New Creve Coeur City Council Sworn Into Office

A new-look Creve Coeur City Council was seated Monday night, following elections earlier this month.

Ward 3 Councilwoman Charlotte D'Alfonso and Ward 4's Scott Saunders are the new faces to the council. Ward 1's Beth Kistner, Ward 2's Tara Nealey and Ward 3's Robert Hoffman all won re-election or ran unopposed April 5. A pre-meeting gathering at the Creve Coeur government center included cake for those who wanted it, and during the meeting, outgoing council members Robert Haddenhorst and Laura Bryant were given plaques honoring their service to the city.

The new board heard an update on a project that dominated discussion by its predecessors--the Olive Blvd. Transportation Development District (TDD). City Administrator Mark Perkins said the work of identifying which projects might still be completed with available funding sources had begun. Last month, the previous council approved a resolution urging the city to begin negotiations with the other project stakeholders to finish what could be done and then exit the controversial program. Council did receive word that a "connecter" road, as part of the project in the CityPlace complex, could be finished by May 1, weather permitting.

Creve Coeur Mayor Harold Dielmann, making his return to city council meetings for the first time since February heart surgery, answered questions regarding the Olive Blvd. TDD from now former Ward 4 Councilwoman Laura Bryant. Bryant, has been a longtime critic of the TDD project, and has sought clarification regarding the mayor's comments in a KTVI News report last fall on the project, when he told the station the project was delayed and over budget because the rules had changed.

Dielmann reiterated Monday what he said in that report, that the Missouri Department of Transportation told the TDD that utility lines lines couldnt be buried under Olive Blvd., forcing the project to set up easements along both sides of the road.

Perkins said the city was targeting a May 21 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completion of Creve Coeur's other TDD project, at Olive and Graeser, in conjunction with the new Walgreens opening at that location. Company officials have not returned a message seeking comment on when the store might open, but Perkins said it was expected to open in early May.