous discussions and decisions. So

maybe it's the lack of confidence in me, but if you feel comfortable with taking a making a motion and second and adopting as presented with the changes we've talked about, then we can proceed. Thank you. And as always, you'll see it in its final form before we ask you to take a final action. Thank you,

Mr. Chair. The next item is the economic development element. Um, and Mr. Lee has joined us. He was at one time our economic development manager. Um, that was a single hat, so to speak, along with the communications manager. I think now he wears three. The city administrator, the economic development manager, and the communications officer. So his input will be um intrical and valuable to what we go through here next. At our last meeting, we did start the economic development element. Um we got through the first three goals. I will tell you I have not updated them. Um but I will go over what we talked about. Um the first goal was uh promote the town center as the city's core commercial business area. There was a request to kind of take out the first comp first few words of that, start the gold with promote and then obviously add the Chesterfield Valley as uh as a part of that statement. So that'll be addressed in the next version or publication. Um second goal was retention of current businesses and the development of new enterprises should be a priority. That's when Mr. Shiken who's with the economic development arm in St. Charles County talked a lot about just workforce management, quality of life, businesses move, relocated, affordability of housing. So there are some changes coming to that as well. And then the final goal that we reached at our last meeting was how do we offer economic development incentives? And this particular goal that's been part of the plan since 2016. felt the best approach the city could take is actually doing infrastructure improvements. What

that does is lower the cost of development to developers. But while we're doing that, we also add pedestrian facilities, trails, and new roads for access into into town center and our other locations. That's a summary where we left off. Goal number four, uh, develop strategies for the city so tourists, recreational enthusiasts, and residents of the St. Louis area recognize it as a regional destination. Um, so I think it's important to recognize that Wildwood is unique in many ways. You think tourism maybe that's going out of town, but we have facilities I think locations don't have such as the retreat centers which offer a very unique opportunity in Wildwood. We also have a a very large equestrian community which offers opportunities that you don't see elsewhere in the region. And obviously we just have a plentiful amount of open space, parks, trails, and other things for people to use. And so, as I say, I the the department had recommend that this be retained. There were no changes. As I mentioned at our last meeting, Tom Lee, our city administrative, asked the economic development committee of city council to offer any comments they would like relative to the goals, objectives, and policies. And that's in the third column. Jill.

Yes, sir. Can we drop back to three? And it may already be inferred, but I'd like to ask the group what they think about allocating funding for capital improvement projects in town center area focusing on expansions or upgrades to the current street and utility land works along with open space park and trail development there as well. focusing on new business and we spend a lot of money fixing up a lot of things but the whole purpose is to draw more business into the area. We need to spell that out that we spend that money wisely. If there's no objectives amongst the members, we'll revise that description on goal four in developing strategies. I think uh one of the things we could really focus on is historic Route 66. That is certainly an asset that few cities in the area have. And I I you know, you travel out west and it's a big deal that if a city's on Route 66 and even to the point where we could change Manchester Road to historic Route 66 and that would aid Google searches for people looking for restaurants or other venues.

Mr. Ren, I'm going to ask Miss Heath to step up to the podium. We had a meeting today amongst our business community just about that subject.

Uh yes, and I'd like to uh immediately start with a thank you to business of the Wildwood for helping to make this happen. Uh but today we had uh around 40 attendees uh from across our business community and some of our key institutional um actors as well like the YMCA um talking about Route 66 and how we can celebrate the 100th anniversary of it um through planning and coordination and crossromotion of all of our Wildwood businesses. And uh spec specifically, we were talking about potentially creating a Route 66 cruise event um series uh through our Route 66 uh corridor that would draw uh visitors and families and residents to the corridor. Um offer uh live music, a classic car parade and show. Um have business specials, activities, etc. um like many popular events that have uh taken place across the area and the country. Um so we're absolutely jumping on that Route 66 bandwag bandwagon. Yeah, I think that's great, Rob, and you've done a great job with that. Really appreciate all your work and your the whole department. But um along those lines, you know, I I I a long time ago, a few years ago, I was um at a boxing match with um with August Bush the 5th, I think is the number he was. But he um I asked him, "How is it that you market? How do you what do you focus on with your marketing?" And he said that you put your name wherever people are having fun. So if you without people even noticing it's there like at at the pond

athletic field or at um the parks or you just put it there. So putting route 66 just that it goes in the head of the person that I'm having fun and that comes to mind. So just to think about where would we put it? What um what activities do we have? All of our our um events that we have here, the the concerts and the farmers market, just to have anything that we want to promote to have little signs around that you see that as you're having fun.

