June 9, 2026 — Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. Tonight is Tuesday, June 9th. We are here for our Clayton City Council meeting. If the city

clerk could call the roll. Council Member Buse. Here. Council Member Patel. Council Member Gary Feder.

clerk could call the roll. Council Member Buse. Here. Council Member Patel. Council Member Fader.

Council member Jeffery Yorg.

Council member York.

Councilmember Waldman. Councilmember Malin. Here. Mayor McAndrew. Here. City Manager David Gipson. Here. City Attorney O'Keefe. Here. Thank you.

Councilmember Waldman. Councilmember Malin. Here. Mayor McAndrew. Here. City Manager Gibson. Here. City Attorney O'Keefe. Here. Thank you.

Thank you. The first item on our agenda or the first item I should say for our meeting is our open forum where people are welcome to address us on any item that would be under our control that's not on the agenda tonight. If you wish to speak on an agenda item, just wait for that item to come up. I would also say that if you would like to speak, there are speaker cards that are out in the hallway. if you could fill out. That's just helpful for us to keep track of and for our city clerk to keep track of. So given that, is there anyone? I do see two speaker cards up here. So if you are talking to us about something that's not on the agenda, I'd welcome Natalie Dowd if you'd like to come up and talk to us. Just make sure, Natalie, that the green light is on.

All right. My name is Natalie Dowd. I'm in Ward 2, and I would like everyone to imagine for a moment that you are at home relaxing. Maybe you're watching your favorite TV show. Maybe you're reading a book or having coffee with your spouse. The doorbell rings, and you go and answer it, and you're detained by authorities. and there's nothing you can do about it. No one will listen to you, no one will listen to your lawyer, and you are there month after month after month. Four months go by, you're still in jail, they transfer you to North Dakota. And in North Dakota, only then do they start to finally listen to what you have to say. And your lawyer is finally, after over a month there, able to get you out. So now it's been more than five months that you're detained and you're released in North Dakota with no transportation, no plan, no compensation, no apology. And you return home. If this sounds like the plight of an immigrant being detained by ICE, then I'd like to let you know it's not. It was the story of Angela Lipps, a U.S. citizen and resident of Tennessee and a grandmother. In her words, this was so scary that she relives it every single day. What happened was AI surveillance identified her by her social media pictures as someone who might have been involved in some bank fraud in North Dakota, a state she had never visited before. And I'd like to say that that was incompetence on the part of some law enforcement or that it was some procedure not followed. But the truth is that every procedure was followed and the system was working exactly as designed. AI provided the only probable cause for her arrest with no other evidence. Um, and the system again worked exactly as designed. She has no recourse. Uh, and I think I would like the council to want to ask yourselves, is this the country we want to live in where AI can provide the only probable cause for evidence? Um, I lost my train of thought. Yeah, so if you don't, then maybe we should reconsider having AI surveillance in our communities. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Fisher? And there is a, we forgot for Natalie, but there is a three-minute time limit. Okay, good.

Hi, I'm Edward Fisher, resident of the Third Ward. I'm also here to talk about flock cameras. I hate them. I think they're a complete intrusion in people's lives. AI surveillance, the flock... Representatives lie to city councils. Repeatedly, we just recently saw in U City, the council just found out that they had microphones on their flock cameras where they didn't think they did. They're atrocious surveillance tools and we shouldn't have them in the city. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Great. The first item on our agenda is a resolution for a conditional use permit for Retta Jane Interiors. I will open the public hearing and request proof of publication.

Yes, this is a public hearing to consider an application for a conditional use permits submitted by Retta Tussey owner of Retta Jane for the operation of a multipurpose concept which proposes a retail clothing space commercial slash office space for interior design services and a wine bar space. The wine bar space will be known as the reading room and will offer drinks and light food options. The property is located on the north side of Maryland Avenue between North Brentwood Boulevard and North Forsyth Boulevard. The property has a zoning designation of M1 Neighborhood Mixed Use and is developed with a one-story building. The subject tenant space is currently empty and was previously divided into three tenant spaces. Three existing entrances are proposed to remain with interior connections proposed as part of the renovation plans. The proposed hours for operation are 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. To 11 p.m. On Sunday, although real operational hours will likely be less. Most of that will be for special events and occasions. The wine bar space is projected to have up to 36 seats. The plan commission considered the request at its meeting on June 1st, 2026 and voted unanimously to recommend approval as requested. Staff recommends that the city council approve the conditional use permit for the operation of a wine bar per the conditions outlined in the resolution. And the applicant here is here this evening.

