The next membership meeting will be held on Thursday, October 24 at Ameren  Missouri Headquarters; 1901 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, Mo 63103. (MAP)  Refreshments will be served at 6:30 pm and the meeting will begin at 7:15 pm.

Program: Ameren Missouri Chairman and President Michael L Moehn, will be presenting on “Moving Communities forward with Smart Energy”. Mr. Moehn was elected president of Ameren Missouri on April 1, 2014. He is responsible for Missouri’s largest energy      provider serving more than 1.2 million electric and natural gas customers. He first joined Ameren as assistant controller in June 2000. In 2002, he was promoted to vice president, Ameren Energy Resources, where he was responsible for back office, controller, pricing and analysis, and selected information technology services for merchant generating, as well as marketing and fuels management and trading services. He was named vice president for Corporate Planning in 2004. Four years later he was promoted to senior vice president for Corporate Planning and Business Risk Management. In January 2012, he was named senior vice president, Customer Operations, Ameren Illinois and in July 2012 was named senior vice president, Customer Operations, Ameren Missouri. Before joining Ameren, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers for nine years, where he  attained the position of senior manager. 
 
Mr. Moehn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from St. Louis University, a master’s degree in business administration from Washington University, St. Louis, and a certificate in Nuclear Reactor Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a certified public accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and an Eisenhower Fellow. Moehn is dedicated to serving the needs of our community. He serves on the Board of Directors for   Christian Hospital, Concordance Academy of Leadership, Lewis & Clark Community College Foundation, United Way of Greater St. Louis, and the Urban League.

The petitions for the Board of Freeholders were officially certified on Monday   September 23. The Executive Board wanted to express their thanks to the all the elected officials and residents that helped collect more than 21,000 signatures in St. Louis County and 10,000 in St. Louis City.

Article VI of the Constitution requires that the appointment and certification of the board members to be completed no later than 30 days after the petitions are certified and that the first meeting take place on the second Monday following the boards certification at 10:00 AM at St. Louis City Hall. This means the first Board of Freeholders meeting should be scheduled no later than Monday November 4.

This is just the first step in the process.  The Municipal League Executive Board encourages all their members to participate in the process and use your resources to keep your constituents informed throughout the process.

St. Louis REALTORS® represents over 8,000 members across St. Louis City and County. These hardworking ambassadors for the region work to find and sell homes for families in your communities every day. And every few days, a member reaches out to our staff with a question about local ordinances and codes. To help us better serve our  members, and to help make it easier for them to comply with the ordinances of your municipality, we invite you to complete the St. Louis REALTORS® Municipal Questionnaire.

REALTORS® across St. Louis want to comply with local ordinances, and your help in communicating this information means more people in your community enjoying the American Dream of home ownership. Our members want to learn more about rules regarding open house signs, occupancy permits, inspections, short term rentals, and more.

In the coming weeks, we will be contacting city administrators, city managers, and staff across the region with a link to the survey, as well as a fillable PDF. If you would like to be among the first to respond, you can visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/STLRMUNICIPALQUESTIONNAIRE 

To reach St. Louis REALTORS®, or to request a paper copy of the survey, please contact Beth Jung at [email protected].

Maryland Heights Councilman Chuck Caverly, was sworn in as the Vice President of the Missouri Municipal League Executive Board at the MML annual conference last month in St. Charles.

Also representing the St. Louis Area on the MML Board of   Directors are:

– Matt Robinson, Mayor, City of Hazelwood

– Michele Deshay, Mayor, City of Moline Acres

– Barry Glantz, Mayor, City of Creve Coeur

– Norm McCourt, Mayor,  City of Black Jack

– Cindy Pool, Councilwoman, City of Ellisville

– Gerry Welch, Mayor, City of Webster Groves

– Joe Garritano, Councilman, City of Wildwood

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page were among the local leaders who helped kickoff the AT&T initiated Believe St. Louis. 

AT&T has launched Believe programs in several other cities throughout the United States. Believe St. Louis will focus on philanthropy and volunteer partnerships that target preschool-age children through young adults.  Education, mentoring and career preparation were identified as priorities for the program here. AT&T pledged $1M and is encouraging its 4,500 employees to volunteer their time in neighborhood-restoration efforts, by teaching coding and circuitry classes at community centers, and becoming mentors in schools and with Scout troops.

All elected officials are required to meet the National Incident Management System (NIMS)  implementation requirements as a condition of receiving federal disaster assistance funding. This includes completing IS-700 NIMS: An Introduction and ICS-100: An Introduction to ICS training courses.

To view the Homeland Security NIMS fact sheet go to; https://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nims/NIMSFactSheet.pdf  or visit  https://training.fema.gov/is/.

The Draft 2020—2025 St. Louis Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan is available for public comments and review; 2020-2025 Hazard  Mitigation Plan. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires that   local cities and other jurisdictions adopt the Hazard Mitigation Plan in order to be eligible for state and federal grant funds for pre-disaster hazard mitigation.