Thank you for the suggestion. The reason I thought it was important that you know what we were discussing today, excuse me, and Miss Keith just described is that I don't want that particular effort to be just a snapshot due to the 100th anniversary. If we create momentum, if we create interest, I think it's critical that over the next 10 years, we continue to build on it. And I think that's a key component of this particular of goal is that if we have something, let's just not take it for granted. And if we do something that does generate a lot of interest, just because the anniversary is over, let's not give up. Well, today's discussions is about a partnership businesses doing what they're going to do. And as city council council set aside $10,000 for our efforts to recognize the anniversary department long-term. That's a good question,

Vince. Oh, thank you, Chip. On item number five on the existing uh I would just something for consideration and after the St. Louis area recognize it as a regional destination point I would suggest perhaps we we uh include and a vibrant hometown vibrant yeah hometown. So I mean it's in addition to all the other attributes is a great place to live. I'm sorry. What? Number four.

So read something akin to residents of the St. Louis area will recognize Wildwood as a regional destination point and a vibrant hometown. Michael,

I want to throw something out here that might be a little crazy and controversial, but a strategy to get people to turn into the town center off of Manchester Road or 109 or even Taylor Road is now that we seem to be moving towards electronic signage, maybe we could put a sign there at those entry points to promote things like coffee with the mayor, the uh concerts in the farmers market so we can get those people to turn in to our city. Tom, what do you think?

Yeah, I would. You know, we always talk about rooftops and getting people to visit our commercial community. Fact of the matter is, we've got thousands of people that drive right past. If we could find a way to capture the people traveling past us to make that turn, then that's that's a nice resource right there. I don't know what the answer is, but it's like they're right there, you know, with your put in the middle of the road and make them slow down. I don't know what it is. Miss Mr. Lane, you have some input.

Yes. Thank you, chair. Um, one thing that we could focus in on, and speaking of having that item that will attract folks to turn make that turn on to Taylor, um, one thing we can consider is the soontobe open village green. think that that was the primary purpose and if we want we could kind of codify and put down on paper um maybe even a goal that's associated with the village green to just keep building off of that since that was supposed to be almost a beacon uh and hub for not only pedestrian traffic but also commercial traffic that ties into another major goal that was on the 10-year plan and is still part of our capital improvement plan this year and part of a major initiative which will be extending Main Street. I think when you look at across this country u the areas that see the most success you see connectivity with roadways um when you have those cut offs you know where you have Main Street cut in half there um that is going to allow for more folks to take the scenic route if you will but also you're going to see traffic counts increase especially for the park so instead of having just the 100 or Manchester access there to Taylor you'll also be able to turn off 109 which will take advantage of a whole another class of d traffic, which averages about 15,000 cars per day. Um, overall, I do think that'll that'll help. Um, I think a lot of the things the city has been doing has been very very it's moving in the right direction. I mean, if you look at it, you've got our Village Green that's opening. A playground is going to serve as a, you know, one-stop shop destination in the region. Um, those things tie together very nicely from the public perspective. But when you also look at some of the other things that have happened concurrently, we've got the apartment complex that's going in. I just want to kind of paint this picture so we're reviewing this element in proper context. Um the apartment complex will be going in adding 188 units. We'll be adding in a restaurant at the end cap adjacent to the the movie theater. I think that is a major plus and will kind

of create a little bit more of a vibrant intersection there. um which right now you can almost see is uh you don't see as much traffic but I think that you'll see a big difference in the next coming years. Um on top of that I also think that having maybe something included in the master plan that just highlights the expansion of STLCC um they just added that brand new 142,000 foot facility. It's now open. Um expected to triple enrollment within the next 3 years uh over time and obviously they're going to be bringing more staff there. That opens up Pandora's box if you will. When it comes to economic activity, you've got more students that are going to be coming to Wildwood, taking 109. The hope will be um to have them turn into off of Taylor and then hopefully take Main Street all the way down to 109 and they pick up something on the way there. Um, but on top of that, having more partnerships with STLCC, I think will improve everyone, uh, improve the entire city because it seems like they've invested in, you know, invested in Wildwood and they plan on growing here. Um, along with the staff side, they're going to need places to live. Uh, we have some housing that's being built. So, that's all moving in a the right direction. I wanted to kind of paint that picture because we've also done another item too along 109 and would love to hear the the master plan group's feedback on this. The council recently permitted, this is new along 109, a provision that you would still need a conditional use permit, but prior to the changes made by the council, uh you couldn't have a drive-through facility along 109. One thing that we've seen in feedback mechanisms u whether it be questionnaires or just general feedback from the public is that there is a need for quick dining options in Wildwood. Um and it seems to kind of speak to the demographic behavior uh the demographic patterns in Wildwood more generally. We have a population, this is

