Scooter’s Coffee is Set to Glide into Ellisville Location

 (Here are two restaurant pieces I did a week ago for West Newsmagazine.)

How can one deny the request for an establishment that sports the slogan "Amazing People, Amazing Drinks … Amazingly Fast?" Ultimately, the city of Ellisville did not.

At its Dec. 15 meeting, the City Council gave the green light for a conditional use permit granted to Scooter’s Coffee for a drive-thru facility adjoining a kiosk in a Commercial Zoning District at 16006 Manchester Road.

Some follow up questions and comments regarding that bill (No. 3732) was preceded by a rather lengthy public hearing. It began with City Attorney George Restovich rattling off a list of 16 exhibits in the petition. Next, Wilson Waggoner, a civil engineer working on Scooter’s plans spoke and fielded questions.

“It’s very similar to a Starbucks,” Waggoner said. “This particular location will be drive-thru only with no indoor or outdoor seating. It was preferred by the franchisee that there would be no walk-up business.”

Waggoner mentioned that Scooter’s primarily serves hot and cold drinks and breakfast sandwiches to some 400 locations in the U.S. in 33 states. Those locations include ones in St. Charles County (O’Fallon and Dardenne Prairie, which opened last month).

(Source: Scooter's Coffee/Facebook)

The building will be just 654 square feet. Waggoner showed slides for the projected site plan and also possible signs for all sides of the building plus a 12-foot-high "monument sign." The city code only allows for ones 10-foot-high. The idea of cross-access to Valvoline and Economy Car Care Center was also discussed.

“This is a really small lot, so I appreciate you have some really tough spots to work with,” council member Rob Compton (District 1) said. “As far as cross-access is concerned, we’re not looking for that to be applied immediately, but down the road. So, I don’t think removing that requirement is beneficial to us even if it’s not being used at this time.

“Also, we’re looking at an awful lot of signage on a tiny little building here. And on the sides of that building, you’re not sitting up very high. So, I don’t think those signs will even be seen, and one isn’t necessary in the back, either.”

City Planner Ada Hood reminded Compton that both the signage and cross-access would be discussed at an ensuing Architectural Review Board meeting. But both Compton and council member Mick Cahill (District 2) thought the cross-access issue should be settled prior to that meeting. Citizen Marilyn Niebling reiterated the immediate need for cross-access with regard to potential increased traffic issues on Manchester Road.

Per council member Vince McGrath’s (District 1) inquiry, Waggoner said the developer would have to revise its lighting plans to comply with the city’s specs. He also mentioned that there would be just one 6-foot high, wooden, dog-eared fence in the back of the property. Regarding employees, there would be three per shift and the hours of operation would likely be 5 a.m.-8 p.m.

With the assistance of council member Dan Duffy’s (District 3), Mayor Mike Roemerman added an amendment that would connect easements from the west to the east.

Cahill added a second amendment that there would be no sign on the back of the property that would be too visible to the people in the apartments directly behind it. That also passed as did the overall bill, which became Ordinance 21-3501.

“I’m happy and I believe the council is happy to see this come here to Ellisville. I think it’s a great plan. I like having a Starbuck’s alternative; hopefully, a little more economical. But I like the breakfast sandwich option, I like the look and I’m really not going to miss the current structure that’s on that property. I’m sure the staff at city hall will be coming by to get some coffee. It might be an upgrade from what they have at city hall,” Roemerman said. 

Ellisville grants Chick-fil-A extended hours for canopy work

On Feb. 9, it will be five full years since the grand opening of the Ellisville Chick-fil-A. And at the Dec. 15 Ellisville City Council meeting, nothing but upbeat comments were uttered by both its operator Tony Johnson and city council members.

Johnson appeared at the meeting by Zoom to petition for extended work hours in association with the construction of new canopies for the restaurant and its drive-thru at 304 Clarkson Road. The property is within a C-3  Commercial Zoning District. 

“What we’re looking to do is complete some of this construction with the heavy lifting, of which some has already been done, on the last two Sundays,” Johnson said. “There’s a group that comes from out of state to do the final completion of the canopies. We looked at it kind of six ways from Sunday. We’ve looked at shutting down the drive-thru altogether and trying to run it through the parking lot. All those have some issues like traffic backing up onto the road which would be disrupting our neighbors.” 

 Chick-fil-A Ellisville in snow in 2017 (Source: Chick-fil-A Ellisville/Facebook)

Mayor Mike Roemerman expressed concern about the possible decibel level associated with the project, especially since some of the work is slated to be done late at night.

Council member Rob Compton (District 1) had the same concerns. He questioned how that might work for a neighbor who had to be up early for work the next morning.

“If there is a complaint, is there a certain sound level that we can’t exceed?” Compton asked. 

City Manager Bill Schwer noted that there is an ordinance for acceptable sound levels.