The plan is designed to help protect public  safety and prevent loss of life or injury in the event of a natural disaster by providing  recommendations for advanced preparation for first responders, local government leaders, and school personnel. By planning for disasters in advance, emergency response personnel and local governments can increase their operational effectiveness, reduce costs, save lives, and improve the efficiency of disaster response and recovery. It also reduces the risk to existing and future development and to  prevent damage to each community’s unique economic, cultural, and environmental assets.

Go to, Hazard Mitigation Ordinance Template to view a sample ordinance.

Across the nation cities are racing to become Smart Cities, using high speed fiber network and modern technology to connect their services and residents in ways that seemed like science fiction just a few years ago. The goal is to deliver services to residents more  efficiently. By placing sensors throughout their cities, they can collect data on utilities, traffic, garbage collections, road conditions, and much more. Being more efficient, delivering faster and better service is great, but what are the risks to becoming a Smart  Cities. 

Is your city prepared? Below are four reasons why you should be?

   1)  Atlanta March 2019 —A ransomware attack hobbled city services, including bill payment, court scheduling and police dashboard cameras. The city refused to pay a ransom of roughly $51,000.  By June,  the repair cost had exceeded $7.2M.

   2)  Augusta, Maine April 2019 —Criminals demanded $100,000 after a cyberattack shut down public service, including door-entry systems for public buildings. City officials refused to pay and were able to rebuild the core system after about 2 days but problems remained for days after.

   3)  Baltimore May 2019 — A cyberattack shut down public services for three weeks. The city refused to pay the $76,000 ransom. Total cost to repair the damage was $18M.

   4)  Lake City and Riviera Beach, Fla. June 2019 —Both cities were hit at the same time, compromising their 911 systems. Both cities paid just of $1M in bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

Jason Hall is a co-founder of Arch to Park, a civic-minded investment group which  focuses on economic growth in St. Louis’ urban core. He had been invited to discuss his group’s work and the many positive economic  indicators that are underway. Mr. Hall said that many residents in the region are not aware of the strengths of the St. Louis area and the strengths should be a focus for business and government leaders. St. Louis is the 20th largest region in the country with a $161 billion regional economy. There are 10 Fortune 500 companies with an 11th likely to join the list.  Enterprise Rental Cars is the 13th largest private company in America.  In recent months there have been reports of planned major corporate  investments from Bunge, Square, Benson Hill and Centene.

He indicated that the millennial community is  reimagining St. Louis, noting that there has been a 34% increase in educated citizens residing in  St. Louis City.

He highlighted several local and national news  reports that were favorable for the region. Many of these focused-on St. Louis’ growth as an  entrepreneurial and tech hub, particularly for women. Recent job growth is above the national average, which has been rare.

Mr. Hall indicated that the Peirce Report from the late 1990s says that the center city is the global image for St. Louis and many other regions. The city’s 63% population loss from 1950 is the    largest of any central city in the country. However, over $8 billion in new development has been completed, is underway or planned in the area from the Arch to Forest Park. The projects include the Arch grounds, Cortex, T-Rex incubation center and a new MLS stadium.

He said that “patient capital” is needed to help revitalize some areas. This means development without significant incentives and includes the City Foundry site in mid-town and the Chouteau Greenway proposed by Great Rivers Greenway.

His group is working to create a downtown plan.  He invited League members to become involved in the STLMade branding with the    tagline Start Up, Stand Out and Stay.  The group’s website is theSTL.com.  They need everyone’s help to increase the national perception of the region by highlighting positive stories on social media.

The membership also heard presentations from County Library Director Kristin Sorth and Frontenac Mayor Kate Hatfield who discussed the district’s plans for a new facility in Frontenac. The district believes this site will best serve its needs while the city believes the district should abide by local zoning codes.  A city resolution calling for a new library board was presented for individual city officials   wishing to support the city’s position.

A big thank you goes out to Mayor Mike Moeller and the officials and employees of the City of Maryland Heights who hosted the meeting on short notice.

St. Louis County will host a series of public    meetings for its Action Plan for Walking and Biking this October to gather input from the public on   desired bicycle and pedestrian improvements. The action plan will be a countywide document that guides enhancements to walking and biking conditions throughout St. Louis County over the next 20 years. Meeting dates and locations include:

• Wednesday, Oct. 16, 5 to 7:30 pm —Brentwood Community Center, 2505 S. Brentwood Blvd., Brentwood, MO 63144
• Thursday, Oct.17, 5 to 7:30 pm— the Pavilion at Lemay, 305 Gregg Rd., Lemay, MO 63125
• Wednesday, Oct. 23, 5 to 7:30 pm —Greensfelder Community Center in Queeny Park, 550 Weidman Rd., Ballwin, MO 63011
• Thursday, Oct. 24, 5 to 7:30 pm —Ferguson Community Center, 1050 Smith Ave.,     Ferguson, MO 63135

Visit www.stlcountywalkbike.com to learn more, take a brief survey, and/or enter your ideas on an interactive mapping tool.