just based off the stats, that typically um you either have individuals that are retired that are taking advantage of our trails and are frequenting the town center during the day, but the majority of our residents actually do leave the city of Wildwood during the morning. Um they go to work and they come home. And one of the big things we hear from residents is that on the way home or to work, they want to make sure they can pick something up, grab something quickly, and then get back to home. Obviously, it's not going to be something they do every day, but it is one of those avenues that they say they wish they could spend their money here versus having to go down to one of our neighboring cities. So, one thing that the council did, um, they did approve a couple different parcels, uh, that are going to be on really near Main Street in 109, uh, that intersection, and also along Manchester and 109, that intersection as well. um they now will permit drive-throughs in a limited sense as long as conditional use permit is acquired for that purpose. I think that opens up some opportunity. There's already been an inquiry from one developer. Um you know, we're going to see some creative uh proposals come in, but overall, I think all of those things kind of festering together. We're we're kind of at the base of it. We're about to have the park open. We're going to see what the the attraction the draw is from that just now. You've got the cabin that's being built that should serve as a nice attraction and landmark for the city. Um, and then as the playground gets built, it's going to kind of build some additional hype, especially as we do our events here. And all coming together with Route 66. I think there's a lot to be excited about, especially right now because everything's kind of kicking off, not to mention the argument with households. Um we're adding, you know, almost 150 units uh through a plethora of different developments, but we'll see in just the next year alone, the reserve and well would come up. We already have some display homes being built. Um you've got 30 homes over on the corner of 109 and 100 and Taylor. Uh I would say that there is quite a bit to be excited about and I think a lot of

what we should be focusing on is business retention too because we have tried to go out and attract different vendors um based off of you know hey Wildwood we love to bike there's a lot of bicyclists in Wildwood we've had discussions with numerous uh bicyclist shops and they have acknowledged and in times that the traffic density just isn't there so I think pairing what we're attracting with reality is one one thing we will have to face. Um most businesses are going to want frontage along 109 or 100 or be right in the heart of town center like in the Deerberg's area. Um, and then on top of that, I think we just need to be a little bit more we need to be creative with how we partner with some of our existing community assets like the YMCA, like the SDLCC, like Dearberg, Shnooks, those plazas, because overall they're the ones that are going to be drawing the majority of traffic. And just something to keep in mind too, and I'm sorry to drop a lot of this stuff on you all at once, but uh something that's being discussed at the state level, which we might want to just include here, is that there has been discussions this year and in previous years, and there's actually a um a public hearing tomorrow down at the state capital, that would eliminate the sales tax component for uh local food. So what that would do would practically any sales tax that would be assessed to any food that you purchase from Deerbergs or Shnooks if it qualifies for uh food stamps, that's how they've distinguished it, then it would be um immediately not taxed. It would be done over a course of four years and slowly um decreased to 0% as it gets to 2031 if the the current law prevails. That would be pretty devastating for the city. We have uh we're obviously working uh with our legislative consult and also the mayor and council have kind of spoke on

this issue too. Um that that is not necessarily supported by the city because that funds the majority of our operations. But I think that is just an important context too that the state seems to be moving in one direction. U we also have a couple other factors outside of Wildwood we just have to keep an eye on too. We've got a pool tax that we want to obviously retain. It helps us fund our operations day-to-day. That pool tax would be impacted by that state legislative decision. And then also, you have a downtown section that's being built out by Chesterfield. Um maybe there's ways that we can add some complimentary features since we're never going to be the city that builds and has a commercial center like that. if there's a way that we can possibly support that and also support the the residential homes that we have here because really at the end of the day I've always looked at it with somewhere like Chesterfield that those folks you know our our residents go out and spend their money in those cities and then our and those residents that live in those cities actually come out and visit our parks. So it's it is a you know a cooperation if you will. Um but I think it's important to keep that in mind especially as we we start talking about this goal of what we want to see in the next 10 years. I think some easy ones to, you know, check off the box would be extending Main Street, getting that project completed. Um, I do I really appreciate what Mr. Bunish had mentioned about investing in infrastructure. I think that in and of itself is by far the most effective thing you can do if you want uh to kind of control what kind of development comes in. If you build the infrastructure, it does set the stage very well. Um, and the same can be said for just enhancing our partnerships with existing vendors that exist here in Wildwood, have been a staple of Wildwood and have doubled down their commitment. Um, I think making sure we're fostering and supporting those folks through some of the mechanisms we already have such as the business forum, our monthly meetings at the economic development committee for feedback. Um, all of those things can really help. And then if you add in to that maybe something here with

the Route 66 idea being able to have that that community buildup and cross promotion. I think a lot of that can go in and really help kind of start creating a little bit more of a cohesive ecosystem for you know shopping local um which we've also done with a with a little sticker program. You hopefully you're seeing the Proud Wildwood businesses signs that are being placed in the windows. But I know I just went over a lot of stuff. Would be more than happy to answer some questions on any of that. Just wanted to kind of lay a larger groundwork as we start opening up this goal.