I'll open the discussion. Are there any questions or comments from anybody on the city council?

The Plan Commission did approve it very enthusiastically, and your presentation on it was very exciting as well. So if there's anything you want to share, I'm sure we'd all love to hear it. I think people are very excited for this too. to open if that's okay mayor

is it okay yes

just make sure is the light green up there great and just say your name for the record

uh rata tessie um thank you i'm very excited about this i think it's very different for clayton and for st louis and part of the intention is i just think retail is kind of the wild wild west right now and what we're seeing in other cities is that they are bringing in more community involvement to engage customers, to keep them staying longer. And so that's part of the impetus of what we're doing. And I think that it's fun to bring something more female focused to Clayton because we have a lot of, you know, fight club and golf simulation. So I feel like this will be a nice added touch. Thank you.

And I will say, too, like I really appreciated all the information you provided in the packet, like, you know, your mission. And I mean, the pictures are great of the space, but also it was just it was very comprehensive. So it was great. Thank you. Thank you.

And the only other thing I'll add to that is the you ended things very well, too, because the next question was, when do you anticipate opening, which is. Hopefully, Art Fair Weekend. That's our North Star. Fingers crossed.

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Gary Feder, do you have any questions?

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Fader, do you have any questions?

I was going to say, I think it's a very exciting use. It's exactly what we've been trying to get. My only question, and it's not terribly important, but I am wondering a little bit, having used to live kind of behind more or less behind a couple blocks there is the, is the, and I know you're trying to get flexibility on hours. It seemed to me on a Sunday night, if you stopped at 10 o'clock, that should cover most things. On the other hand, you know, I don't have a problem with 11 o'clock on a Saturday night, 11 o'clock's on Sunday sounds a little bit pushing the envelope a little bit. So I'd probably be happy if it was 10, but on the other hand, i'm excited to get you into this space so but i am curious what you think about that well

no and and and i think that makes a lot of sense i mean quite frankly we just tried to maximize our time span in terms of what kind of events we would have but i anticipate a lot of what they will be are either some book clubs or we'll have maybe designers in town or we'll do book signings and things like that. Maybe some movie nights internally. So that's more of what I'm expecting, but I'm happy to, I mean, I'm happy to bend on, on closing hours. I was just trying to maximize it since we don't really know now.

I'm not, I, you know, I would hate for you to have 10 o'clock and then have to come back because it turns out some of your Sunday events exceeded, but I,

I think there'll be if it ever reaches 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock on a Sunday, I think that would be very infrequent. I can't imagine that that would be a normalcy. So

Ana went through and was looking at the records of the approvals in that immediate area, and it's all over the place. She's got the list and can go through it. But really, it's pretty obvious when you look at the conditional use permits that they've been looked at kind of one at a time rather than holistically, you know, what time do we want this area to shut down, so to speak. It's really been, what's the operation? How late does it need to go? If for some reason we feel that the hours that they might be operating could cause some sort of nuisance, then maybe they were rolled back a little bit. But for the most part, it looks like the city's granted most of what applicants have wanted. It's all over the place. We've got others that

got a wide range. On a Sunday, could probably tell you, but probably so.

Okay. i looked at all the restaurants in downtown the restaurants that are open into the evening range and closing time from 8 p.m to 1 30 a.m the average being 11.

i'm excited thank you Are there any questions or comments online? You can see. No. Okay. Well, it sounds like I wish you well. We're very excited. I think having the art fair be a, as you said, the North Star is a great idea because you'll certainly get a lot of traffic if you can make it that weekend. So that's great.

And I hope to see you all there. So I appreciate it. Thank you

very much. We certainly appreciate you bringing this concept to Clayton. If there's nothing else, I will close the public hearing. Council Member Buse.

I move to approve a conditional use permit for Reddit Jane Boutique at 8109 Maryland Avenue.

