Hazelwood City Council Honors 30-Year HPD Veteran at April 6 Meeting

(HPD) Lt. Ron Livingston was acknowledged at the April 6 Hazelwood City Council Meeting.

Mayor Matthew Robinson presented a 30-year service award to Livingston, who began his career with the HPD as a uniformed officer on the street and worked his way up to a supervisory position. Livingston also served on the detective bureau, the major case squad and as a field training officer. Robinson said Livingston was a patrol officer in his neighborhood when he was a child.

“He could just look at us (kids), and we’d be good for the rest of the day,” Robinson said. “It’s always been a pleasure to hand out employee service awards, and when you give an employee a service award for 30 years, you know they enjoy their job.”

City council also approved three (GNCCC) proclamations. Robert Gianino was named the chamber's "Business Person of the Year," and Scott Schneider was elected the GNCCC Chairman of the Board. Outgoing Board of Education member and acting secretary, Diane Dowdy, was honored for her years of service. She will step down after the April 19 meeting when newly elected member, , steps in.

Mayor Robinson also nominated Kevin Kelly, who also serves in Maryland Heights and Cool Valley, to become Hazelwood’s new municipal judge. Robinson called Ginny Lorton, Hazelwood’s court administrator, to the podium to ask about her experiences with Kelly. Lorton said Kelly is the "right man for the job."

“I’ve been here a little over eight years, and he’s served for six of those,” she said. “He’s a very dedicated and contentious man. He does a great job, and I think this will be in Hazelwood’s best interest.”

After a brief discussion about Kelly, Hazelwood City Council approved the mayor's motion.

During mayor and council reports, Mayor Robinson reported that city council would meet on April 13 for a work session, which is open to the public. Councilwoman Mary Singleton requested the addition of  RVs and mobile homes as a work session agenda item.

“I’d like to have the agenda of the work session specifically state that we’re going to talk about the definitions of RVs and mobile homes and where they should and should not be parked,” she said.

During his report, City Manager Edwin Carlstrom made a recommendation that city council approve a collaborative program with St. Louis County. It is the Municipal Housing and Community Supplemental Cooperation Agreement. The program allows low-income families to apply for help in repairing and improving their homes. Per the application process, once the City of Hazelwood approves the applications, they'd be sent to the St. Louis County for final approval.

“Approval is based on income and family size,” Councilman Russell Todd said. “The larger the family, the larger the income that’s eligible. It’s a good program.”

Carlstrom also said a stipulation of the program is that residents who are approved must remain in their homes for five years after improvements are made or risk penalties.

“There’s almost like a ‘claw back’ in there if they don’t stay for five years,” Carlstrom said.

The motion was unanimously approved.

Carlstrom also asked the council to approve the application of a new Safe Routes to School grant for the area surrounding . The grant would provide for sidewalks to be constructed on certain streets near the school to provide a safe route for children walking to school. He noted that the city would be required to maintain sidewalks in the area for 25 years, per grant stipulations. Singleton asked if the homeowners in that area wanted sidewalks. Because there aren’t a lot of big trees in the area that would need to be removed, it shouldn’t be a problem, Carlstrom said.

“I believe that homeowners will be happy to have the sidewalks, especially since they won’t have to pay for them,” he said. “The grant will cover 100 percent of the cost.”

Councilman Don Ryan agreed. His children attended McNair and that traffic could get pretty “hairy” in the area, he said. Councilwoman Carol Stroker wanted to know if Holiday Avenue would get a sidewalk, to which Robinson said there are too many trees that would require removal for a sidwalk to be created.

“You better talk to your neighbors first,” Robinson said to her, adding that the area surrounding McNair has always been a concern for the city.

“Holiday Avenue is within a one-mile area, and kids who live on Holiday have to walk to McNair,” Stroker said. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”

Robinson said a poll was performed a few years ago in the Holiday Ave. area and there was a 50/50 split between residents who did and did not want sidewalks.

“People didn’t want them,” he said. “But maybe that’s because they had to pay for them.”

After their discussion, the council unanimously agreed to submit an application for the grant.

In other news:

• City Council approved Bill 4235, which granted a special land use permit to Schaefer Autobody Centers at 9095 Dunn Road.