“My understanding is that most of the concrete work … the bigger pieces with the concrete … have been done on the previous two Sundays during the daytime,” Johnson said. “What this group would actually be doing is the columns that go down with the flat roof. Most of that work will just be them putting the columns together and running the electrical, plumbing and wiring.  So, I think the only tools out there at night will be two lifts and a palette piece to help them move the steel.”

In response to a comment by council member Vince McGrath (District 1), Johnson said Sunday hours and extended daytime hours works best for the restaurant's business and also keeps from impeding on open hours of fellow businesses and creating traffic nuisances on Clarkson Road.

“I think you guys do a great job,” council member Dan Duffy (District 3) said. “My entire extended family is very happy with your restaurant and I’m in favor of anything that makes it easier to get in and out of there.”

The petition passed unanimously, and just as he had been at the start of his presentation, Johnson was both genuinely gracious and grateful for his opportunity to address the council.

“Thank you all for your time again, and also for a lot of the pre-COVID work that allowed us to stay in business; especially when we were kind of shut outside,” he said. “You let us put up temporary structures, and I can’t tell you how great that was, and I really appreciate you.  I think the support we felt from a business perspective and the flexibility you all shared with us, including not to have to close down for even one day, was awesome. It’s great to be part of the community!”

Public hearing on rail and truck facility draws ire from Chesterfield residents

 (West Newsmagazine)

The initial public comments segment of the first of two public hearing topics at the Nov. 23 Maryland Heights Planning & Zoning Commission, lasted well over an hour. Nearly a dozen Chesterfield residents showed up to voice concern over a proposed rail/truck facility proposed for 149 River Valley Drive.  A subsequent parcel at 860 Hog Hollow Road would be added should an overflow venue be required.

Precision Vehicle Holding, LLC is seeking to purchase that Maryland Park Lake District property, measuring nearly 4 million square feet, with an initial request to have it rezoned from Non-Urban District to Planned District-Manufacturing.

As noted in a proposal sent to the city of Maryland Heights, the purpose of the purchase is to “permit marshalling, storage and distribution by rail and car carriers of new production vehicles originating from the General Motors assembly plant at 15 E. Route A in Wentzville.”

The River Valley parcel is currently agricultural.

Under the proposal, it is set to feature an administration building of some 3,500 square feet and a truck repair facility of 9,500 square feet. Missouri American Water Company has a treatment plant just south and west of the entire proposed development while Chesterfield residential subdivisions are just south of the site.

The public hearings began peacefully as city planner Erin Lorusso presented the details of the project’s concept development plan. 

Lorusso offered slides regarding the land use and stormwater for the property. The site’s location is noted as “within the Creve Coeur Creek watershed and drains to the south and east to the State Route 364 mitigation area per the Maryland Park Lake District.” Several bioretention basins for water quality and a wet pond are being proposed to help with flood protection.

(Source: Google Maps)

Brett Griffin and Darrin McElroy, who founded Precision Holdings in 2014, shared a video that showed the process of loading passenger vehicles on rail cars from Wentzville and unloading them at the Maryland Heights site.

The 10-hour employee shifts of 6 a.m.-4 p.m. and 4 p.m.-2 a.m. were met with some resistance by residents. 

There would be two delivery loads each day. One would be in the morning, but far larger protests were lodged regarding any noise from evening train runs between 4:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. However, the applicants noted that, unlike other rail traffic, noise levels would also be limited to those associated with a 15 mph speed. Still, a resident complained that the noise from the connecting and disconnecting of couplings would be far too loud, especially at night when sound travels farther. 

Other fervent residential complaints focused on the fact that those homes in Chesterfield that are high on the bluff would be just several hundred feet from the proposed site. Residents mentioned flooding issues even during a period or two of heavy rain, environmental issues and the fact that, despite a selling point being jobs, there would be a maximum of just 25 employees on the site.  

One resident claimed that the constant trips between Wentzville and Maryland Heights make no sense due to ever-increasing fuel costs. Another said the proposed two-year construction alone would add a great deal of noise and destroy property values. It also was noted that most comparable facilities in the U.S. are built in manufacturing areas, not agricultural and residential areas. 

Whereas all the dissenting comments met with thunderous applause from the huge gathering, there was far less acknowledgment of comments by those in favor.  Those included the fact that municipalities have a right to develop their own land as long as doing so is within all guidelines of municipal, state and federal laws.

After additional vetting, the commission voted 4-2 in favor of approving the conceptual development plan with conditions. Lorusso noted that the applicants need to focus most on conducting a noise study and on the building design, which currently features corrugated metals that are not allowed by city standards.

Commission chairman Darrell Baker voiced hope that the applicants will reach out to the property owners regarding the issues they mentioned in the meeting.

An open meeting on the project will be held on Dec. 14.

Boardwalk Pizza is granted adjacent microbrewery

(Ran Nov. 19 in West Newsmagazine)

Famed author and humor columnist Dave Barry once wrote, “Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.” 

