Floodplain lawsuit

St. Louis Public Radio aired the following piece. It might be closing the barn door after the horse has gone out, but maybe there's a glimmer of hope left for the floodplains directly in the path of the Page-Olive Connector??

Lawsuit filed against tax breaks for flood plain development

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio (2010-02-09)
ST. LOUIS (St. Louis Public Radio) - An environmental advocacy group is challenging a Missouri statute it says makes it too easy to develop in flood plains.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance challenges tax breaks the city of St. Charles gave to two developers who want to build office and warehouse space on 99 acres in the floodplain north of Interstate 370.

Under state law, a municipality must declare property blighted for developers to access most tax incentives. The lawsuit says the definition is unconstitutionally broad.

"I believe one of the blighting factors the developers use in this case, is there is a dead fish smell after the property floods," said Dan Burkemper, the executive director of the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance. "Now, we would contend that that happens within any floodplain because it's the nature of a flood plain."

The broad definition has turned the tax incentives away from their original intent, Burkemper said.

"The intent of these tax subsidies for developments was to truly redevelop blighted areas like brownfields and decaying urban areas, and what we've seen is that developers are not redeveloping those areas, they're developing open space because they can, and it's easier," he said.

The city of St. Charles and the developers did not return phone calls for comment.

In 2004, the Alliance filed a similar lawsuit against a development in St. Peters. The circuit court in Cole County ruled in favor of St. Peters in 2006, but the appeals court reversed that ruling in March 2008.
© Copyright 2010, St. Louis Public Radio

$51 million. And that's just the start. This is urban sprawl at its worst. Not to mention abuse of taxpayer revenue, gross destruction of wetlands, oblivion to residents' concerns in the area...

St. Louis County picks design-build contractor for Olive-Page portion of Hwy. 141
St. Louis County officials on Feb. 4 opened the three bid proposals for the design-build portion of the Page Ave.-Olive Blvd. Connector section of the Hwy. 141 expansion project.

South County-based KCI Construction Co.’s proposal of $51,995,000 for the design-build portion was the winning bid. Millstone Bangert and Fred Weber also submitted proposals.

“We had three great teams competing for this project, and the apparent winner came in more than $6 million under our estimate,” St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said. “That’s a victory for taxpayers.”

Because American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds are being used, the Federal Highway Administration and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) still must give final approval and will have oversight to ensure the project meets federal requirements.

The proposal includes the “design and construction” portion of the work, which St. Louis County officials estimated at $58 million.

“We’re talking about a significant savings of public money,” Dooley said. “But just as importantly, we’re talking about a new six-lane road that will benefit our community for the next 50 years. This project is vitally needed.”

St. Louis County officials expect bulldozers to be in the field later this year, with work scheduled for completion in 2012.

Dooley said that several hundred jobs are expected to be created as a result of the project.

“These are good-paying jobs,” Dooley said. “That’s great news – especially in our present, challenging environment.”

St. Louis County will use $20 million in federal stimulus funds to help pay for its share of the work. The cities of Chesterfield and Maryland Heights each will contribute $5 million. St. Louis County will issue bonds to cover the rest of the expense.

MoDOT officials opened bids on Feb. 5 for the portion of the Hwy. 141 project that is to be expanded north of Hwy. 40 and south of Olive Blvd. MoDOT officials will review the bids and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission will award the contracts later this month.