Second.

Any discussion?

All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The vote passes five to zero. We're missing two. Okay.

Mm-hmm.

The next item on our agenda is our consent agenda. I'll open the discussion. Are there any questions or comments from the council about anything from the consent agenda? Anything from the audience online? Council Member Buse?

I move to approve the consent agenda.

Second. Any

discussion?

Council Member Bus? Aye. Council Member Gary Feder? Aye. Council member Yorg?

Council Member Bus? Aye. Council Member Fader? Aye. Council member Yorg?

Aye.

Council Member Betsy Meyland-Smith.

Council Member Malin-Smith.

Aye.

Mayor McAndrew.

Aye. All right, moving on to new business. We have some changes to an ordinance related to revisions to our Sustainability Committee and the Community Equity Commission.

Yes, the attached ordinance would have been the Sustainability Committee and the Community Equity Commission terms and compositions to align with other boards and commissions. While the format has substantially changed, there are only three material changes. First, this broadens the eligibility for appointment to the Sustainability Committee as an ex-officio member, establishes a term limit of three consecutive full terms for the Community Equity Commission, And it would also eliminate the word distribution requirements for both committees and establishes a strong preference, but establishes a strong reference for equal distribution. That was something Mr. Gary Feder and I had discussed. Staff recommends the city council approve the attached ordinance. So we really just took the feedback from the last meeting where we talked about boards and commissions and put it into ordinance form.

Yes, the attached ordinance would have been the Sustainability Committee and the Community Equity Commission terms and compositions to align with other boards and commissions. While the format has substantially changed, there are only three material changes. First, this broadens the eligibility for appointment to the Sustainability Committee as an ex-officio member, establishes a term limit of three consecutive full terms for the Community Equity Commission, And it would also eliminate the word distribution requirements for both committees and establishes a strong preference, but establishes a strong reference for equal distribution. That was something Mr. Fader and I had discussed. Staff recommends the city council approve the attached ordinance. So we really just took the feedback from the last meeting where we talked about boards and commissions and put it into ordinance form.

Thank you. I'll open the discussion. Are there any questions or comments from anybody up on the council?

The only thing I noted, and I don't think I mentioned it to June, is I think if we're restating it, there are a number of references to the Board of Aldermen as opposed to the Council. And if we're actually reenacting, if it's a new ordinance, we ought to correct it to say City Council rather than Board of Aldermens. There are a few places, but I'm sure we'll find them.

Council Member Yorg?

think would be sufficient to i think it would be sufficient to make a motion to amend to strike board of alderman wherever it appears in substitute city council

council member favorite Gary Feder do you want to make a motion in that effect

council member favorite fader do you want to make a motion in that effect

I move we adopt the amended ordinance, but modify references.

Yeah, maybe modify the ordinance first.

Yeah. I move that we modify references in the proposed ordinance to eliminate references to the Board of Aldermen and substitute references to the City Council.

Second. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. If you could send information on where you found them, Mr. Gary Feder, I'd appreciate it.

Aye. If you could send information on where you found them, Mr. Fader, I'd appreciate it.

I can tell you it's in letter B in both sections.

Section B, 140.040B, 140.050B, I think are the two references.

Oh, the word alderman is in there. Okay. It didn't have board of it. Kind of replayed.

I introduced bill number 7159 as amended approving amendments to chapter 140 regarding the terms and compositions of the sustainability committee and the community equity commission committee to be read for the first time by title only.

Second. Any discussion? Mr. City Attorney.

Bill number 7159, first reading and ordinance amending chapter 140 of the Clayton City Code relating to the Sustainability Committee and the Community Equity Commission.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

I move that the council give unanimous consent to consideration for adoption of bill number 7159 on the day of its introduction.

Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The vote passes 5-0. Let the minutes reflect that the Council has given unanimous consent.

I introduce Bill No. 7159, as amended, approving amendments to Chapter 140 regarding the terms and compositions of the Sustainability Committee and the Community Equity Committee to be read for the second time by title only.

Second.

Any

discussion? Mr. City Attorney.

Bill number 7159, second reading and consideration for adoption. An ordinance amending chapter 140 of the Clayton City Code relating to the Sustainability Committee and the Community Equity Commission.