That pretty much matches the sentiment of Boardwalk Pizza owner Virgil Avanzado and his brew master Jake Mantz.

Through a Planning & Zoning Commission recommendation, followed by a Nov. 17 public hearing, the city of Ellisville council members voted unanimously to grant a liquor license and permission to open a microbrewery next to the restaurant at 15636 Manchester Road.

                                      Facebook image

City Attorney George Restovich rattled off 19 different exhibits regarding the paperwork involved, starting with a certified copy of the municipal code and ending with the city planner’s memo, dated Nov. 11, 2021. In between were several items offered by those submitting the petition for changes and additions.

“I’m the architect working with Virgil on the renovation of his pizzeria, and expansion into the neighboring facility which will house a microbrewery, tasting room, additional restroom, some additional seating and a storage area,” Mantz said. “The renovation includes an upgrade to the existing Boardwalk Pizza and some interior upgrades for the customer seating area. It will continue to operate as it currently does, but with these additions we will be expanding into the vacant tenant space next door. I never heard so many exhibits, but this was just a very basic summary of all those exhibits Mr. Restovich mentioned.”

In response to Mayor Mike Roemerman’s questions, the brewing will be handled on site with Mantz utilizing his own recipes. He currently has design space for up to eight taps.  

Council member Vince McGrath (District 1) inquired as to how this microbrewery would differ from most others.

Mantz answered that it’s going to be different from your normal, stand-alone microbrewery. They will not necessarily be catering to the regular beer enthusiasts, but are gearing toward beers that can easily be paired to the food Avanzado’s been serving. There will be light ales, lagers and maybe a couple darker nut-brown porters.

He added that they’ll have growlers that customers can buy, take home, and return them for refills at a reduced price. Mantz also mentioned having ‘crowlers,’ which he described as purchases in cans that are considered single serving sizes.

“I’ve done a little bit of research, and we’ll possibly be the smallest brewery in the United States,” Mantz said. “So, it will be very small and very specific.”   

McGrath also asked if sales would cover their rent. Mantz said that they crushed the numbers. Based on the cost of brewery equipment, supplies, cleaning, the modest expansion (about 150 square feet for this segment) and great margins for beers brewed on the premise, they will do just fine.  He added that they would be eliminating the middleman unlike bars that purchase beers from a distributor.

Looking at the pizzeria at 15638 Manchester, the microbrewery will be on the left side. Outside dining tables will be added inside the current walkway.   

Speaking to Virgil, council member Mick Cahill (District 2) said, “Seeing you start the place up, and appreciate that you’re trying to grow it, I know you’ve done a great job. It’s a vacant spot next to you.  So, you’ll be filling that spot and bringing some revenue into our city.”

Cahill subsequently made an amendment regarding expanding the areas in front of both addresses for the potential of covered outside seating for that entire area.

1938 newspaper shines among Ballwin Historical Commission donations

 On Nov. 9, current Planning & Zoning Commission member Gary Carr (Ward 1) carried several items into the Old Ballwin School House. He was there to donate pieces of Ballwin’s history. 

“Some of the stuff I’m donating today is from Ballwin Days. But the one that really struck me was the 1938 newspaper from the Community Press when they dedicated the brick building,” Carr said, referring to the school house. “My wife (Janet) had an anniversary party here for the building’s 50th year, back in 1988. We had the same chicken dinner that they had when they built the place. My wife’s uncle, Walter Bush, built that building.”

The paper, which Carr recently enclosed in a shadow box, features a large boxed section and the words “School Dedication Program.”  Just underneath that title are program details, including American flag ceremonies and addresses to be given by educational dignitaries. Near the bottom of the blurb, it mentions live performances of “Old Folks at Home,” “Heigh Ho” and “That Old Apple Tree” by the Ballwin Banjo Class. Underneath that was a note about the chicken supper Carr mentioned.

Gary Carr  and Ballwin Historical Commission Chairman Marie Clark (Source: City of Ballwin/Facebook)

“We’re thinking about moving in a couple years, but we want to stay in Ballwin,” Carr said.  “I’m just going through stuff the family has accumulated over the years, and we’re just trying to move stuff out. I didn’t want to throw any of this away, so I asked (the Historical Commission) if they wanted it. We were going to do this in the past. The plaque says 7/2019, but due to COVID, it was put off.”

According to the Historical Commission’s Facebook page: “The Old Ballwin Schoolhouse ended its role as a schoolhouse after the 1938 school year. It was then sold, ultimately becoming a private residence. For the next 50 years, it continued to be located at its original location: 110 Elm Street.  In 2001, it was moved to make way for the construction of the Old Towne Plaza.”

Carr said it took four years to complete Towne Plaza. 

“The reason it took so long,” he said, “(is) if you look at all these rocks back here, it was 70 feet down so they had to bring the grade up for the shopping center. They brought these rocks down here on 18-wheelers.  They had to have engineers here to tell them where to place them.”

