Crestwood Proposes Commercial Sponsorships to Drive Up Revenue

Crestwood's Board of Alderman met starting at 7pm Wednesday in City Hall and here is a real-time run down of events.

7:10pm  Residents asked aldermen if they considering eliminating the Animal Control department before sending out a notice to hire a new Animal Control officer when 13-year animal control officer Suzie Sutton retires in March.

Martha Duchild, the wife of absent Alderman Paul Duchild, questioned the choice to spend on animal control when the city needed street repair, for example.

Mayor Roy Robinson responded.

"If we dissolve (it) we'll have more problems. The county can't handle this because the county is short-handed too," Robinson said, referring to county animal control services. "If we do anymore cutting, we won't be able to do what we need to do."

7:45pm   Crestwood Recreation Director Todd Stover proposed the city solicit commercial sponsorships of park fences, ball field, waterpark slides and other city property in order to generate revenue.

Earlier, Alderman John Foote pointed to the $1.5 million drop in city revenue since about 2008, largely due to the Crestwood mall's loss of businesses.

City Administrator James Eckrich said the city has dealt with sponsorship before and cited an Easter egg hunt.

The City Attorney said he didn't foresee any extravagant costs for his review of sponsorship agreements.

The aldermen unanimously agreed to pursue policy development for sponsorship.  

7:50pm  The board moves to renew a contract for inspections of rental properties when there is a turnover in renters. The fees for the inspection range from $30 to $190.

City officials said the prices have not changed since the last 2-year contract. The city started the inspections in 2005.

A spokesman for Engineering Evaluations Inspections said the company does the same work for the city of Ferguson, checking for smoke detectors, hand rails, and other code requirements in residential rental property.

8:01pm  Aldermen unanimously voted yes on the inspection bill.

8:03pm  The city administrator read a letter from the management team of Crestwood Court--the mall. The team pointed to the economic downturn since their purchase of the mall but said they shared the common goal with the city of creating a revitalized facility. It would be an entertainment destination, according to the letter, potentially including a bowling alley.

8:06pm  Mayor Robinson said he and the city administrator went to a legislative session at the state capitol earlier this month. Robinson said there were complaints about term limits, saying that over half of the legislative body was new this year due to term limits.

"I've always been in favor of term limits, but they seem to feel a lot of the people with experience are out now," Robinson said.

Robinson also said he hoped to get help with some of the cost of fire service that the city pays for Afton.

8:14pm  An ordinance over contracts with the city's firefighters union was tabled by unanimous vote of the board. 

8:15pm  Alderman Jerry Miguel said overhead costs for the special taxing district of Sappington Square has cost up to 61 percent of the Square's sales tax revenue, totaling $15,000 in one year. In December, Miguel described the Square's development as a failed project, after the developer went broke and the project fell under bank ownership.

8:17pm  Adjourned