Exposing Corruption, Injustices and the Truth.
| O'Fallon Watchdog |
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| O'Fallon Watchdog |
Exposing Corruption, Injustices and the Truth.
Businesses, developers frustrated by O'Fallon's sewer hookup freeze
By Nancy Cambria
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/01/2007
O'FALLON — For years, sisters Janet and Linda Day have harbored the sweet dream of franchising their
Heaven Scent doughnut shop.
But the popular purveyors of supersize doughnuts, towering wedding cakes and a signature chocolate Long
John have encountered an unpleasant blockage in their plans to build a prototype drive-through store on busy
Bryan Road. Although they can build the shop, they are now banned from connecting to the city's sewer
service.
Ditto for Susan Davis of Davis Inc., whose family has been slowly building a lucrative warehouse complex on
the northwest side of O'Fallon. Davis has been told that she can build her new 15,000- and 20,000-square-
foot warehouses on industrial property off Hoff Road — but she too has been temporarily denied permission
to hook into the sewer system because the city says it has run out of capacity.
Almost nine months have passed since O'Fallon began issuing letters to developers of everything from donut
shops to shopping centers and condominiums, informing them that their projects will have to remain on hold
because the city's wastewater treatment plant at highways M and 79 is almost maxed out. The city has so far
denied wastewater hookups to some 14 developers, City Engineer Steve Bender said.
For Davis, the ban may prompt her to install a septic system even though her property technically is sewer-
ready. She said the ban makes no sense because her warehouses will have at most three toilet stalls apiece
and a kitchenette for no more than 10 employees.
"It's less sewer capacity than a two-bedroom apartment with a teenage daughter in it," she said.
The freeze is far-reaching. The city-owned plant handles sewage from all of Lake Saint Louis. In O'Fallon, its
coverage area runs north from Feise Road all the way to the Mississippi River floodplain. The affected area
includes developable land along half of O'Fallon's six-mile Highway K and most of the rapidly growing Bryan
Road corridor. And in the case of Lake Saint Louis, not only are planned subdivisions and senior housing
complexes in limbo, but also the Meadows, an upscale shopping center at Highway 40 and Lake Saint Louis.
Davis Street Land Co., the developer of the 55-acre shopping center, has gone ahead with construction
anyway and has appealed to the courts to compel O'Fallon to allow access to the system. Others are taking a
wait-and-see approach, but patience could be waning. Homebuilders on hold in both O'Fallon and Lake Saint
Louis say they are accumulating debt while holding onto valuable property they cannot develop.
Although some developers may have time to wait, Heaven Scent may not. The shop is losing its spot next to
Wal-Mart on Highway K sometime early next year because of that chain's plan to expand the store into a
supercenter.
Heaven Scent's dilemma prompted Mayor Donna Morrow to press the City Council to consider grandfathering
existing businesses. Morrow also suggested it was unfair that homebuilders who had gained hookup
permission before the freeze could take years to use the hookups in their subdivisions, while existing
businesses have an immediate need to hook into the system.
Leland Curtis, O'Fallon's attorney in a lawsuit filed by Davis Street, said any case where it is perceived that
additions or exceptions are allowed could put the city in legal jeopardy.
"I can pretty well predict that the attorneys for Davis Street will be watching," he recently told the City Council.
City Administrator Robert Lowery Jr., who imposed the freeze in November, said it could easily take a year or
more before it is lifted.
That's because the City Council must still decide whether to expand the system or try to sell it. The council is
waiting to hear the recommendation of a task force of citizens it formed last winter. But the task force has met
just twice, and the council continues to bicker over who sits on it. Last week the council rescinded Morrow's
appointment of one member after it was learned he used to work for Alliance Water Resources, the operator
of the sewer plant.
"If this council keeps stumbling and bumbling on this issue, we're never going to have this on the ballot in April
2008," Councilman Daniel Christoff said.
In the meantime, the freeze is apparently affecting potential development. The city's Planning and Zoning
Commission has canceled two of its meetings in the past two months because of a lack of new business. City
Engineer Bender said he's fielded numerous calls from developers interested in projects in O'Fallon but
concerned about the sewer issue.
For the entrepreneurs behind Heaven Scent, they're willing to wait it out.
"We've got such a loyal customer base. How can I abandon them?" owner Linda Day asked. "They're the
ones who've built Heaven Scent. I just make the doughnuts."