One of the items donated by Carr was a Ballwin Days poster dated June 27, 28  and 29. While no one on the commission was certain which year the poster represented, it did mention that the carnival rides were by Tinsley’s Amusements, Inc, which began operation  in 1964.

In speaking with the Historical Commission, Carr mentioned one more item in his donations. 

Vintage Ballwin Days poster (Photo: Jeffry Greenberg)

“I was the treasurer at The Pointe, and this has all the paperwork of who donated money for the bond issue, built in 1995-96.”

Carr noted that his wife was responsible for acquiring some of the donated  items since her family has been in the area much longer than his own. Her great, great grandfather started (JJ) Kokesh (and Sons) Plumbing (currently at 408 Kehrs Mill Road) back in 1894. The fourth generation is running it now, and it’s believed to be the oldest continuous plumbing company in St. Louis County.

After being a plumber himself for 42 years, Carr retired in 2015. He’s been volunteering and working at the Christian Brothers home (La Salle Retreat Center)  in Wildwood, which has been there since 1886. However, he is most proud and moved by a far more recent historic event.

“I had the honor to work with the Gary Sinise Foundation at Officer (Mike) Flamion’s house as a volunteer,” Carr said.  Flamion, a former Ballwin Police officer,  was ambushed, shot in the back and paralyzed on July 8, 2016.

 “It was amazing to me the amount of people who stepped up to the plate and donated time or material. This went on and on and on,” he said. 

Fred Meyland-Smith receives Lieutenant Governor’s Senior Service Award

 (***This was a very special presentation I covered for West Newsmagazine)

It was a loud and often raucous lunchtime at Circle 7 Ranch in Des Peres on Wednesday, Nov. 3. In fact, the two heavy barn doors had to be completely closed in order to focus on the business unfolding in the restaurant’s private room – former Town & Country alderman Fred Meyland-Smith was being presented with a Lieutenant Governor’s Senior Service Award by current officeholder Mike Kehoe.

Meyland-Smith was one of roughly 100 individuals nominated for about one dozen awards. The requirements of which are to be at least 60 years of age and have performed at least 25 hours of volunteer work per year.  

The former alderman has gone well beyond the service hour parameter as highlighted in the full page letter State Rep. Dean Plocher (89th District) sent to Kehoe on March 30.

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe  (left) with Fred and Susan Meyland-Smith and Rep. Dean Plocher (Photo: Jeffry Greenberg) 

“When you look at Fred’s lifestyle, it’s been exemplary,” Plocher said at the presentation. “He’s been successful in business, as a husband and as a father. He’s just a good person who works hard and gives back to the community. He’s been retired for awhile, but he gave diligent service as an alderman for eight years, and has been serving on Planning & Zoning for 14. He doesn’t shy away from making hard decisions, and does what’s best for his community and for the state of Missouri. I’ve seen him do it, and it was an honor to nominate him.”

After graduating from Colgate University (in Hamilton, New York) with a degree in economics, Meyland-Smith was recruited by Procter and Gamble.  He spent 17 years with them in sales management.  He was then recruited by Ralston Purina and joined them in 1985. He soon became vice-president of sales for them, covering the entire United States until his 2001 retirement. In addition to his long tenure as a Town & Country alderman, he is still enjoying a 14-year stint on the Planning & Zoning Commission.

All that makes for an incredible lifetime resume but Meyland-Smith is far more proud of yet another volunteer activity.

“I am currently the vice-chair of the board of directors of Wings of Hope,” Meyland-Smith said. “We are a multi-national humanitarian organization headquartered at Spirit Airport. We are the largest medical air transport operation in the United States. In the course of a year, we will transport as many as 200 to 250 patients from their homes to wherever it is they need to get to for medical attention. We will do so at no cost to them, and we will do it repeatedly until they’ve achieved medical success. Sometimes that’s a dozen or two dozen flights over years to get them the medical attention that they need. 

     “We operate in 12 countries outside the United States, and proudly, we have twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. We operate three planes here in the United States, and planes in 12 other countries around the globe. Our mission is to help people lead a better life through the power of aviation. So, if we can use a plane to help someone get from their home to children’s hospitals or to get to the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota), Johns Hopkins University Hospital (Baltimore, Maryland), or to the University of Michigan’s (Ann Arbor) to get much needed medical care that’s not available where they live, we’ll be the catalyst to get them from home to the doctor’s office.”

Despite his years of service, Meyland-Smith was rather taken aback by being the recipient of the service award.

“I am humbled and honored by this,” he said. “Thank you. I was totally surprised. I did get a call from Diana (Hennerich), Dean’s administrative assistant, a while back, interviewing me and confirming some of the things I have been involved in. So, I knew Dean had nominated me for the award, but I didn’t know any of the details. This, today, is a surprise, and as I said, I’m humbled and honored by it. But I could only do all this because of my wife, Susan. She’s always so supportive and I’ve been proudly married to her for 53 years with three children and seven grandchildren!”

