July 26, 2017
Building better parks
Around Town Greater North County Duck Races scheduled for July 29 at Florissant’s Koch Park Aquatic Center. P.6
Community Voices By Odie Smith. P.2
Business Regional Business Council supports NPower in St. Louis with $25,000 grant. P.7
School FFSD to host back-to-school fair and fun run . P.8 Submitted photos
Citizens talk with members of the St. Louis County Parks and Recreation about the new Master Plan for county parks.
St. Louis County Parks and Recreation look for public input in a new master plan to improve county parks
Food
By Sara Hardin St. Louis County Parks and Recreation has been getting the public involved in their latest Master Plan, a series of developments by the department that began last summer. The first phase of the plan was completed after county-owned parks were surveyed for their conditions and resources by project team members. Public feedback surveys were then given to identify the needs of community members and park goers. Public opinion has been a huge part of the Master Plan, so much so that the entire second phase of the project is dedicated to ensuring that the community’s recommendations are being heard through analysis of the survey results. “We had three meetings across the county to solicit generalized idea and information,” said Gerry Biedenstein, Project Manager and Planner for the Master Plan. “The set of five we did in May was to start to bring conclusions and more information. We’re in the process right now of analyzing all of the feedback we’ve heard from the public during this process. In the next month and a half or so, we plan on having the conclusions of that analysis and scheduling a meeting to talk about everything and confirm what our priorities will be. Then we’ll move on from there.” The county’s last Master Plan for its parks was completed over three decades ago, and the public has since developed new recommendations for how the parks can better
Summer brunch fare. P.9
Movie
Beat the summer heat with some hot films. P.16
Weather The North County Recreation Center is only one part of the St. Louis County Parks and Recreation new Master Plan for improving county parks.
serve its communities and its members. “In any master planning process it is beneficial to get as much public participation as possible,” explained Scott Emmelkamp, Master Plan Project Manager. “For the St. Louis County Parks Master Plan we have witnessed great enthusiasm from the public by those who regularly use the county parks and/or feel that their recreation needs are not currently being met. The St. Louis County Parks Master Plan will be a road
map that establishes direction for improvements not only to individual parks, but also to the park system. As a St. Louis County resident, I most look forward to seeing the improvements being made to the parks that we love.” The third and fourth phases of the project will be area plan formulation and final plan development, respectively. The project See ‘BETTER PARKS’ page 2
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