The West Pine Laclede Neighborhood Association will meet on Tuesday, October 8th at 7 pm at Northwest Coffee, 4251 Laclede (at Boyle). All are welcome!
The minutes from our September meeting and copied below and will be presented for approval at the October meeting. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.
WPLNA Minutes – September 10, 2019
President Harold Karabell opened the meeting at Northwest Coffee at 7:00.
MINUTES from the August meeting were approved unanimously as written.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
$ 2,992.86 checking
$ 1,060.85 savings
Last month the membership approved a request for a $100 donation to Brightside St. Louis. Since the Treasurer was not able to attend that meeting, it was not known that he had already made our annual $100 contribution to Brightside last April. The second $100 donation will be made, as approved by membership.
The treasurer reminded everybody that new member dues are welcome any time and renewal dues were due in April. For information on how to enroll and/or pay your dues, please go to westpinelaclede.com
BEAUTIFICATION:
Lorraine Simpson said that the Neighbors Naturescaping grant awards, for which our association has two applications pending, will be announced on Thursday, September 12.
Lorraine Simpson noted that streetside trash cans around West Pine and Boyle are not being regularly emptied. Trash, mainly bags of dog waste, is building up. Vandals recently dumped much of this trash on the sidewalk or in front yards. Neighbors did some clean-up and eventually the city came and picked up the waste. Lorraine invited neighbors to help monitor the situation and if they see issues to call her at 708-502-4446.
It was noted that when reporting problems to the St. Louis Citizens’ Service Bureau https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/public-safety/neighborhood-stabilization-office/citizens-service-bureau/csb-request-submit.cfm , it is helpful to include photographs.
DEVELOPMENT:
Ranieri Construction, developer of 4101 West Pine townhouses, closed the east end of the alley between Boyle and Sarah without warning to neighbors and without a permit. The Streets Department and the Alderman have been asked to contact Ranieri and to request that, at a minimum, they keep the neighborhood informed ahead of such inconveniences. Fred Priese related a conversation he had with Chris Kopp, a Ranieri manager, who said that they plan to finish digging the hole in about 2 weeks, have the foundation done in October, and have the structure roughed in by the end of December. By spring they plan to be working on the brick siding and roof tiles. He also said that all deliveries should come in via Sarah rather than West Pine.
Lorraine Simpson expressed concern about trash on Lindell Boulevard near the CVS Store and planned to call this to the attention of executives at CVS. It was recommended she also reach out to Aldermann Todd of that district.
Maud Essen asked about the setback on the new construction at 4201 West Pine, 6 luxury townhomes to be called West Village. Nobody present could answer the question as to whether the setback was to the neighboring building façade or porch frontages.
Alderman Joe Roddy reminded us that the 17th ward is growing and thriving, home to almost half of the construction in the St. Louis area. However, our region in general is one of the slowest-growing in the country. The City of St. Louis is working on a formal economic plan, to be submitted in October. He also spoke of public safety and the conversations going on in our city around the increasing levels of violence. There is a lack of trust that must be addressed. The appearance by Jimmy Edwards, Director of Public Safety, at Northwest Coffee last month was an attempt to begin to address this issue.
Mr. Roddy said that State Auditor Nicole Galloway has announced that she will run for Governor of Missouri in 2020 and will appear at the Moonrise on Thursday, 9/12 at 7:30 p.m.
SECURITY:
Marshall Michener was unavailable to attend. Andy Welty, resident of the 4101 Laclede condos, reported that thieves have broken into their parking/storage area twice and taken thousands of dollars worth of bikes. They hired a guard and are installing new and more secure fencing. They are also consulting with Jim Whyte of the Neighborhood Security Initiative about installing security cameras.
Scott Gilbert said there was an attempted vehicle break-in on the parking lot for the Laclede East townhouses.
Respectfully submitted,
Diana Gualdoni
Secretary