In his presentation, Kehoe told Meyland-Smith, “I deeply appreciate what you’ve done for our state.

He added, “I never met Fred until today, but when we read through the application and saw what he’s done in Town & Country … His involvement literally being the godfather to the Planning & Zoning process in Town & Country, his involvement with Trinity Church, with Wings of Hope … All of these things he’s done to give back to his community in retirement is what makes him a Senior Service Award member.”

The Senior Service Award was created 15 years ago by then Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder “to promote and highlight the positive accomplishments that Missouri’s senior citizens continually provide to their local communities.”

Long-time Ballwin resident honored for helping others

(This was just entered online yesterday at West Newsmagazine's site.)

 Once notified that it was her time to receive a proclamation at the Oct. 25 Ballwin Board of Aldermen meeting, Ginny Halloran was quick to reach the podium and quick to give her acceptance speech. 

“I just want to thank all of you,” she said. “I was so stunned when Hedy (Boone, Ballwin’s superintendent of recreation) called me and told me about the proclamation. But knowing the people in Ballwin, my brother (former mayor Dick Andrews) has a street named after him in Vlasis Park and my husband (Jerry) has a plaque in the Ballwin Athletic Association right on the other side of Manchester Road, and you’ve made this complete. My family loves the city of Ballwin and the people of the city of Ballwin. Thank you so much, and we’ll go get dinner so you can finish your meeting.”

There was hearty laughter from everyone in the room, then a spontaneous chant in unison: “Wait! You have to get your proclamation!”

Mayor Tim Pogue proclaimed Oct. 25, 2021, as Ginny Halloran Day and extolled her many years of exemplary volunteer service. 

Ballwin Mayor Tim Pogue presents a proclamation to Ginny Holloran in recognition of her volunteerism. (Source: Jeffry Greenberg)

“Ginny has been involved with Ballwin Days since its inauguration,” the proclamation reads. “She started and ran a Ballwin Days Fair Bowling Tournament, and started and operated the Ballwin Days funnel cake booth. She also has volunteered in all aspects of the event, including the ice cream booth, kids’ games, the duck pond and the sucker pull. Ginny also came up with the idea to add books to the committee booth and has been serving on the Ballwin Days Committee since 1978.”

She and her husband were the 2006 recipients of the Mr. and Mrs. Ballwin Days award. 

“Ginny has always been very active in the community,” the proclamation continues. “She has been involved in the PTA (Parent Teachers Association). She was a senior Olympic Gold medal winner. She had a winning tap-dancing team that put on Dancing Follies. Ginny led tap dancing for years at the Senior Center and she is still heavily involved at the Senior Center. She has donated many hours of tutoring time through OASIS at Westridge Elementary School.”

Pogue said, “I don’t know how much more I can add to this. I’ve actually had the pleasure of knowing both Ginny and her late husband for quite a number of years.  ... It’s a great pleasure to be able to give you this proclamation as a thank you for all the years of service you (have given to) this community.  Thank you very much, and it’s definitely not gone unnoticed.”

After more thanks and a thunderous round of applause, Holleran announced, “OK, we’re going to go eat.”

The next day she told West Newsmagazine that her initial reaction to Boone’s call was disbelief.

“I told them they had made a mistake,” Halloran said. “I’ve done different things in my life, but it’s always been things I’ve enjoyed doing, like tutoring at Westridge for 20 years. I figured the kids did more for me than I did for them.”

She mentioned how her brother started Ballwin Days and how the street leading up to the old city hall was named Andrews Parkway in his honor. She also added that a plaque at the Ballwin Athletic Association reads, “If you enjoy sitting here watching the ballgames, you can thank Jerry Halloran.”

Of all the activities in which Ginny has been involved, one of her greatest thrills is dancing.

“We used to go out and perform at a lot of retirement centers,” she said.  “We would perform there, and they would pay us money, but we would give the money back to the centers so they had money to do things.”

Though she no longer lives in the city, she proudly declared, “I’m still a Ballwin fan!”

Ellisville discusses, passes motion on parking disturbances

 (...for West Newsmagazine...online Oct. 22,2021...my first event covered for the city of Ellisville)

A bill regarding parking annoyances was the subject of discussion and interest at the Ellisville City Council meeting held Wednesday, Oct. 20. Not only did all six council members weigh in on a bill amending current regulations to prohibit parking in specified places (Bill 3725), but it was the only one of four legislative bills that drew a series of public comments. The discussions led to one section being amended and another totally removed.

The meeting began with an already amended version of a piece of legislation focused on what to do about automobiles parked for prolonged periods on city streets.

That section read: “No person shall park a vehicle on any roadway for an uninterrupted period of time longer than twenty-four (24) hours except in an emergency.”

Ellisville resident Marilyn Niebling voiced her disagreement with the proposed time period during the public comments portion of the meeting.

