MAPLEWOOD, MO (January 29, 2026) – The City of Maplewood has announced the selection of Todd Hughes to serve as Maplewood’s new Public Works and Planning Director. Hughes will begin on February 3, 2026.
Hughes brings more than 25 years of municipal public works and engineering experience to Maplewood, most recently serving as Director of Public Works for the City of Florissant. His career also includes leadership and engineering roles with the cities of St. Charles, Webster Groves, and Bridgeton, where he oversaw street and stormwater systems, capital improvement projects, development review, building inspections, and infrastructure planning.
Hughes’ appointment comes at a pivotal time as the City of Maplewood undertakes a Comprehensive Plan update to guide future growth, infrastructure investment, and land-use decisions.
“I am most excited to bring my stormwater and infrastructure experience to the City of Maplewood,” said Hughes. “With the City currently updating its Comprehensive Plan, this is an important moment to align infrastructure investments with long-range planning goals, and I look forward to working with staff, residents, and regional partners to support sustainable growth and a high quality of life.”
“Todd brings steady leadership and a deep understanding of how infrastructure decisions shape communities,” said City Manager Amber Withycombe. “His experience will be especially valuable as Maplewood aligns daily operations with long-term planning priorities.”
Hughes holds a degree in civil engineering from Washington University and is a licensed Professional Engineer.
Does anyone remember befor hanley Road was improved for the Walmart Development, one house sat on an island of property and Hanley split one direction and the other direction with the house in the middle. Who owned that house?
I remember it. My Father grew up in that house. (Gilbert Jeck) He was born in 1929 and grew up in Maplewood. His father. (Harold Jeck) was the Foreman for the Fuel and Oil company that was once located at the end of Folk Ave fronting on Hanley Rd. According to my Dad, that house was owned by the Fuel and Oil company and housed the Foreman (my Grandfather) and family at that time. I have pictures of the front of the house with my dad as a child back when Hanley Road was a dirt road. They lived there until 1946 when my Grandfather died of an aneurysm at the young age of 42. My dad was 17 at that time. My Grandmother and her two sons had to move and had a house built on Alicia Avenue in Maplewood. The house remained there for many years afterwards and was once occupied by a Planned Parenthood in the 70’s I believe, and some other different companies until it torn down for the Walmart Development. We were sad to see it torn down. Anyway, I don’t know the actual name of any of the owners, just thought I would give a little history of the house.
I found who owned the house that Hanley North and Hanley South was built around because the owner would not sell when Hanley N&S was widened to 4 lanes. The Hendrex owned that house.
With Future plans that are evolving in Brentwood, Rock Hill, Richmond Heights homeowners may face the prospect of becoming a holdout and may be faced with the Nail House syndrome.
The Eye of Jinxi made news headlines in China in April, when a highway built around it was inaugurated. Like other nail house owners across the Asian country, Huang Ping (pseudonym) refused the regional government’s offer to buy his property and decided to stick to his guns even when everyone else in the area moved out. At one point, Huang got a large enough compensation package of approximately 1.6 million yuan ($223,000), but didn’t agree to the condition that the price be paid in two installments. He would live to regret his decision, because the government decided to simply build the road around his property, turning it into an isolated nail house. With Future plans that are evolving in Brentwood, Rock Hill, Richmond Heights may be faced with the Nail House syndrome.
Welcome Todd Hughes your background will be put to good use, infrastructure throughout the older areas of St.
Louis and St. Louis Co. are a great challenge. Sutton Ave uses a dual system for sewage, and I myself experienced the system when renovating buildings on Sutton.