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.

Get our your wallets...

You Paid For It: Residents Speak Out Against Rte. 141 Project

(Typos courtesy Fox news)

CHESTERFIELD, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - In this You Paid For It report, a dramatic move by MoDOT to push forward with it's Route 141 extension through a neighborhood despite a desperate attempt by angry Chesterfield residents to derail it. MoDOT plans to redo the intersection of 141and Ladue Road as part of the 141 extension through West County.

But residents say the MoDOT plan is too elaborate will create too much disruption to the neighborhood and cost taxpayers too much money. After being rebuffed by MoDOT St. Louis Area District Engineer Ed Hassinger, they've taken their cause to Hassinger's bosses: the Missouri Transportation Commission.

Chesterfield homeowner Emil Deluca is one of the trustees for the Green Trails subdivision which is fighting the plan. His group traveled all the way to a commission meeting last week in Sikeston, Missouri to tell commissioners they should over-rule Ed Hassinger.

Deluca says, "It was our last place to present our concerns to the Missouri Department of Transportation."Deluca says MoDOT did agree to made some minor modifications to it's proposal but no major changes. MoDOT is getting $95 million federal stimulus dollars for the Olive to Ladue Road section of the 141 extension.

Investigator Elliott Davis asked Deluca, "What do you think is the likelihood you'll be able to change the current MoDOT plan?"

Deluca answered, "Almost none, almost none. They've made up their mind that this project They're too afraid that if they try to make a change now they'd loose their stimulus money."

Back in August, Ed Hassinger made this comment about the neighborhood's concerns.

"We talked with the neighborhood. We understand their concerns but we're going to try to work with them as much as we can. But the fact of the matter is we're going to build and interchange there."

Meanwhile, there has been a new move by MoDOT to take the property it needs from the Green Trails subdivision. Deluca and other residents got a letter from MoDOT saying the agency was filing a class action condemnation suit to acquire that portion of the common ground needed for the project. That would clear the way for the agency to push on with its $95 million dollar plan.

"If you don't raise your concerns, nobody is going to ever pay any attention to us. And I think we surprised MoDOT because what they've been used to is people all over this state accept them as the defining authority. And then when they come up with a debacle like this people just weren't paying attention until it was just too late."

Pick your sound wall!

The Missouri Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting to discuss the construction schedule for the Route 141 project and to show the locations of sound walls along the project. In addition, the community will be able to vote on the type and color of the soundwall constructed along the Route 141 project. The public meeting is November 10, 2009, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Parkway Central High School, 369 N. Woods Mill Road, Chesterfield, Mo., 63017.

Blue Heron along Creve Coeur Creek, interesection of Creve Coeur Mill and St. Louis Waterworks Roads

Snowy Egrets at the Terra Vista Lake known as DB-6 on the Page-Olive Connector EA/Location Study

Points of interest for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

1. A project of this magnitude demands that an Environmental Impact Study be done. The current Environmental Assessment that expired in 2002 is insufficient.
   
2. Construction of a four-lane highway down the center line of Creve Coeur Creek could have devastating impacts to the creek’s beneficial uses (protection of aquatic life including human health protection for fish consumption, swimming and livestock and wildlife watering [per Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources, May 26, 2009].
   
3. USACE: “According to the EA, no species of conservation concern, including State and Federal listed threatened and endangered species, were observed during field reconnaissance of the study area. In addition, the report stated that there is no formally designated critical habitat within the study area.”
   
   a. St. Louis County Environmental Assessment (4/16/09): The following Federal and State listed species have been observed during field reconnaissance of the study area:American bittern, Snowy egret, northern harrier, king rail, peregrine falcon, loggerhead shrike, pied-billed grebe, least bittern, little blue heron, black-crowned heron, sora rail, common moorhen, marsh wren, Henslow’s sparrow, Virginia rail, great egret, cooper’s hawk. yellow-headed blackbird, black tern. In addition, the area is potential habitat for the Indiana bat.
   
4. The increase in impermeable surfaces caused by the project will exacerbate flooding already occurring in the area.
   
5. The chosen alternative (Alternative 4) will have the most detrimental effect on the environment with high impacts to the floodplain.
   
6. Alternative 4 is the most expensive of all alternatives.
   
7. Pollutants removed from the elevated roadway via runoff will be channeled into the creek and adjacent wetlands.
   
8. Erosion to bluffs along the western edge of the project area, already a serious problem, will increase due to construction of and vibrations from the roadway.
   
9. St. Louis County’s representatives Sheryl Hodges, John Hicks and Glenn Henninger have stated that the wetland will be moved for two and one half years and then moved back to its original location. That is not stated in this application.
   
10. The new highway will have negative impact on property values along the project area. Current studies show 17-42 percent decrease along St. Louis highway projects for like home style and home price.
    
11. The cultural resources in the area were obviously ignored, thus being disturbed or destroyed by recent development allowed there. There has been no guarantee that the current evaluation will result in protection from further damage.
    
12. Traffic studies conducted by Crawford, Bunte, Brammeier show that traffic to accrue from this construction is foreseen worse than currently indicated in less than twenty years.
    
13. Economic studies show that the development planned for the Howard Bend floodplain is mostly retail. Economic indicators show a downhill trend in retail developments as such effecting local economies due to lack of industry and increase of minimum wage earners making less and relying on government assistance. The destruction of farmland will lessen the local economic impact for every local dollar spent by 40 percent.
    
14. There is no amount of paint or intricate concrete design that will make this bridge appealing in this natural setting. There has been no proven benefit to the fish and wildlife in the area. More concrete and destruction of watershed will only increase the already increasing flooding in the area.