“I hope we don’t do something that’s going to make parking harder for obedient residents and nice neighbors in order to solve a problem that exists in some areas,” Niebling said. “In my mind, 24 hours of having to get out and move your car is an effort. Where I live, we do not have driveways. I can’t put my car in my driveway. No one pretty much can on my side of the street where I have to park or my guests have to park. There’s only parking on one side of the street, which happens to be that same side. Therefore, it would be challenging if you have overnight or out-of-town guests for the weekend to be concerned with going out and moving the car every 24 hours, and trying to figure out how to get it shuffled around.”

As an alternative, Niebling proposed a 72-hour window.                                                   

Ellisville Police Chief Steve Lewis also said that there was similar ordinance passed in his 24 years with the Chesterfield Police Department where the window for car removal was 48 hours. However, Lewis agreed with Niebling's proposed 72-hour time frame. He also added that the concern is targeted toward individuals who consistently disregard neighbors and block streets and driveways in subdivisions.

“I always envision this to be a complaint-driven type of ordinance,” council member Vince McGrath (District 1) said. “The problem District 1 is having is not just somebody coming through to a park and parking there for awhile. We’re talking about people parking on a street continuously for weeks at a time.”

Meanwhile, Dan Duffy (District 3) specifically disagreed with a section of the bill that read: “No person shall park a vehicle on any roadway which adjoins a residence unless the person has as his/her destination a residence adjacent to such street."

"We have a lot of young families who drive to the neighborhood parks, have to park on the street, and it’s not their street, and it doesn’t adjoin a residence of their destination," Duffy said. "They’re heading to the park. I know at Meadowlark Park, lots of times the park is fairly crowded, people drive to the park and park adjacent to residences that are near the park. We’ve never really had problems with that. So, I would hate to see that limited by this part of the ordinance.”

Ellisville council members ultimately agreed the section should be removed from the bill.

                                   (Photo Source:  Pixabay)

Council member Mick Cahill (District 2) brought up additional points regarding the 72-hour rule and its potential enforcement.

“How would you know if the vehicle doesn’t come home for the day, come back for the evening or vice-versa?” Cahill asked Lewis. “Maybe they go out in the night and park all day there, like a night shift nurse. I truly believe this has to be complaint driven.

“I would also like to know how are we going to let the homeowners know this because you’re saying this would be no tolerance, and if a homeowner doesn’t know that this is an ordinance; they’ve been parking in front of their home for years … and maybe only drive their car on the weekends, and take the bus during the week, or have a different vehicle that they drive and keep in their garage, and leave a car on the street, although no one’s being bothered by it, nobody knows. So, how is the city going to come around and notify everybody of this?”

Lewis responded that first, once there was a formal complaint, officers would come out and do visual observations, note that in Ellisville’s log, electronically note the location of the vehicle, and return the officer to observe that violation in the same location. At that point, he could issue the summons or parking ticket.

He added that he complaint would start in the notification. For example, the three-day violation wouldn’t start because the car was there for five days. Once the police are officially involved is when the three days would start.

“Then, my direction to the officer would be that we make contact,” Lewis said. “We would mark that car in some fashion, and we would contact that owner within those three days.”

The bill was passed by a council vote and became Ordinance 3494, with Cahill voting in objection. The ordinance will be full force and effect 30 days from and after its approval by the council.

Unique Wildwood businesses share sweet connection

 (West Newsmagazine, 10/4/2021)

There’s an art to making beautiful cakes and scooping perfect portions of ice cream. Just ask Wildwood entrepreneurs Tiffany Thompson and Steve Christensen.

For most of the summer, Thompson’s 3-foot-tall birthday cake in honor of Bagnell Dam’s 90th anniversary was paraded through the Ozarks. The cake features icing that replicates water and waves. There are boats and fish – all the things you’d associate with Lake of the Ozarks. The top tier resembles the dam itself and bears the celebration’s logo proudly proclaiming: The Best Dam Birthday Bash!

Tiffany Thompson with her Bagnell Dam birthday cake.

It all looks good enough to eat. But Thompson would not advise it. The cake’s ingredients came mostly from Home Depot and Menards – Rubbermaid totes, buckets, sewer hoses, spackling compound and tape. Yep, it’s fake.

While Thompson’s creations are “fakelicious,” there’s nothing inedible about Christensen’s passion.  He’s the Scoops Guy, who recently opened a Scoop School at 2612 East Ave. in Wildwood, right behind the Grover post office. 

Just as Thompson is an expert at creating fake cakes and other food and drink items, Christensen is an expert when it comes to the world of real ice cream, frozen yogurt, frozen custard and the like.

The Brisbane, Australia, native is the executive director of the National Ice Cream Retailers Association. As such, he has spent the last couple of decades training individuals and management around the world in all the details of entering into and maintaining top-notch frozen dessert stores. His journey to Missouri was, of course, ice cream – or custard – based and a bit circuitous. He moved from Australia to Michigan to Missouri.