Just to dubtail on Mr. Lisa and I am remiss for having not thought of it previously. The importance of extending Main Street can't be overstated. It uh should we revisit that in the transportation component or do we put that? We certainly did. I mean, not only would it attract people into our community, another avenue, but it will keep our residents from being accosted as they travel on the current press drive. Well, certainly I can't say how many times Mr. Brown, Mr. Lee, the department of planning, us four have talked about the importance of making that short connection of Main Street.

Can we include that someplace? It is included in I believe our planning element as well as our transportation element. You need some water. No, I got some. Okay.

But yes, it's a it's is of critical importance. And again, as was mentioned for us, we don't have a property tax. We don't necessarily embrace development incentives, but the one thing we do and do very well is infrastructure projects. And that's a testimony to our mayors, city council members over the years, our city administrators, and our director of public works. Now, Mr. Brown, that's a key. I think years ago, this is many years ago, there was funding available from the state. I think if you drove on any interstate in rural areas, what you would see is they would build a street with a culde-sac and call it an office warehouse district. and that they build it and they will come. I think there is some truth to that still today.

Sure.

I haven't given this a whole lot of thought, but um just uh Mr. Lee, what you were talking about made me start thinking we have the college here and we have people graduating from the college with certain degrees. Maybe we have something that we target um uh give incentives to businesses that would be um uh go along with the degrees that they're offering so that we keep those students in after they graduate they will stay in Wildwood. There's jobs available. there's internships

and we could definitely I mean uh with your permission chair uh we can most definitely now that's kind of part of the partnership component as well is trying to connect those folks and I will say St. Louis Community College does an excellent job at doing workforce development studies. Uh they publish one every year city they usually uh are kind enough to send a copy over to the city for review. Um I've taken a look at it. That's actually what's guided their decision here uh to build their new facility. It's based off of really GIS studies implementing that with uh aerial, so drone um surveying, nursing, radiology, all of those components are added. And that wasn't just done uh paramedics too. I don't want to leave them out. Paramedics and firefighter training. Um those components weren't added, you know, based off of just a willy-nilly assumption. they they added those components because that's the job labor force needs that we're going to see in the St. Louis region over the next, you know, 15 20 years. So, they're already setting the stage there and and since they are the kind of the local expert, if you will, and what workforce needs are are going to be needed, you know, community college is a great way to a great asset to lean on there. I think there's ample opportunity. I will say there are a lot of professional businesses we have here in Wildwood such as you know insurance companies um you know different consulting companies tax companies those typically you know they do exist but we don't have all too many spaces for them um but having kind of a pipeline which we do have their contact info we keep in touch with them um and we do try to keep kind of ahead of it if you will by asking them if there are any openings that they might have but for a specialized uh degree three that might be a little bit more of a nuanced hire that that one might take a little bit more steps. We could include something most definitely and do some further research though that I would most I would recommend doing a little bit more u investigation into that.

So Chief Foy I think your point was how do we capture commuters on the major art tour? I think your point was how do we capture commuters that are using the major arterials in the city,

right? And one of the impediments is those major arterials generally are under the governance of Missouri Department of Transportation and they've been cooperative in terms of certain signage, but I think signage is is an avenue that we we've investigated. We call it wayfinding signage and we've talked about trying to get more of that so people know what's in town center and I think Mr. Lee did a wonderful job. The city council has looked very hard at the component of quick service restaurants and what that might mean getting somebody off Route 109 just for that and then letting them see what else is there as well. So, um I think we have a new goal somewhere in all of this discussion or at least one if not two and we'll see what we can come up with in terms of capturing commuters kind of putting together that village green playground um um ST St. Louis Community College. Um we'll see. And I think the equestrian thing is uh you know we can there's there's equestrian clubs out here and I I just looked it up. St. Louis County has the largest harsh population per capita of any county in in Missouri. So the I was told that once and I wanted to get but the uh I don't know how many people who have h horses in other areas of trailer them out here to Greensfelder or or Rockwood or Babler. But I mean where

else can they go? I think some emphasis on on the horse population would be another attraction that we have here in Wildwood. But

certainly we can do that as opposed to University City. So we've kind of talked through the goals. Um the first three that we had uh identified at our last meeting. Uh we've I think added a couple of new ones that I'll try to um we will try to ultimately uh define for you. Um if there are any others, this would be the time. So heat. Well, if there is no objection, we'll see what we can come up with. I don't know if it may be a goal or an objective or policy, but certainly we can address it and see what you all think as the group. I had I guess one question. So, in goal number one, um there was no discussion of the Chesterfield Valley area, but I know in some of the B uh some of the

policies and objectives that were mentioned there, I wondered if there was a particular reason it wasn't mentioned in um the Golden. Um it was discussed at our last meeting. I didn't have time to update it, so it'll be there, trust me. Um the group was very clear that town center is very important but there's opportunities in the Chesterfield Valley for economic development as well. And I guess Thank you.

another question about that is you know we discussed you know the large development um where Chesterfield Mall used to be we have it's really close to the outlet malls and highway 40. So, is there much effort in looking into, you know, how we could dovetail into, you know, pulling people from the new Chestville Town Center or whatever the volume um and utilize the proxim proximity there some of that? Well, certainly it would be wonderful if we could get consumers, visitors, tourist from those areas into Town Center in the city of Wildwood. I know Tom's looked at that extensively. Um, any thoughts, Mr. Lee?

