Highlights of the Dec 5 LPNA General Assembly Meeting

Lindenwood Park Neighborhood Association President Janet Desnoyer began the evening promptly at 7:30pm by thanking Annette Bridges, the Neighborhood Improvement Specialist for Ward 23 who will be retiring this month after six years of service. Vaccaro (23^rd Ward Alderman) and Kratky (82^nd Districted State Representative) presented both city and state proclamations for her dedication and service.

Alderman Vaccaro spoke to the gathering about a December 16^th court date for a person of interest who has been charged with several burglaries and drug volations over a significant period of time. He (and later Officer Stehlin) said he would be asking for neighbors to write letters and/or attend the date to show that the neighborhood is interested in seeing the law enforced.

Alderman Vaccaro also said that Chick-Fil-A will be moving into what is currently For Your Entertainment (FYE) on Hampton. He then answered questions and concerns from the audience including a concern on the negative impact of potential tax breaks for developments related to Ballpark Village, a new professional soccer team interested in moving to St. Louis, and the Scott Trade center. Another attendee asked about speed bumps and traffic calming measures that were discussed several months previous. Vaccaro said that research is still being conducted but Lindenwood Park should start to see some of those traffic calming measures implemented in the Summer of 2017.

Darlene Green, Comptroller for the City of St. Louis then spoke briefly on the Green HELP home energy-efficiency loan program her department is currently managing. For more information and/or to apply visit https://www.greenhelpstlouis.com/.

After a few LPNA committee reports, Public Safety Officer Vince Stehlin spoke about a number of items.

First, the suspect for the armed robbery committed at the Circle Kat Jamieson and Fyler on Nov. 26th is still at large. SLMPD have a few leads and are perusing them. Officer Stehlin sympathized with neighbors who were concerned that crime reports aren’t always made public (such as the armed robbery of Sep 7^th which also took place at the Circle K at Jamieson and Fyler, but was never publicly reported), but that sometimes his superiors make him withhold information when releasing it may contaminate the investigation.

Officer Stehlin also announced that the trio who had been shooting windows out of cars all over St. Louis city and county for a number of months have finally been apprehended.

On Wed. Dec 7^th from 8a to 10a, Chris’s Pancake and Dining (5980 Southwest Ave, St. Louis, MO 63139) will be hosting the next Coffee with a Cop event.

Next, he stressed that the most frequent crime in Ward 23 is petty larceny. He cautioned people against leaving their cars and garages unlocked, against leaving their vehicles unattended when they are warming them up in the morning, and when expecting packages to take steps to be present when deliveries occur or arranging for someone to pick up their packages. An unattended package or an unattended running car is an invitation for theft.

Then, he pointed out a concern the SLMPD has been having with the frequency of calls to commercial entities. These calls use valuable time and resources, and potentially delay responses to resident emergencies. To emphasis the point, he issued a handout that revealed 873 calls for service in 2016 to six Walgreens stores in and around our neighborhood. The Walgreens at 3920 Hampton carried the bulk of the calls with 352. Not all of these were superfluous, but enough were that the Police Department is trying to leverage Walgreens to provide their own security.

In opening questions from the floor, an attendee asked about the new gun laws that are due to go into effect January 1. Officer Stehlin replied that he was genuinely concerned about the new gun laws, but the state is still trying to finalize what they will be. Until then, we can only stay tuned.

Officer Stehlin thanked everyone for the words of support and concern for Sergeant Lake who had been shot while on duty in the Lindenwood Park neighborhood.

Finally, he encouraged people to signup for his email alerts (send your request to vstehlin@slmpd.org) and also encouraged people to reach out to Captain Deeba at madeeba@slmpd.org with police-related questions or concerns.

Last, but not least -- 

Molly Pfeiffer, the manager of the SLPL Machacek Branch spoke briefly about two upcoming events:

On Thu. Dec 8^th from 6p to 8p, the SLPL Machacek Branch will have a telescope and members from the astronomers club on site (clear weather permitting)

On Wed, Dec 14^th from noon to 6pm, the SLPL Machacek Branch will also be hosting a holiday open house with light refreshments, and storytelling and crafts for kids.

Janet then closed the meeting at 15 minutes to 9pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Seth