JANUARY - MARCH 2023
It's Spring! My crabgrass and clover are greening up and it will soon be time to enjoy the dandelions.
I've been spending lots of time meeting with city staff and the mayor to prepare for my new role, which starts April 25. I've learned that the role of mayor will require a lot more time than alderman, but I'm excited and looking forward to the new challenge.
Hats off to Mayor Grant Mabie, who makes all of this look effortless and easy - it's not and he has served us well. There are lots of great things happening - including the grand opening of Dierbergs and new homes being built at Crestwood Crossing. It's very exciting and it's a great time to live in Crestwood!
As a reminder, I will continue to add more posts to the website, as events occur and information is available. So be sure to visit shipleyward3.org (or by it's new name mayorshipley.org), Better yet, subscribe to receive weekly/ monthly updates via e-mail.
Click on the topics below to view each article.
The Municipal Election Day is Tuesday, April 4. It’s a fairly simple ballot this time, but as with most April elections, we’ll be choosing our elected officials, school board members, and a couple of propositions.
You can vote at any St. Louis County polling place, but the two in Crestwood are at the Whitecliff Community Center and City Hall. For a list of all available polling places, visit the St. Louis County Board of Elections website (HERE)
You should have received a sample ballot in the mail, but if not you can view one here:
- Residents in Lindbergh School District
- Residents in Affton School District
Let’s review the ballot items:
PROPOSITION M - MARIJUANA SALES TAX
Both St. Louis County and the City of Crestwood have submitted separate propositions to add a 3% sales tax on the sale of adult use marijuana items.
The St. Louis County Prop M revenues will flow exclusively to St. Louis County and the Crestwood Prop M revenues will flow to the City of Crestwood. Per a recent legal ruling - If both propositions pass, then both would apply and sales tax revenues will flow both to the County and the City of Crestwood.
Currently, all sales tax on recreational marijuana goes to the State of Missouri’s programs, with none of the money staying locally in the City of Crestwood.
If approved by a majority of qualified voters, collection of this sales tax will be distributed to the city and or county, starting in late 2023.
CRESTWOOD MAYOR
Every three years, we vote for mayor and 2023 is that year. As previously announced, I am running for mayor and am the only person on the ballot. So, thank you if you decide to vote for me. I’ve known that I am unopposed since December, so I have been able to spend that time meeting (and meeting and meeting) with city staff and the mayor to help with a smooth transition. The election results will be certified later in April and our new mayor is sworn in at the April 25 Board of Aldermen meeting.
SCHOOL BOARD (LINDBERGH OR AFFTON)
Both Lindbergh and Affton have multiple candidates looking to fill three (3) election spots on their School Board.
The Missouri chapter of the National Education Association (MNEA) has endorsed three candidates for each of these races. Per their website:
MNEA local associations abide by a recommendation process that evaluates candidates based on their values, not party affiliation. They recommend candidates whose values closely align with Missouri NEA's beliefs and legislative resolutions, which include protecting the rights of students and education employees; ensuring every student has a qualified, caring teacher; and investing in public education so teachers have the tools they need to help drive student success. Candidates are interviewed by a committee that lives in your school district and knows the issues that are unique to your community.
MNEA has endorsed the following candidates (who are also the first 3 listed on the ballot):
Lindbergh – Matt Alonzo, Christy Watz, Andrew Lawson
Affton - Jeanette Schoenberg, Justin Carney, Bridget Sinamon
Further reading – you can read about all candidates at the following links:
- Lindbergh (Call Newspaper)
- Affton (District website)
In partnership with Lindbergh School District, the city will be installing new sidewalks this summer, with the goal of completion by the end of August.
This project has been in the planning and funding stages for more than a year and a construction project was finally awarded to Jokerst Paving at the March 14 Board of Alderman meeting.
The sidewalks will be installed to help students safely walk to Crestwood School and Sappington School. Due to the cost and complexity, the construction projects were divided into Phase 1 and Phase 2. Plans for both locations are posted on the city’s website (HERE).
Crestwood School – Elmont Lane, Westglen Drive, and Trelane Avenue. This work was originally planned in two phases, but both Phase 1 and Phase 2 will be completed at the same time this summer.
Today, students in this neighborhood can walk to Crestwood School on Sappington Road via Elmont Lane, but none of the streets that lead there have sidewalks on either side. This project will add a new sidewalk on the south side of Elmont, the west side of Westglen, and both sides of Trelane (where they will connect to existing sidewalks to access deeper into the neighborhood).
Crosswalks will also be added at the intersection of Westglen and Trelane.
Sappington School – Pardee Road. This work was also designed in two phases, but only Phase 1 will be completed in 2023. Phase 2 is planned for next year (pending funding) and will connect to Pardee Spur and an existing sidewalk further down Pardee Road.
Pardee Road is one of the older roads in Crestwood and has no curb or sidewalk. Even walking in the grass along this road is dangerous. The new sidewalk will run along the western side of Pardee Road from Eddie and Park to Garber Road and will connect to existing sidewalks on Laurel Hill and Garber (which will require the relocation of a fire hydrant).