Council Member Buse? Aye. Council Member Gary Feder?

Council Member Buse? Aye. Council Member Fader?

Aye.

Council member Jeffery Yorg?

Council member York?

Aye.

Councilmember Betsy Meyland-Smith?

Councilmember Malin-Smith?

Aye.

Mayor McAndrew?

Aye. Thank you. The next item on our agenda is a resolution to changing our board and commission citizen appointment policy. There is an amended version, I think, at everybody's dais that you can take a look at.

That is correct. This also came from the last meeting. The City Council discussed the adoption of a policy for appointments to boards and commissions on May 26, 2026. A procedural policy for appointments has been provided for review and adoption. The policy outlines the procedures for the solicitation, submittal and review of applications, consideration of reappointments, application review, and the approval of appointments. Staff recommends that the City Council approve the resolution.

I'll open the discussion. Are there any questions or comments from anybody up on the council?

I just had one question. I know that in last year, too, I think June has maintained sort of a list of people who applied for various commissions and then were not selected. But I think June still has the file. And I guess I'm trying to figure out if someone applied a year ago, didn't get selected, but their application is still on file with June. Do we expect them to sort of re-up applications? Or do we somehow put their name out, I guess, theoretically to the mayor and say, well, in addition to the two people who replied to whatever we just posted, we still have... you know, these two people who applied previously. I don't know that we, I'm not sure where we should put that, but I just would sort of like to address, you know, what happens to those people because I still have a file that June produced for Alderman Rick Hummell and I of people. And some of those people, I think I just haven't heard from in a while, but I don't know if they're still interested. And so do we assume that unless you reapply if you're not an incumbent that you're not being considered or are you going to be considered i just i'm not sure how we handle that mr peter i'm sorry

I just had one question. I know that in last year, too, I think June has maintained sort of a list of people who applied for various commissions and then were not selected. But I think June still has the file. And I guess I'm trying to figure out if someone applied a year ago, didn't get selected, but their application is still on file with June. Do we expect them to sort of re-up applications? Or do we somehow put their name out, I guess, theoretically to the mayor and say, well, in addition to the two people who replied to whatever we just posted, we still have... you know, these two people who applied previously. I don't know that we, I'm not sure where we should put that, but I just would sort of like to address, you know, what happens to those people because I still have a file that June produced for Alderman Hummel and I of people. And some of those people, I think I just haven't heard from in a while, but I don't know if they're still interested. And so do we assume that unless you reapply if you're not an incumbent that you're not being considered or are you going to be considered i just i'm not sure how we handle that mr peter i'm sorry

i i was going to say i can't share the whole list again with the council some of those applicants probably i i believe we have one or two that um they applied like back in 23. so i'm still hanging on to those

I just want to make sure that they don't fault. He

does say

that

we

will hold on to it for three years.

That's what we proposed in here is that we would keep the application for three years. Okay, great. They're active during that period. I think that addresses it. Thank you.

And I would suggest that when we have openings that they don't have to reapply, that we pull those out and know who's still there. Trying. I think that when someone applies and doesn't get selected, it's not an easy thing. And to reach out and say we're interested in considering you now is a good thing for our community. So again, in answer to your question, I would suggest that we do see those each time we have appointments so we know who's been trying and interested in the past and we can always call them.

Yeah, maybe if there's like some sort of, you know, chart June where you just have a list of the people and what they've applied for and what year that was. And that way, you know, if we don't have anybody for Parks and Rec this year, which I'm, you know, then we can go back and look at the list and say, and whoever, you know, whether they're Ward 1, 2 or 3, you guys could reach out and say, hey, you applied to Parks and Rec a year ago or you're still, if you're still interested, we can use your application. Yeah.

And I wouldn't mind, you know, if it's someone in Ward 3, even if they apply in 2024, reaching out to them. But I may need some help from June because I've forgotten that that person applied and hasn't been heard. So just some way to just make sure that we don't.

