County Driveway Dispute Saves Documents

Some St. Louis County real estate documents scheduled for destruction will remain entact until concerns over a disputed driveway are examined.

The decision Tuesday by the St. Louis County Council followed the comments of three people associated with the Robinwood West Community Improvement District. The district lies in an unincorporated part of the county between Creve Coeur and Maryland Heights.

At issue is the ownership of a driveway. Several people contended to the council on Tuesday that while some property records indicate the path belongs to the improvement district, a government entity, those documents are trumped by other records indicating that Phil Roemmich owns the driveway.

The problem, they claim, is that when bound volumes of property files were transferred into electronic formats, some of the documents might have been overlooked.

District 6 Councilman Steve Stenger said the council would hold on a motion to destroy some of the documents, as outlined under Missouri law, out of an "abundance of caution."

Roemmich said after the meeting that he has spoken with Eugene Leung, the county's director of revenue, and that he'll wait to see what Leung is able to do about the issue. Leung's office oversees land information services and deeds, among other areas.

"I'm pleased that we were able to stop them (the council) from expunging the records," Roemmich said. He said he wants the county to verify that he has ownership of the driveway so he can grant the land to Robinwood's trustees.

Stephanie Michael, a Robinwood West resident, also spoke at the meeting. She said afterward that their goal is to ensure that records not required to be backed up electronically under Missouri law are kept so that the issue can be resolved. She said it's her understanding that the missing documents were created in 2005.

Michael said that if the improvement district were to be dissolved, the people responsible for governing it could sell the land to businesses or other entities wanting to set up shop on that land. The improvement district was initially set up to generate funds for an outdoor swimming pool and community center.

By contrast, she said, trustees could present members of community with plans for development to determine whether residents think it's a good idea to move forward.

"You just can't bowl your way to ownership" of the driveway, Michael said.

County spokesman Mac Scott said that Leung needs more information on the case before deciding one way or the other. In the meantime, the documents in question will not be destroyed so that they'll be available in the event that county officials need to look through them.While Leung told him that an initial look at available information doesn't indicate that the property was transferred to Roemmich, he'll continue to research the issue.

"He's not in a position right now to say definitively one way" or another," Scott said.

In other action, the council:

• Acknowledged the reappointment of Clayton resident Ben Uchitelle and the appointment of Clayton resident Jerome Glick to the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District board.

• Agreed to accept a grant of up to $2,954 to support the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative program.

• Appropriated an $1,800 donation from the Missouri Police Chiefs Association toward the county's D.A.R.E. unit.

• Agreed to accept a $5,500 donation from Crestwood Elks Lodge 2503 toward the purchase of a dog for the county police's canine unit.

• Adopted a resolution honoring St. Louis Cardinals baseball legend Stan Musial, who on Tuesday received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has more on the medal ceremony.