Yeah. Um, one thing just a quick note on that, speaking of infrastructure and um, kind of setting the table if you will. Uh, one thing that was brought up to the city about a year or two ago, uh, down in the Chesterfield Valley, Chesterfield has invested uh, millions of dollars. I mean, I'm I'm thinking they're upwards of $6 million over the years in improving the storm water situation down there. And also I think they've extended sewer to some extent. Uh but they practically to for those large buildings, those sports complexes that have been erected over the past few years, one's being erected right now. Um what they've done is they actually set the infrastructure up so that those folks could hook in uh automatically and Wildwood has faces pretty much the same issue. We will if we were to have a large development there, uh the developer would obviously be in they would be charged with doing it. Um, one thing that I've seen some other cities do with these larger industrial properties that you're trying to attract, you know, possibly when you're having that large of a footprint, if you will, something that I've seen done in the past, which could be something we look into further, is when you build a big warehouse or you build one of these massive structures, um, you bu you have them designed in a way that say that use or whatever that business is that would be operating at it out of it once it's first built. um really having flexibility in the future as time goes on to be able to transfer that use uh so that you're not left with a a large building that has one defined purpose and is very almost pigeonhold into being a repeat of that that exact use time and time again. Um that's something I've seen, you know, be replicated with some decent success and some folks have been able to turn it into, you know, office office uh large office spaces with warehousing. Um, those typically work pretty well and I know that's what we've

kind of designated out in that area. Uh, I will say it's going to be somewhat difficult with that spot just because uh, the amount of money that it will cost the developer to come in and build out on those parcels. It's it's going to be um, one of the more difficult things to do. Uh, it's the profit motive, I think, is going to be difficult. That said, I I don't think there, you know, if there's a will, there is a way. And and one thing I I I would just like to make sure we understand that too because even if we were to go out there and kind of lay the red carpet for a specific use that we're wanting out in the in the industrial area, it it would be very difficult for them because they're going to have to take all those costs on upfront. And quite frankly, I I would say there's a decent argument. I know it's not the city street, but you know, once you have something that goes in permanently on our side of um of Ethet, then that does kind of close the book, if you will, on possibly ever making uh real improvements to South Etheertton Road. So, just a a quick note, too. I know that kind of goes more towards transportation, but something we brought up with that um with the Sshape that South Etheertton is obviously not ideal. um would be a massive project undertaking to to reconfigure that roadway, but could be something that's brought up if someone were to want to develop that space, the 200 plus acre property. Um I think that would be the time to have that discussion. But yeah, it's going to be difficult is the the bottom line, but I think being open to industrial, we also offer a ton of other uses down there. Um, one other thing that always gets brought up at least in discussions is that, you know, whatever use, especially if it's like a large warehouse structure that comes in there, the workers that are going to end up working at that facility, um, and that goes for the sports complexes across the street, too. Uh, those folks are going to end up going into the valley with the

access to 40 um to do their shopping. you know, once something actually comes in and once we have the the large sports complex that's about to be finished, it may be worth a shot to go ahead and uh we have a new traffic counter out there that also can do speed limits to, but um maybe it's worth it to see what the traffic count is there before and after um that facility's built. Kind of ties into another tool in the toolbox that we could possibly look at as we study this. So it' be something down down the line, but maybe it's something where uh we can conduct there's a technology out there which uses cell phone data to track. Um you can use it to amplify and also get traffic counts too, but it doesn't necessarily it's not as accurate as a normal traffic counter. But the cool thing about this, it's it's device look back or just standard geo fencing. Um, you can practically take any location on the map and actually say if you have a parameter of time, you can say how many people, how many cell phones at least were in that area over a specific period. I think those types of tools we haven't necessarily utilized or leveraged in the past and it could be something we look into further so we can get a better grip. We always we know u that our residents leave in the morning and they come back in the evening. We know the traffic counts on our major arterials. uh we know what the the general landscape looks like when it comes to where are the demographic opportunities and what are the true threats. That said, if we were able to peel back the layers, if you will, and be able to say, well, Deerberg seems to be having, and this is not based on fact, so this is just a example, but Deerbergs tends to attract, you know, an additional 10 to 15% more cell phones in the area u in that that high shopping likelihood time period of about 5:30 to about 7:00 p.m. at night versus Shnooks while we're crossing. then we could start talking with, you know, possibly the the owner of the property or Shnooks or Dearbergs. Hey, what what what might be causing that? Um, and it'll help us better isolate it. But I know we're I'm