Yeah, I think just a list that June would share with us and what ward they were from. I mean, I know Betsy mentioned there might be somebody interested in sustainability and she applied a year ago. So I don't think there's any reason that we couldn't use her if she's still interested. you know her application from before so anybody else any i don't think i'm not sure there's anybody online that has a question about this uh council member abuse

i move to approve resolution number 2026-17 approving the boards and commission citizen appointment policy

second any discussion All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The vote passes 5-0. The next item on our agenda is some new appointments for the CID at 7730 Bonham Avenue.

That's correct. This is for the CID that's at the La Meridian Hotel. They have five board members up for reappointment, and all of those are before you this evening. It looks like we did have a slight correction to some of those names, but it would just take a motion vote and the ordinance to pass.

Thank you. I'll open discussion. Are there any questions or comments from the council up here?

I'm not sure there's any questions or comments online. Council Member Buse.

I introduce Bill number 7160, approving the appointments to the 7730 Bonham Avenue Community Improvement District Board of Directors to be read for the first time by title only.

Second.

Any discussion?

Mr. City Attorney.

Bill number 7160. First reading an ordinance of the City of Clayton, Missouri, approving the reappointment of certain Board of Directors for the 7730 Bonhem Community Improvement District.

All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Council Member

Buse. I move that the council give unanimous consent to consideration for adoption of bill number 7160 on the day of its introduction.

Second.

All those in favor. Aye. Any opposed. The vote passes five to zero. Let the minutes reflect that the council has given unanimous consent.

I introduced bill number 7160 approving the appointments to the 7730 Bonham Avenue Community Improvement District Board of the Directors to be read for the second time by title only.

Second.

Any discussion? Mr. City Attorney.

Bill number 7160, second reading and consideration for adoption. An ordinance of the City of Clayton, Missouri approving the reappointment of certain board of directors for the 7730 Bonham Community Improvement District.

Council Member Buse. Aye. Council Member Gary Feder.

Council Member Buse. Aye. Council Member Fader.

Aye.

Council member Jeffery Yorg.

Council member York.

Aye.

Councilmember Betsy Meyland-Smith. Aye. Mayor McAndrew. Thank you.

Councilmember Malin-Smith. Aye. Mayor McAndrew. Thank you.

The last item on our agenda of new business is exciting, some intergovernmental agreements for our fire authority study.

Yes, so municipal fire departments in the St. Louis region face rising costs and fragmented services. Creating a regional fire authority could streamline administration, standardize equipment and training, improve recruitment and retention, and enable borderless response for faster, more consistent service. The attached scope of services outlines a comprehensive feasibility assessment for proposed partnership between the International Association of Firefighters Local 2665 and participating cities to create a user fee-based consolidated fire authority with a projected start date of January 1st of 2028. The study is intended to evaluate current individual and combined revenues and expenses to establish the estimated costs of operating a centralized entity while maintaining or enhancing existing service levels. The attached ordinance authorizes the city manager to turn to an intergovernmental agreement with the cities of Maplewood, Richmond Heights, Shrewsbury, Olivet, University City, and Webster Groves for the fire authority study. The cost of the study will be divided evenly amongst the partner cities with an initial cap of $40,000 per participant. If approved, the following process will begin immediately. We will establish a steering committee which will have its first meeting in July of 2026. It will consist of two elected officials, two union representatives, two city managers, two fire chiefs and two finance directors. They'll be charged with the scope approval, consultant selection and general guidance during the process. They'll also develop the governance structure for any potential fire authority. Once the feasibility study is underway, we anticipate that to happen late summer, early fall. We would hope that the entire process would take in the six- to nine-month range, and then we would have costs in hand, hopefully the standard of cover, the actual fire service itself designed, and then we can have discussions about making this a reality at that point. But for right now, it's a feasibility study, and we recommend approval of the ordinance.

Thank you. I'll open the discussion. Are there any questions or comments from the council? Let's keep moving.

Yes, my only question was, I understand Brentwood is not part of this. Was that the only city that we reached out to or this group reached out to who chose not to participate?

We actually reached out to every municipal fire department in St. Louis County. So there were a total of 17 municipalities. cities that were invited to participate. As far as the neighboring jurisdictions that we typically work with, Brentwood and Ladue were the two that decided not to participate.

What will be the process for selecting the steering committee?

