About 20 residents came to Brentwood Mayor Pat Kelly’s resident coffee Friday morning, including some candidates on the April 7 ballot: Steve Lochmoeller (Ward 3), David Plufka (Ward 1) and Chris Thornton (mayor).
Kelly covered improvements to Manchester Road and Brentwood Boulevard, trees being removed, why he’s not running again, and more. This was his second-to-last coffee; he is not running for another term.
- The city is applying for a grant to improve the Manchester Road corridor, mainly the curbs and sidewalks. Kelly said grant applications don’t “happen overnight.” Work on Litzsinger Road will be completed this summer.
- He said met with St. Louis County Highway representatives about improvements on Brentwood Boulevard from Marshall Place to Eager Road. Work is to begin May 1 and run through October. Concrete work, including curbs and approaches, will be done first, then the asphalt road surface. The paving work will be done at night, so there should be minimal lane closures during the day. Kelly said there are 90 manhole covers in the stretch, and each one will be raised to road surface level. Lane configuration will remain the same—six lanes, 10 feet wide.
- He spoke about two trees that were removed that caused some discussion. “Public works took down two trees on High School Drive, and you would have thought we were clear-cutting the city of Brentwood,” he said. “The reality of it is, there are mature trees, and, the gum balls (sweet gum trees) all need to go,” Kelly said. “This other tree, I forget what kind it was—it kept uprooting the sidewalk. From a community standpoint, the important thing to recognize, when we do take down trees, we replace them.” See also: Resident who lost tree in front fought city for a year to keep tree in back
- Kelly said Eagle Bank (his employer) has given him time off for mayor duties. People said he should run again. He said the only reason he ran last time was to complete the Drury Inn project.
- The business replacing Thomasville Furniture which closed, at the Promenade, will be new to the St. Louis market.
Residents said they hoped the next mayor would continue the coffee.
Agree with Liz. “’Public works took down two trees on High School Drive, and you would have thought we were clear-cutting the city of Brentwood,’ Kelly said.” No, you would’ve thought citizens were, and are, concerned about the unnecessary removal of trees that make our neighborhoods beautiful.
We need leadership with a greater sense of community responsibility. Less talk, more listen.
Flip remarks help no one. Primarily regarding the trees. Ready for new chapter in Brentwood.