kind of moving away from the the industrial area, but bottom line, it's going to be difficult no matter what goes down there. I think that um it's just going to be an very expensive project to do. And then the other side of it would be uh maybe there's a way we can start helping by using some of these new technologies to to be able to say here's what the true traffic count is down there and maybe we could do an assessment of what actually is needed utility-wise so folks don't know they know what they're getting into u if they were to decide to put up a proposal. So, Miss Deppler, I don't know how we overcome the convenience factor. If someone's shopping at one of the outlet malls in Chesterfield, convincing them not to go on Chesterfield Airport Road and find a restaurant, but come to Town Center. I just don't know how we're going to do that. I guess I have a different opinion of the South Etherton Road, the the the roadway that kind of snakes down from Route 109, Wild Horse Creek Road to the Chesterfield Valley. It's a great obstruction right now to truck traffic. And I don't know if if we we advocate for a change there, we're probably going to be advocating for something on Route 109 because if we make it easier for trucks to go from Highway 40 to Interstate 44 and not that not being Route 141 or Interstate 270, that's a risk. And we've already said we want Route 109 to remaintain, so to speak, topical safety improvements, but protect the green belt, stop the autobill. So, I'm in no hurry to see

that South Etherton Road change right now. I completely agree with that. I guess I just envisioned, you know, with the golf course there and the new, you know, um, athletic facilities going in, you know, I envisioned like, oh, we could have some restaurants down there or things like that that people that after they, you know, partake in their activities, they have, you know, something like that down, not necessarily, not think large.

Yeah. And right now that it's kind of an interesting story. We still honor zoning that was approved by St. Louis County in the Chesterfield Valley area in 1970 and 1971. Um we've refined it as you know as part of the planning and zoning commission often require amendments to it but we often still depend on what they initially authorized and actually you could do some types of restaurants and things along those lines down there. It's always been viewed as if it's an industrial area, people have to eat, people have to shop, that kind of thing. Um Tom hit the nail on the head though. There's just no utilities on that west side of North Etherton Road, which is the portion in Wildwood. And so when we do have conversations with potential developers, if they first ask, do you have water, sewer, electric, gas, internet? and we say yes, yes, no, no, no. Then they want to talk development incentives and is that a TIFF? Is it a community improvement district? Is it a neighborhood improvement district? So, and we we've already said in our community services element, we want to be we don't want to necessarily take them off the table, but we don't want to become a community that is so dependent on them that are taxing author taxing districts that need that money to educate, provide services, suffer. So, it's a tough nut. It really is. So I don't know but what I what I think and it leads into the ne the first objective of promotional efforts for town center in Chesterfield Valley. I've been told it's 10 minutes to the Chesterfield

Valley if I live north of Route 100. It's 10 minutes to Eureka if I live south of Route 100. If I live east of Route 109, I can go to Baldwin and Ellisville. Um the people we really capture potentially as consumers are those that live west of um town center like in eastern Franklin County and our rural areas. So from a promotional standpoint, how do we convince people to stay in Wildwood and shop, not go elsewhere? Some of it we can't because we don't have outlet malls or a Target or a Walmart, but where can we find that niche? And so the first objective is let's do some promotional efforts to make sure people understand what we have to offer and how maybe unique that is.

Joe. Yes, sir. Most towns across the country as you travel that are on major thorough fairs have the major thorough fair which bypasses everything but then they very heavily promote the business route and you can either pass the town or you can go right through town. How do we promote that right through town road?

Yeah. And to Vince's point, opening up Main Street would be a huge part of this. And this has been done. Mr. Lee, Mr. Jacqueline, our former economic development manager, and then others. We've tried to basically make consumers, residents, consumers, commuters understand that there are unique there are unique services and and opportunities in Wildwood. It's how do you how do we get them to basically not necessarily always look at the bottom line, but look at, oh, this is a it helps our community, helps the local business, and it's something I need. So promotional Um so the department is recommending we retain it with no change. Objective two organize and participate in outreach efforts among applicable business groups to foster interest in the town center and Chesterfield industrial areas. Businesses of Wildwood is a great example. They helped organize our round table today. Um Miss Boomer Schlaggel was one of our speakers at the start. So we understand the the role that we play and we want that role to be complimentary to the businesses and those organizations that support local businesses. So the department is recommending that this particular objective be retained. Um inventory and report. This is objective three. inventory and report on town center area and Chesterfield Valley industrial areas growth investment and business patterns on an annual basis to city council business community and the public. So I think what this particular