That's a great question. So what I'm going to do tomorrow is because it's going to be made up of these different individuals is an email is going to go out to all these cities once the IGAs are approved after after tonight. And so we're going to ask everybody to rank in priority order who they want to send to the steering committee. We have some cities where their fire chief maybe doesn't have capacity and they want to send a finance director instead. Once we have a feel of who wants to send what, we're going to start to piece this thing together. If it looks like it's going to be a political thing, which it very well may end up that way, then we'll talk about putting a group together that will actually select the participants for the steering committee. Our hope is though that we don't have to go that far and that we can just look at this ranked order and kind of put a steering committee together based on who actually has the time available, because this is going to be incredibly intensive.

When you say we, do you mean Clayton

or? We're going to take the initial look at it. Yeah. Got it. Yeah. And if it is real clear, just looking at the ranked order, then we'll go ahead and put something together. We'll run it by those other cities to make sure they're all right with it. But if it looks like it's going to be a, larger process then we'll start bringing in other cities to make those selections

um i just want to say thank david for his leadership and getting this going um i also want to thank chief rhodes for his support he's um also i know provided a lot of input um communication so um thank you david for getting this going and thank you chief for your support and thoughtfulness and uh input throughout this, the beginning of this process.

So thanks to you all for letting us have the hard conversations. A lot of places are reluctant to have this type of talk and we're glad we can do it. So thanks for the support.

Yeah. I mean, I certainly commend the other studies that were willing to kind of look at this with us. I think it will be a great first step. And yeah, like what everybody started, I'm just, or what everybody has already said, I'm just excited to get this started. So, yep. Council

Member Buse. I introduce bill number 7161, authorizing the intergovernmental agreement for the fire authority study to be read for the first time by title only.

Second.

Any discussion?

Mr. City Attorney.

Bill number 7161. First reading an ordinance approving an intergovernmental agreement among the cities of Clayton, Olivet, Richmond Heights, Maplewood, Shrewsbury, Webster Girls and University City for the fire authority feasibility study.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Council Member Bust.

I move that the council give unanimous consent to consideration for adoption of bill number 7161 on the day of its introduction.

Second.

All those in favor. Aye. Any opposed. The vote passes five to zero. Let the minutes reflect that the council has given unanimous consent.

I introduce Bill number 7161, authorizing an intergovernmental agreement for the Fire Authority study to be read for the second time by title only.

Second.

Any discussion?

Mr. City Attorney.

Bill number 7162, second reading and consideration for adoption. An ordinance approving an intergovernmental argument among the cities of Clayton, Olivet, Richmond Heights, Maplewood, Shrewsbury, Webster, Groves, and University City for the Fire Authority feasibility study.

Council Member Buse? Aye. Council Member Gary Feder?

Council Member Buse? Aye. Council Member Fader?

Aye.

Council member Jeffery Yorg?

Council member York?

Aye.

Councilmember Betsy Meyland-Smith?

Councilmember Maven-Smith?

Aye.

Mayor McAndrew?

Aye.

All right

well we have come to the end of our agenda if anybody has anything that they'd like to um share that they might have done in the last couple weeks and start

