Seat Belts, Stormwater Solutions Top Manchester Board of Aldermen Meeting

A number of changes could soon be seen in the city of Manchester as the board of aldermen discussed changing the city's seat belt ordinance and moving forward with stormwater solutions to solve flooding problems.

A number of new additions and a promotion within the Manchester Police Department were also announced Monday night.

Seat Belts

At Monday night's Manchester Board of Aldermen meeting, Alderman Michael Clement introduced a bill amending the city's ordinance regarding seat belt violations. Although Missouri state law requires people to wear seat belts, Manchester does not currently have a primary seat belt law. That means officers can only ticket someone for not wearing their seat belt, if they are pulled over and ticketed for a separate violation. Unlike many other cities, including Ballwin, Chesterfield and Creve Coeur, Manchester officers cannot pull people over and ticket someone simply because they are not wearing his or her seat belt.

Manchester Acting Police Chief, Lt. Tim Walsh, wants that law to change. He told the board that it's a matter of safety and his officers are required to wear their seat belts and residents should too. Walsh said in St. Louis County there have been 70 deaths of people not wearing their seat belts over the last three years.

The board could vote on  the change at its next meeting April 18.

Channel B and Chadwick Subdivison Storm Water Projects 

Representatives with Stock & Associates, the engineering firm studying the Channel B and Chadwick Storm Water Projects for the city of Manchester, presented plans to fix the overflow and erosion caused by storm water issues to the board Monday night.

Channel B:

A firm representative said the three main areas that need to be addressed are the 1,000 foot area upstream referred to as the North Channel, a 4,200 foot main channel and several southern feeder channels.

The firm said upstream there is major erosion and creek bank instability, leaving exposed utilities and potential property damage.

The firm has already conducted a visual inspection and next will do field surveys, including walk throughs, and develop a hydraulic model. That model will analyze storms over certain periods of time and determine flood elevations and erosive flows to avoid future erosion.

Monday night was an update on the progress of this project so far, but no actual plans were presented to the board.  After the field surveys and hydraulic model are complete, the firm will present board members with options and costs associated with stabilization of Channel B stormwater to eliminate future flooding, erosion and property damage.

The firm expects to have that plan to present to the board by late summer or early fall this year.

Once a plan is selected, the firm would then have to obtain permits to preform the work and start the bidding process from companies for that work.

Chadwick Subdivision:

Engineering firm reps said there are two separate storm water projects for the northern portion of the Chadwick Subdivision.

The firm conducted a study in 2010 and could begin construction in late 2011 or 2012 on the first project which is reconstruction of an underground pipe north of Bromfield Terrace. The firm said the pipe that handles the nearby creek's water overflow is too small and needs to be replaced with a larger pipe to increase water flow underground. 

Reconstruction of the pipe is not expected to disrupt sewer, gas or water service to residents.

The second part of the plan is to prevent erosion and slow down running water by stabilizing an open channel south of Bromfield Terrace with a more natural method of stabilization using stones, trees and grass.

The firm is also looking at a third option, conducting a study to use a bypass storm sewer pipe south of Villaview  Drive.

Alfresco Drive Erosion

Alderman Hal Roth led the discussion of erosion at Alfresco Drive. Roth said it is another area in need of repair and he encouraged board members to visit the area. Roth said he plans to revisit the issue during the next budget since no money in this years budget to fix this area.

Police Department New Hires and Promotion

Acting Police Chief Lt. Tim Walsh also announced the following promotions and new hires within the police department:

Promotion:

Sgt. Buck Lancey is a 25-year veteran of law enforcement and has been with the Manchester Police Department since 1991. Lancey lives in Union, MO, has served on a number of missions overseas as a member of the Missouri National Guard. He's also worked as a resource officer for the Parkway School District.

New Hires:

Officer Ashley Saffa, from Eureka, has completed a comprehensive 12-week program with the department and is now working as a police officer for the department. This is her first law enforcement position.

Clerk Patricia Cowan is a Manchester resident who also teaches Sunday School.