Some street signs and resident mailboxes will also be relocated where needed.
Each year the city alternates between repairs to concrete and asphalt streets. 2023 is a concrete repair year. Repairs to concrete are made via the “selective slab” method, whereby defective slabs of concrete are identified and replaced – instead of replacing the entire street.
The following concrete streets will be updated this summer:
Buxton Drive
Joshua Drive
Laramie Drive
Lavant Drive
Rusticwood Trail
Sun Country Trail
Sun County Trail Cul-de-sac
The board of alderman also approved adding a really bad portion of Cordoba Lane to this list (approximately 20 slabs), so that also will be addressed this summer.
This year will also see the 100% replacement of Del Vista Drive, which used to be a concrete street, but at some point in the past (during tough budget years), the concrete was overlaid with asphalt without removing the defective concrete. This probably seemed like a simple fix back then, but now it's time to replace that defective concrete below with a completely new concrete street. This full replacement is VERY expensive and represents about 1/3 of the entire 2023 project cost. Unfortunately, many other streets in Crestwood have this same asphalt-over-concrete construction and will require full replacement someday (about 30% of all streets).
This will be one of my focus areas as mayor – working with our Public Works Director to develop a do-able plan to address these VERY costly updates that will be required in the coming decades. This represents future replacement of about 30 lane-miles of pavement and curb so it will take a while. Stay tuned.
Asphalt Rejuvenation – This is a fairly new tool for Crestwood, but it involves treating asphalt streets with a liquid designed to reactivate the binding components of asphalt and has been shown to extend the pavement life for additional years of service. This was first applied to multiple Crestwood streets back in 2021.
The process involves cleaning and prep work, application of the liquid, temporarily covering that with a layer of small gravel to allow the treatment to penetrate and dry, and later sweeping the street again to remove the gravel. The streets will look a bit blotchy and swirly at first but return to normal appearance after a few weeks. This year it will be applied to the following asphalt streets:
AlohaArban
Bali
Dublin
Dournier
Glenrose
Hutchins
Larsen
Lodge
Lopina
Paddock
Somoa
Satinwood Place
Starling
Tahiti
Tower
Whitecliff Park entry road
More information on this Rejuventor product can be viewed HERE.
If all goes according to plan, I will be sworn in at the April 25 Board of Alderman meeting and begin my 3-year term as Mayor. What happens next?
Well – Great things are happening in Crestwood and I am very fortunate to take the reins at such a positive time.
Commercial Development - Obviously, Crestwood Crossing is progressing and new businesses will be opening there for the next several years. A new high end apartment complex will be constructed at 8800 Watson (Social Security office plaza) and developers are submitting plans and proposals to redevelop the former Aldi shopping plaza. So I expect to be spending plenty of time ensuring that all moves forward in a positive manner.
Parks Improvements – City staff is putting the final touches on Crestwood's first ever city-wide Park Master Plan. This represents over a year of research, design, collaboration, and debate. Part of that process involved multiple open-house events and a formal survey of residents to determine what is important to you and your neighbors. That said – this is not a to-do list or a promise of what’s to come. Instead, it provides solid ideas and priorities for potential projects to be completed as resources allow. I’m excited about the recommendations for our parks within this plan and will work to bring as many to completion as possible.
Community Center Renovation – One of the biggest recommendations in the Parks Master Plan is to renovate or replace our aging community center. More research will be required to ensure what is actually needed and then determine the best path forward. This will be a MAJOR focus for me, our aldermen, and city staff over the next year or so. Look for announcements about more town-hall style meetings to gather more resident feedback and ideas.
Long Term Planning – As you can tell, there are many big projects in our future, and we will need to do a really good job planning, budgeting, and managing to make sure they can happen. Even though I feel this is super-important and I will do what I can to help get us there - our city staff already does a great job planning, budgeting, and managing, so I know that we’ll make this happen.
Community Engagement – I plan to communicate, communicate, and communicate. City staff, elected officials, and volunteer board members all have the same goal to make Crestwood a better place for all of us, but your input and involvement is critical to make sure we are addressing the issues that you and your neighbors care about.
Watch for more news stories, city-focused videos, and town-hall events. I look forward to meeting with you and hearing your ideas.
Are you ready? Let's go!
This website is being renamed to mayorshipley.org and the scope and focus will expand beyond Ward 3. For the foreseeable future, the traditional name (shipleyward3.org) will still work too - either name will direct you to the same site.
The city works hard to communicate with residents via social media, the city website, and the paper newsletter that we get in our mailbox. I don’t plan to duplicate or try to replace existing official city communications. My blog website and email newsletters will continue to serve as my “unofficial” communication tool, paid for by myself.
My email addresses will remain the same:
- Unofficial communication (newsletter, etc.) – shipleyward3@gmail.com
- Official communication (city matters) – sshipley@cityofcrestwood.org
I’ll respond to emails regardless of where they are sent, so you can use either address.
If you missed any of the previous newsletters, you can find a link to all of them here.