objective is sailing saying is if you have the details you know with some assurance what your next step should be. So the department in this particular instance is recommending again this be retained. Um we've kind of talked about this on multiple in multiple element elements and tonight as well use the city's five-year capital improvement plan to identify and support projects in town center and the Chesterfield Valley industrial area to encourage new development within them. again it's infrastructure infrastructure it's something we do very well we do I think um both functional and safe improvements and I think as an economic development tool it's it's imperative that we continue

and Joe do you mind if I add one thing there certainly

I just wanted to add a nice example of you know when function and form um can kind of come together and make something pretty cool uh in Wildwood, you know, when we do a infrastructure project, a great example is like the Manchester Taylor project that was completed last year. Uh a lot of that was making ADA improvements. That was the key component of getting the federal monies that allowed us to carry out the project. Um but that said, what we were able to also do is if you noticed, you saw enhancements to the traffic signals. Um you also saw some enhancements to the overall layout of the street with the markings uh for the bike lanes, etc., and crossing paths. Uh, one thing that is, you don't know notice it if you're just driving around and you you might not be paying attention, but if you look at the new traffic signals on Manchester Road, um, those are a really great example of how Wildwood is unique. Uh, they are some of the nicest traffic signals I've ever seen. Um, they've got custom arm masks that light up, have custom lights at the top, and that goes to speak to our new urbanist principles that we try to follow day day by day here. Um, and we've gotten actually quite a few compliments from residents that walk town center all the time and they might frequent Deerbergs or Elmaguay or Panera, etc. U, that said, when we do a project, that's typically how we carry it out. One other thing the council did approve was when uh the 109 work was done u this past year as well. The council actually set aside some monies uh this is a great example of capital capital monies being spent on you know making those public improvements to beautify the area and kind of create that welcoming sense. uh monies were set aside to make sure that the replaced guardrail that was getting taken down on 109 was replaced with black u powder black guard rail instead of the galvanized steel that can serve

as a sharp aesthetic drift uh from what we typically like to see in Wildwood. And also the new signals at Shepard and 109 and Shreker and 109 um I mean Clayton 109, sorry. Uh both of those were actually improved based off the the funds that were set aside by the city as well. So, we're able to kind of partner with some of our partners in the community, whether it be the state or the county, when they're able to do a road project, we end up usually boosting or beautifying it. One other thing that is being looked at now is uh the little median on Manchester as you turn in. Um possibly beautifying that as well. It is right now it's just got rock in it. Um and it used to have trees that created a sighteline visibility issue. Uh but overall it now it's just a bunch of rocks. We're going to look to possibly beautify that median to kind of serve as a nice welcoming face as you turn into Wildwood. But I wanted to just lay that out there because it kind of serves as a good example of how you can use capital funds to be able to beautify your area and also create the aesthetic that would attract, you know, high class um businesses and also just the really, you know, help satisfy our residents. seem like they respond very well to the the better manufactured materials.

So again, relative to objective four, retain a good tool. Number five, review on a three on three-year cycles and modify when needed city land use regulations, processes, compliance efforts to determine and ensure effectiveness of their respective applications. So, more so than anything over the last probably five to six years, we've looked at commercial signage more so than I think any other community that I know of. Um, we're always trying to find the the right fit for our business community while respecting the principles and standards and guidelines of new urbanism. Um, one of the discussions that we've had on and off over the years is there is a certain risk to ongoing and consistent changes to your regulations. You lose predictability and predictability is important not only for our residents but business owners. And so I would use the example if we keep altering our sign regulations in terms of size and height. When a business invests in a sign, that's um that's thousands of dollars. And if we have sign regulations that are in place for a year or two and then all of a sudden change them and they're more favorable, we've basically negated that investment by that business owner to a certain degree. So I want to be cautious in that it's a review but not necessarily an automatic change and reviewing is good but being consistent and predictable is and is in many ways more important to the department. So retain but no change. And then the next two objectives

relate to things that we've completed and the department is in its opinion recommending they be removed. and that is uh establish a business development retention coordinator that became our economic development manager. We have that position funded each year. Um we've had two of those in two two individuals fill that position. It's currently vacant but I know Mr. Lee is working on it. So we completed and then also um we need to create a committee of city council for economic development purposes. We have a third standing committee now. We've always had administration and public works. We have planning and parks. Now we have economic development. So that's been completed as well. So the recommendation here is to remove them because they've been successfully implemented. And then the final objective, create maintain a business development plan focused on town center and Chesterfield Valley. We have an economic development guide. One of the key responsibilities of the economic development manager is its implementation and Tom has been working on its update as we do with any of our planning documents on a regular basis. So again here retain no change. Yes sir.

Mr. We thought about, you were talking about cleaning up the island and dressing it up as you come into Wildwood. You go through small town America, hometown America, and there's always a welcome sign, big welcome sign. It says, "Welcome to whatever city," and then a tagline for that city. And I mean, it's right there. And we don't have any of that, I don't think. If we if we're either coming down Manchester Road or if we're coming down 109, does that make some kind of advertising sense?