Watchdog Response: Now you would think this problem would be top priority for our Mayor and Council.
This problem has been ignored for so long that the city is facing mounting lawsuits due to their inaction.
Our Mayor, former councilman Peter Cantwell and Bill Hennessy decided it is far more important to play
politics as to fix this problem.
More importantly to them was pursuing unneeded jobs for political supporters. Playing games restricting
employee rights to free speech, irresponsible annexation plans, allowing homes to be built on a illegally
vacated road, giving away your tax dollars to help their campaign supporters and whether alcohol should
be served at city hall. This list goes on.
Sewer Plant construction and additions don’t happen over night. It takes a lot of time to design and build. At
a minimum we are talking probably about two years once a decision has been made. So keep that in mind
as our elected official keep stalling this decision. The games continue when Bill Hennessy voted against a
volunteer for the newly formed water/sewer commission. This retired gentleman had many years
experience in this industry and would have been a great asset to the commission. The Watchdog feels Bill
Hennessy feared this appointee because this gentlemen brought knowledge about water and sewer
operations to the commission. Unfortunately for us that didn’t fit into Bill Hennessy’s agenda.
Speaking of this newly formed commission. Quite often in business commissions are created when an
unpopular decision is going to be made and the powers to be don’t want to take the heat for it. They will lay
the ground work for the commission by giving them a certain set of constrains they must stay within.
Constraints they know will lead to only one decision. The decision they want. Then they will blame the
commission for the decision when the outcry ensues. It’s an old game that I’m sure many of you know all to
well. Businesses usually use this tactic right before they start making you pay more for your health care.
The Watchdog believes they will sell the system to one of their political supporters or somebody aligned
with their political supporters. Regardless if they sell it or keep it. The plant needs to be expanded. Doing it
sooner will solve several problems not to mention make it more valuable when you sell it. That is of course
if they don’t sell it for less than what it is worth. Which may happen knowing Hennessy and his puppets.
Residents of Ward 1, Ward 4 and parts of Ward 2 let this be a warning to you. After they sell the system you
will be paying much higher rates. They will play with the numbers for the first year or two to play down what’s
coming in the future but don’t be fooled. This would have been resolved years ago if it was the south end of
town that was being threatened. Maybe the voters in those wards will send a message to Christoff, Conley,
Haman and Schwentker who are all up for re-election next April.
By Nancy Cambria
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/01/2007
O'FALLON — For years, sisters Janet and Linda Day have harbored the sweet dream of franchising their
Heaven Scent doughnut shop.
But the popular purveyors of supersize doughnuts, towering wedding cakes and a signature chocolate Long
John have encountered an unpleasant blockage in their plans to build a prototype drive-through store on busy
Bryan Road. Although they can build the shop, they are now banned from connecting to the city's sewer
service.
Ditto for Susan Davis of Davis Inc., whose family has been slowly building a lucrative warehouse complex on
the northwest side of O'Fallon. Davis has been told that she can build her new 15,000- and 20,000-square-
foot warehouses on industrial property off Hoff Road — but she too has been temporarily denied permission
to hook into the sewer system because the city says it has run out of capacity.
Almost nine months have passed since O'Fallon began issuing letters to developers of everything from donut
shops to shopping centers and condominiums, informing them that their projects will have to remain on hold
because the city's wastewater treatment plant at highways M and 79 is almost maxed out. The city has so far
denied wastewater hookups to some 14 developers, City Engineer Steve Bender said.
For Davis, the ban may prompt her to install a septic system even though her property technically is sewer-
ready. She said the ban makes no sense because her warehouses will have at most three toilet stalls apiece
and a kitchenette for no more than 10 employees.
"It's less sewer capacity than a two-bedroom apartment with a teenage daughter in it," she said.
The freeze is far-reaching. The city-owned plant handles sewage from all of Lake Saint Louis. In O'Fallon, its
coverage area runs north from Feise Road all the way to the Mississippi River floodplain. The affected area
includes developable land along half of O'Fallon's six-mile Highway K and most of the rapidly growing Bryan
Road corridor. And in the case of Lake Saint Louis, not only are planned subdivisions and senior housing
complexes in limbo, but also the Meadows, an upscale shopping center at Highway 40 and Lake Saint Louis.