“St. Louis stole our hearts,” he said. “It’s a big custard town and there’s great premium ice cream here, too. St. Louis is very central, and (students) can get some great ice cream while they’re here.”

Christensen has been in West County for the whole 17 years he’s been in the state. “I love the family feel of it,” he said, “and I’ve always strived to have the facility close to where we live.”

Years ago, Christensen’s organization purchased the Silky’s in Ballwin and did training there at the Mr. C’s facility. He said it was nice to learn how to run a shop within a shop, but the facility was limited in terms of space. His second location, inside St. Louis County’s business incubator on Spirit 40 Park Drive in Chesterfield, offered a large auditorium but no retail section. 

“In our new location in Wildwood, we actually have both,” Christensen said. “We have a great training room, a lot of space and we’re building an ice cream shop in the front of our facility. So, we have space dedicated to training, inventory and a functioning ice cream shop … Cherry Hills Creamery. You got the scoop on that! We haven’t told many people.”

It may be the one aspect of his work that Christensen has kept quiet. He has literally traveled the world teaching the nuances of running a successful frozen dessert business to tens of thousands of people in seminars, trade shows and workshops. For well-established businesses, he works with stores on a consulting basis. 

“They may seek a few areas of improvement, to hand the business down to a relative or totally get out of the business. In some cases, franchise management teams from various parts of the country are brought here to get up to date with their training,” he said. Then, he added, “Potential independently-owned ice cream shops are really our wheelhouse.

Scoop School boasts a three-day standard course that’s roughly 50% theory and 50% practice. The theory part is in the classroom learning about finance, operations and marketing. The hands-on portion is making ice cream and everything else – from scooping treats to rolling waffle cones.

Christensen also maintains a YouTube channel and icecream.video website that features some 250 videos about all aspects of the business. Recently, Scoop School videos surpassed their 1 millionth view.

Steve Christensen (back, center) with Scoop School graduates.

“We’re unique in that we train the theory and business of ice cream as well as the hands-on. Yes, it’s important to learn about small business finance, marketing and how to lay out your store. But everybody loves standing in front of a freezer or a custard machine, and having that beautiful, fresh ice cream or fresh dessert coming out – it’s pretty hard to beat.”

Unlike Christensen, Thompson had absolutely no experience in the food and beverage industry before she created “Fakelicious: Fake Food for the Real World!” In fact, she said her business grew out of a childhood hobby and a desire to amuse her father during 2020, when COVID-19 meant she couldn’t take him out to eat or bring him real food.

As a child, Thompson made fake food out of Play Dough, boxes of sticks, or whatever else she could find. She made similar items for her granddaughter. Then, last year her hobby took a different twist.

“My dad is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in the Columbia VA Hospital,” Thompson explained. “We weren’t allowed to see him for 14 months during COVID, so I started sending him fake food.  Once we got in to visit him again, they still wouldn’t let us bring real food in. So, I would bring him a Cardinal baseball hot dog made out of clay. He loved it!”

And Fakelicious was born.

“I’ve always been an artist,” Thompson said. “In high school, I won the state Best of Show at the State Art Competition in 1986. I’m good at painting and drawing, and can do just about anything creative.”

She said she goes into restaurants now and says, ‘I can make that better.’ For a growing list of clients, she does. Restaurants and stores use Fakelicious food for staging and photoshoots since real food can lose its appeal over a very brief period of time. Thompson’s food looks as real and fresh as “just served.”

“Margaritaville in Lake of the Ozarks is going to have me stage their bridal room,” Thompson shared. “If people are planning to have a wedding there, they can see how it will look with plated food, a fake wedding cake and champagne. They can also pack it up and take it with them when they do bridal shows.”

Thompson said she donates a portion of her profits to the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri. She chose that charity because of the assistance they gave her in 2015, at a time when she personally knew what it was like to not have food. She also donates many of her creations to silent auctions and other charities such as Camp Circle Star and those working to increase breast cancer awareness.

Her food, she said, meets more people than she does. But perhaps not for long, as her fame is growing.

Locally, Thompson has created lifelike toasted ravioli for Pasta House and frozen custard for Ted Drewes.

“Now that people are getting to know the product and the name, I can do more,” she said. “I’m even talking to Busch Stadium to see if I can get my fake hot dogs and cotton candy into the Redbird Club so they can display their products. I would be so excited to be able to get my food into Busch Stadium!”

For Thompson, Fakelicious is part therapy, part business and all fun.

“It just makes people happy!” Thompson exclaimed. “People just don’t know that they need fake food in their lives!”    

That may not be true of ice cream or frozen custard or frozen yogurt.

“Frozen custard is always near and dear to my heart,” Christensen said. “We started off in that business. But the country’s being taken by storm by these small batches of micro creameries that offer a number of premium ice cream products with unique flavors, locally run and made. So, it’s kind of a toss-up currently between custard and premium ice cream.