No, that makes perfect sense. But I I want to have a caveat here on the safety side. Um, I was thinking the same exact thing uh when this opportunity came up and as we were finishing the Manchester Taylor Road project and discussions with the mayor and um it it was making sense to possibly have even a some type of monument signage that spells out the word Wildwood, something that really serves as the front entrance, the front door to the city. Um that said, we did look at it uh from a safety perspective and one of the things and one of the reasons why it it's currently just rock is back I think it was about six or seven years ago we had some some small trees grown in that uh little island and what folks had said is as you were turning left into the gas station property um and as you were coming across the bend there if you will uh that it created some sighteline issues And some folks had said that it it was a hazard. And and quite frankly, it's been determined that anything that would be practically above 2 to 3 ft would prove to be the same would have the same issue as that those trees had. So what we're doing now is trying to have, you know, more of a ornamental nice landscape look that doesn't necessarily need irrigation. Um so some some natives that would not need to be watered consistently. um or possibly using some type of rock formation as well. But I do think and I would this kind of ties into the wayfinding signage. I think it would behoove the city uh to really take a firm look at having some type of welcoming monument. Um not necessarily a you know a placated sign. We don't want to cause a distraction to motorists. Uh, but something that can kind of serve as the as you're driving in, especially that east entrance, something that can kind of serve as the welcome wagon, if you will, to the city. And I think there there could be a million ways to do it. And there's some tasteful ways to do it

as well. It'll be getting the property to do so. I think that could I I would recommend having that discussion and possibly adding that into the under a policy objective. Thank you. Thank you.

Does sound like a good policy. So, Mr. Chair, by my watch, it's about 8:20. We still have the long list of policies. This might be a good opportunity to conclude our meeting tonight. If we were to conclude the meeting, what we would have on the agenda for our next meeting would be completing the policies on the economic development element, having the revised arterial roadway list for your review based upon the definition that was approved tonight prepared by Mr. Brown, and then the updated goals and objectives of the economic development element. And then um if time were to accommodate, the department would like to have drafts of the narratives for you to take home with you and review um relative to the six elements. We have received some input from other group members. And so that would be the agenda.

I just wanted to make one last comment about the last uh um objective that we went over. If anyone wants to see this, I tried to find it. It's not on the website. This is the Julian Jack one. Um, it's I would call it like a perspectus of the city. And it's really, really good. And I guess that's what Thomas is working on now to update. But, um, just so if anybody wants to look at this, you're welcome to, um, take it home or anything just to see what it's all about. It really will help us, I think, to give that out to prospective businesses because it gives all of the information you need about the city. And um my one question was, what do we send out to new residents? Do we put things like this in the packet?

We do not put the economic development guide. We do offer businesses opportunity to put promotional material, coupons. We have a lot of information about the city. Our points of interest map is included uh which is always very popular. Um but we can provide you a list of what typically is in the new resident package. Um and oftentimes we provide to new businesses things that are they we feel are important to them. Some of the things relating to business licensing, signage, etc. So we try to welcome people with the information they need to know that we have a community that's fully full faceted community. Um it's an omission that we didn't include the guide as part of the orientation materials you all received at the start of the process approximately a year ago. So we'll get the scan version and send it out your way to March.

Thank you. And just one one note for um a plug for the Route 66. Wildwood is just bold on the bottom of the new Route 66 magazine that just came out. It says Wildwood across the bottom.

Yeah. I don't know if we have copies available, but we have the leader publications of Route 66 magazine as a keepsake. Eureka Pacific and Bobwood um partnered on it. Miss Keefe worked with those entities as well as the leader to basically I think do a wonderful magazine. Uh we showed it today at the Route 66 roundt and people were very happy with what they saw. I think Miss Keef rushed off to get some copies for you. So if we can after we complete our business if you want to just wait a minute or two you can take home take one home with you. Ben's had an idea. It's welcome signs. Mr. Lee, what do you think about this?

No. The Eastern Bridge reminds me of welcome to Walt Disney World. Welcome to Wildwood. I'd love to get some signage on that dude. And we awesome. And we've talked to Mo Dot till we're blue in the face. They bridge. Well, it's so it it's in their airspace. So, okay. So, Okay. Travis, any outside comments, please. Okay. Uh, next meeting, Wednesday, February 25th. Do I have a motion to close? All in favor?

I oppose. Have a wonderful evening. Great comments. Thanks for all your help. Really appreciate it. Thank you. There was five or six. Mr. Red is the major. Okay. And Joe Joe, please pass along to Mr. Brown. Really appreciate his input. He really jumped on that. He's a big help. I certainly will. And like I say, I think he did a very nice job of simplifying something that can be complex. So, we appreciated it.