Davis Street Land Co., the developer of the 55-acre shopping center, has gone ahead with construction
anyway and has appealed to the courts to compel O'Fallon to allow access to the system. Others are taking a
wait-and-see approach, but patience could be waning. Homebuilders on hold in both O'Fallon and Lake Saint
Louis say they are accumulating debt while holding onto valuable property they cannot develop.
Although some developers may have time to wait, Heaven Scent may not. The shop is losing its spot next to
Wal-Mart on Highway K sometime early next year because of that chain's plan to expand the store into a
supercenter.
Heaven Scent's dilemma prompted Mayor Donna Morrow to press the City Council to consider grandfathering
existing businesses. Morrow also suggested it was unfair that homebuilders who had gained hookup
permission before the freeze could take years to use the hookups in their subdivisions, while existing
businesses have an immediate need to hook into the system.
Leland Curtis, O'Fallon's attorney in a lawsuit filed by Davis Street, said any case where it is perceived that
additions or exceptions are allowed could put the city in legal jeopardy.
"I can pretty well predict that the attorneys for Davis Street will be watching," he recently told the City Council.
City Administrator Robert Lowery Jr., who imposed the freeze in November, said it could easily take a year or
more before it is lifted.
That's because the City Council must still decide whether to expand the system or try to sell it. The council is
waiting to hear the recommendation of a task force of citizens it formed last winter. But the task force has met
just twice, and the council continues to bicker over who sits on it. Last week the council rescinded Morrow's
appointment of one member after it was learned he used to work for Alliance Water Resources, the operator
of the sewer plant.
"If this council keeps stumbling and bumbling on this issue, we're never going to have this on the ballot in April
2008," Councilman Daniel Christoff said.
In the meantime, the freeze is apparently affecting potential development. The city's Planning and Zoning
Commission has canceled two of its meetings in the past two months because of a lack of new business. City
Engineer Bender said he's fielded numerous calls from developers interested in projects in O'Fallon but
concerned about the sewer issue.
For the entrepreneurs behind Heaven Scent, they're willing to wait it out.
"We've got such a loyal customer base. How can I abandon them?" owner Linda Day asked. "They're the
ones who've built Heaven Scent. I just make the doughnuts."
Watchdog Response: Now you would think this problem would be top priority for our Mayor and Council.
This problem has been ignored for so long that the city is facing mounting lawsuits due to their inaction.
Our Mayor, former councilman Peter Cantwell and Bill Hennessy decided it is far more important to play
politics as to fix this problem.
More importantly to them was pursuing unneeded jobs for political supporters. Playing games restricting
employee rights to free speech, irresponsible annexation plans, allowing homes to be built on a illegally
vacated road, giving away your tax dollars to help their campaign supporters and whether alcohol should
be served at city hall. This list goes on.
Sewer Plant construction and additions don’t happen over night. It takes a lot of time to design and build. At
a minimum we are talking probably about two years once a decision has been made. So keep that in mind
as our elected official keep stalling this decision. The games continue when Bill Hennessy voted against a
volunteer for the newly formed water/sewer commission. This retired gentleman had many years
experience in this industry and would have been a great asset to the commission. The Watchdog feels Bill
Hennessy feared this appointee because this gentlemen brought knowledge about water and sewer
operations to the commission. Unfortunately for us that didn’t fit into Bill Hennessy’s agenda.
Speaking of this newly formed commission. Quite often in business commissions are created when an
unpopular decision is going to be made and the powers to be don’t want to take the heat for it. They will lay
the ground work for the commission by giving them a certain set of constrains they must stay within.
Constraints they know will lead to only one decision. The decision they want. Then they will blame the
commission for the decision when the outcry ensues. It’s an old game that I’m sure many of you know all to
well. Businesses usually use this tactic right before they start making you pay more for your health care.
The Watchdog believes they will sell the system to one of their political supporters or somebody aligned
with their political supporters. Regardless if they sell it or keep it. The plant needs to be expanded. Doing it
sooner will solve several problems not to mention make it more valuable when you sell it. That is of course
if they don’t sell it for less than what it is worth. Which may happen knowing Hennessy and his puppets.
Residents of Ward 1, Ward 4 and parts of Ward 2 let this be a warning to you. After they sell the system you
will be paying much higher rates. They will play with the numbers for the first year or two to play down what’s
coming in the future but don’t be fooled. This would have been resolved years ago if it was the south end of
town that was being threatened. Maybe the voters in those wards will send a message to Christoff, Conley,
Haman and Schwentker who are all up for re-election next April.