“The beauty of the business is that everybody loves ice cream products. Particularly in these days when life is a little uncertain and there are some challenges, it doesn’t take a lot to go down to the local ice cream shop and get a little treat … it’s like a 15-minute vacation.”

Keeping the Faith: Former St. Charles mayor to deliver message at Alzheimer’s Walk

(In MidRivers Newsmagazine, Sept. 1, 2021)

When Sally Faith was running for various public offices, she used the catchy campaign slogan, “Put Faith in Government.”  When faced with re-election, it was “Keep Faith in Government.”

Over the past 10 months, if Faith had a new catchphrase, it would have morphed into something outside the realm of work and into something far more personal. A likely candidate in both title and lyrics would be Billy Joel’s song, “Keeping the Faith.”

Mayor Sally Faith (left) with Officer Shelley Shirk and “Lilly”, one of the city’s police horses. [File photo: City of St. Charles]

Late last year, the former member of the St. Charles County Council (District 5), Missouri House of Representatives (District 15) and two-term St. Charles mayor, was diagnosed with early-stage dementia.

On Saturday, Sept. 25, Faith will deliver a 5-minute, 9:30 a.m. speech to kick off the Walk to End Alzheimer’s at St. Charles Community College. Coincidentally, she served on the college’s first Board of Trustees for a total of nine years.

Alzheimer’s is often described as a journey and Faith’s began when a couple of her girlfriends called her son, Howard, and told him that Sally should be checked out immediately for what seemed to be a deep depression. Faith said she was upset that friends didn’t call her directly.

“But I decided to go to the doctor,” she said. “My son went with me, and I told my doctor, ‘I wish these friends of mine wouldn’t have helped me.’ After giving me some tests, he told me, ‘Well, I think you should call your friends and thank them.’ He sent me to a neurologist, who was very blunt and said, ‘You have early dementia, and it’s not curable.’”

After the diagnosis, Faith thanked her friends, then she and Howard gathered more information about dementia.  Although Faith had been a caregiver for her mom, who also had Alzheimer’s, she said she knew little about the disease, one of the more than 100 forms of dementia.

“I truly believe people should accept it,” Faith said. “It’s not something you want to wake up, have a cup of coffee and talk about but it’s important to get it done early. I can tell I’m changing now that I’m aware of it. Before, I thought it was because I was retired after working morning, noon and night for so long, or it was the pandemic keeping me from going to many places. I knew something was just not right. I just didn’t know what it was.”

About six months ago, Faith started seeking support. She found a group run by Nancy Young and also reached out to Mary Williams, who is in charge of the St. Charles Walk To End Alzheimer’s and knew Faith during her mayoral years.

“Mary talked about the upcoming walk,” Faith recalled. “We went to a meeting and she asked if I would be willing to speak there. I told her I would be honored. It’s not a secret and it’s going to be my focus to say, it’s OK. It’s not catching. It’s not something to be embarrassed about. It’s what it is, and we can deal with it the best we can. You need family support, and I need social support. I like people, I’ve been around people and I reach out to people.  I want to keep in touch, and I want to do it now before it’s too late.”

Williams said Faith is an anomaly. “Most people don’t feel comfortable talking in public about any form of dementia, she said, “but Sally is just right for this role … I’m sure she will inspire many!”

After retiring, Faith had planned to write a book about her three decades in the political arena. But with her recent diagnosis, the subject of her book, which she hopes will be out at the end of the year, has changed dramatically. Its title is likely to be “I’m Losing My Memory. I’m Not Losing My Mind.”       

“When all this happened, it’s like what do I tell my friends?” Faith said. “I told them, ‘I found out I have early dementia, and I’m going to write about how I’m dealing with it.’ Then, there’s dead silence. No one knows what to say. A few of them said, ‘I will keep your secret. I won’t tell anyone.’ After a couple of them said that I thought, ‘Wait a minute! I’m not a secret. I have things to say.’ 

“My call is to say, ‘Hey! You’re not the only one out there!’”

 Faith said the book is “powerful, and it’s also painful” but it portrays the need for humor in our lives.

“I’ve got things to make them laugh,” Faith said. “The more we laugh, the more our heart listens and our head opens up. So, humor just has to be included. It’s sad that some people can’t laugh.”

Her advice, which she will share with participants at the walk, is simple: Don’t be embarrassed and make the most of the time that you’ve got.

Walk to End Alzheimer’s Promise Garden

To participate in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s: Participants can signup at the Sept. 25 event; however, it is highly recommended that they register in advance at ALZ.org/sccwalk. Walk participation is free, but donations are the goal. Walkers can participate as part of a team or as an individual, in memory or in honor of a loved one or not.

Each walker will be given a flower in one of four colors to signify their reason for participation. For instance, Faith could have a purple one for someone who has lost someone to the illness or a blue one for someone living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. The sight of those flowers en mass is a signature of the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Williams added that there will be four separate entrances to the walks, and there will be free food, drink and other surprises for participants!