you want to start first of all what a what a fun weekend in Clayton um with Friday at the Music and Wine downtown with the music and everything. It was very fun, and I ran into a number of people I knew, and most of them were not from Clayton, so that was kind of, that surprised me too, and it was very fun. It was a great night, and then with the Shaw Park Social on Sunday, it was a very comfortable attendance. It was really fun. We took our you know, three and five year old, and they just couldn't stop running around and having, we had to drag him away. It was, and it was really great. And people were interacting well. The park staff was great in supervising the different activities. And it was just a really, really great time to be part of Clayton. The cool cities, it seems like I reported on this, but I think it was to a different sustainability committee, but they had their no more plastics event, which is, this is where you wish you didn't have information that ignorance is really bliss talking about the different efforts being tapping around this around the state, which that's a good part of it. But a lot of the focus is on reducing the use, not just, you know, keep saying recycle, recycle, recycle, but, you know, giving the data on when your hot food touches styrofoam, what that actually does and things like that is again, it's things that, We really, really have to get a handle on this. They had some sample ordinances that cities around the country do and reduce plastic stays in the way they get their restaurants not to automatically hand out the disposable utensils and all that, which we'll be sharing with the sustainability committee and hopefully maybe bring something back here. they do uh let's see what else i want to mention specifically about that you know it goes from uh you know skip the stuff campaigns like we're talking about the restaurants to reduce restricting balloons being released which they do in florida and connecticut and other places um doing business challenges to have a reduction within a smaller city to have that kind of a competitive spirit They talked about, I hadn't heard about this, the extended producer responsibility that I think they said Pepsi is doing. And it's all over Europe that people who produce the plastic bottles and are responsible for them accounting for giving back to the community and taking it back. They also talked about some of the grants out there and some of the, I know Sustainability Committee has worked hard at having a table at most of a lot of the Clayton events. But they also have a state program right now that's temporarily funded to do that as well. school activities. It was a really, really good event. It was three hours on a Thursday morning and I didn't want to go and I got there and I was there for every minute of it. Very, very well done. Thank you for going. Yeah, thank you. It was really good. Also, I had reached out. I know that we all have done this. This isn't just me, but I'd reached out to Sarah Umloff with the Art Fair because we do have our city policies with vendors on using single-use plastics and things like that. But the art fair, of course, is separate from that. Our relationship with them is more of a partnership. And I just wanted to, I was concerned because I just talked about, we were actually profiled several times at the Cool Cities events talking about, well, Clayton does this and Clayton does that. And then I'm thinking, oh my gosh, people are going to come to the art fair and we're going to hand them a water bottle, a plastic water bottle. And so it's more, I was embarrassed than anything else. But anyway, so I talked to Sarah and she said that even though they're not under contract, they're more than happy to use the water monster setup. She asked that I send over the contract that we have with our vendors and restrictions which June very quickly got to me and I got over to them. So it was a very encouraging conversation and it sounds like we'll all continue to move forward together. Thank you.

My five grandkids have all outgrown the bubble machine so we did not attend the Shaw Park Social. However, Robin and I have not outgrown wine and music. So we were there and saw Susan and others. It was a great event. Weather was terrific. And so, yeah, very successful event. Nothing else.

um,

Um, parks and rec exciting news. The tennis center light project is underway. Um, they're going to work around all the camps this summer. So those lights, uh, should be up soon. In Oak Knoll Park, same thing, the polls are scheduled for sometime in June. So there might be some time in certain parts of the park when the park is without lighting. But it's just a transition, small transition period. Let's see. And then I had the CCF Y down committee meeting last night. Um, I think that they're looking forward to hearing directly from LJC. So the, they're meeting with LJC and the city on the 15th. Um, I sample deck or a prototype deck that Alex put together to begin fundraising that they're sort of reviewing and working from. But I, you know, they've been underway for quite some time. So I jumped in and there was a bit of a learning curve for me. But yeah, that was exciting. And that's it. Great.

I have been going to a special SBD meeting and our EDAC meeting. Lindsay, I think, really did a nice job kind of outlining our marketing policy. I'll commend Myron and Lindsay for the new city views. I think I got some compliments on it. There's a pullout calendar, if you didn't realize it. So I thought it was a really nice addition. So I did comment. get compliments. I think people just appreciate the new look and how it's organized. People who said, I've never read it before, but I don't often look at it, but I feel like I got a lot of information from it. So thank you for the new design. We really appreciate it. There's also been some subcommittee meetings for our new economic committee meetings that I was at. Really good conversation. I will also just echo what Jeff said. I thought the Municipal League meeting was great. I think it's always inspiring to hear about plans for downtown, which is just such an important part, downtown St. Louis, because it's such an important part of our region. So I thought Ryan McClure, who's the executive director of that foundation, did a great job. And that's all I have. David, anything from you?

Nothing to add. A reminder that Friday's canceled.

Yes, and our Friday discussion session is canceled because we are without a number of members. So we are going to add what we were going to talk about to our June meeting at 6 o'clock. And then we may have an executive session afterwards, so it's definitely going to be a longer meeting than tonight.

Figure it out, but it'll be a busy night.

Yeah.

All right. Great. I move we adjourn. Second. All those in favor?

Aye. Thanks, everyone.