Thursday, April 25, 2013
The farmer's market will hold its first event of the summer season May 18 at Wildwood's Town Center Plaza.
When the Wildwood Farmer’s Market opens for the summer season this year, it will be under the guidance of new management that city officials hope can help boost its popularity. George and Renee Sackett, managers of the nearby Ellisville Farmer’s Market, received the official blessing from the city council April 22 to take over the day-to-day operations of the event, scheduled for Saturdays starting May 18. Began in 2009, the Wildwood Farmer’s Market has already had three management changes in its short history. The latest move is aimed at helping the market reach its “desire potential,” according to a report from Wildwood Parks and Planning Director Joe Vujnich. Vujnich said the city approached Rene Sackett after noting the excellent …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Residents of the city's most rugged rural areas may not have to wait much longer to access the modern Web.
For Wildwood residents eager to be connected to high-speed Internet access, the wait might seem as interminable as the buffering screens they see when trying to stream online video. However, on Monday, the Wildwood City Council approved the first reading of what will be the final agreement with the two service providers, Wisper ISP and Bays ET, contracted to finally bring the technology to city's rural areas. In presenting the agreement to the council, which sets the responsibilities and duties of the companies and the city, Wildwood Planning and Parks Director Joe Vujnich said it contained a couple of key provisions that were worth highlighting. The first is that the companies will each be charged a licensing fee to recoup the city’s …
Monday, April 15, 2013
A public hearing was held, and a new policy regarding outdoor sports, or game, courts will be in place in Wildwood.
Wildwood city ordinances in the past dictated that outdoor game courts, sometimes called sports courts, that are more than 1,000 square feet must be reviewed and approved by the city's Planning and Zoning Commissioners. Wildwood adopted new regulations about outdoor game courts that since June 2012, remained "largely untested," said Wildwood Director of Planning and Parks Joe Vujnich at the public hearing held last Monday regarding these sports courts. Regulations focused mainly on: Due to recent residents' concerns about dangerous projectiles, noise pollution, light pollution and environmental impacts potentially resulting from outdoor game courts, more attention was devoted to the governing regulations. Vujnich said outdoor courts were …
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Do you know who Wildwood's first city marshal was?
Wildwood officials recently honored the city's first marshal by naming the police precinct wing within the new municipal building after him: Bill Freidrichs. A dedication plaque was presented at a city council meeting. Freidrichs served as city marshal from 1995-2002. The current marshal is Wildwood resident Bob Warren, who chairs the city's Board of Public Safety. RELATED ARTICLE: Wildwood Gets New City Marshal Clarification April 14 @ 9:24 a.m.: Wildwood resident Bill Garrett was appointed as Warren's replacement by Wildwood Mayor Tim Woerther.
The city's Board of Public Safety volunteer members are offering a series of new safety-related workshops and events for Wildwood residents. The first one, a CPR-certified class, will be held 11 days from now.
A new lecture series of workshops will be offered to Wildwood residents by the city's Board of Public Safety committee volunteers, said member John Gragnani at Monday's city council meeting. The first session will be 6-9 p.m. on April 24 at the Wildwood Municipal Building in the first floor community room. The session is a basic life support class, which Gragnani said is a American Heart Association-certified CPR class. He said it will be good instruction for both general people and health care providers. The cost is $25 per student. It is limited to 40 participants. To reserve a spot, call (636) 458-0440. He said the next session being contemplated focuses on home preparedness and would be done in conjunction with Metro West Fire …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Pond Athletic Association is observing the organization's 50th anniversary this year, and asked Wildwood city representatives to support it. A total of $25,000 may be on its way to the group.
An ordinance to allocate a $25,000 donation to the Pond Athletic Association (PAA) was introduced at Monday night's Wildwood city council meeting. The money would come from the city's Parks and Recreation Department as a special project to contribute toward the entity's 50th anniversary this year. Wildwood Director of Planning and Parks Joe Vujnich said it is the first time city representatives would be donating a cash sum directly to a nonprofit group. "Council members wanted to be part of the anniversary observation," he said. City council members will vote on the ordinance for the second time on April 22 to finalize the allocation, although Mayor Tim Woerther noted at Monday's council meeting they still were waiting for a documented …
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
HEAR DEBATE POINTS via VIDEO: After four years of multiple debates, research and more discussions, a set of Wildwood property owners say city representatives are devaluing their property by changing its zoning designation.
Wildwood property owners of a large tract of undeveloped land inside of the city's Town Center, commonly referred to as "The Spanos Property," have pleaded with city council members over the past few meetings not to change its zoning designation. John and Pete Spanos said they bought the property that had commercial zoning in 2005, but fear the new, recommended land usage for mixed-use development would limit the amount of commercial use possible. The Spanos' owners repeatedly have aired concerns about how splitting the land use designation would negatively impact the parcel's attractiveness to potential buyers. Council members differ in views about this matter, with some saying the suggested change does devalue it and others saying it's …
The entrance area to one of Wildwood's recreational hubs may be one step closer to being embellished. Terrespec is the intended consultancy firm.
Wildwood city council members are considering allocating $39,000 to hire a consultant to develop and engineer drawings for improvements to the Al Foster Trailhead facilities at 319 Grand. The proposal will be on the council's April 8 agenda. Some Wildwood officials said it is important to support this one-of-a-kind landscape and trail system along the Meramec River Greenway. Al Foster Trail was opened to public use in November 2003, however Wildwood representatives have been working on determining the needs of trail users over the past few years. In 2011, for example, the process of surveying users and having the review of the city's Planning/Economic Development/Parks (PEP) Committee was initiated. From that effort, PEP committee members …
Saturday, March 23, 2013
One of the April 2 ballot items about funding for parks, trails, St. Louis Arch grounds and wildlife habitat is being supported by Wildwood Mayor Tim Woerther and city council members. It would increase sales tax by 3/16th of 1 cent.
Wildwood Mayor Tim Woerther recently led city council members in discussions about endorsing a St. Louis public parks initiative that will be decided on next month. He said he believes Wildwood may benefit from additional funds that would be available to St. Louis County for maintenance and improvement of its park properties in and around Wildwood. On April 2, voters of St. Louis County and the city will vote on Proposition P, a ballot initiative to increase sales tax and funding available to improve parks and trails and the Gateway Arch grounds. The initiative also includes elements to protect natural areas and wildlife habitat throughout St. Louis. The initiative is officially referred to as the Safe and Accessible Arch and Public Parks …
Friday, March 22, 2013
An update about this upcoming city-sponsored, new event is provided for those interested in making their own film, all in 24 hours. Ever hear of film racing?
It's time to start thinking about how to rev creative, mental motors. Wildwood city representatives are set to host the municipality's first-ever art fair next year. To get into an artistic spirit, city organizers have planned a film racing event for this fall. Film racing is a competition in which short films are created within 24 hours. Wildwood may be hosting the only film racing event in the St. Louis metropolitan area this year. Joe Vujnich, Wildwood director of planning and parks, said the film racing event will be based at the B&B Theatres Wildwood 10 at 16820 Main St. Vujnich presented an update of the event at the March 11 city council meeting. He said the eventual art fair also will incorporate a film-based event, which is why …
George Sackett
2:47 pm on Thursday, April 25, 2013
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