Shine a Light on City Government

Shine a Light on City Government

Friends & Neighbors,

I hope you and your families are well and taking precautions to reduce the risk of exposure to the Corona Virus.  We all strive to maintain a balance between staying safe and resuming our lives, including returning to work and engaging in normal business.

City Hall has been closed to the public for a couple of weeks, although the City Staff have reported for duty every day.  We continue to serve the residents of Dardenne Prairie by phone and email.  As Governor Parson and County Executive Ehlmann have set the wheels in motion to return to normal activities I have directed that City Hall will be open to the public as of Monday, May 11.  The City Hall Park playground will also be open next week.

The first Concert in the Park of the 2020 Season is on for Friday, May 15 at 7:00 PM.  The band “Plastic Kings” (formerly known as “Contagious”) will perform their first summer concert here in Dardenne Prairie.   There will be refreshments at the Concession Stand as well as one or more food trucks.  The City will hire a cleaning crew to sanitize the restrooms throughout the evening as an extra precaution.  We urge concert goers to observe appropriate social distancing in the placement of their chairs or blankets.

The New Horizons League has announced the spring youth baseball and softball will begin as of June 1.  We are excited to have the season get underway.  Some adjustments have been made in light of the delayed start of the season.  We will provide up to date information on the City’s website.

The project to renovate the ball fields next to City Hall and to build the Dardenne Prairie Athletic Complex has achieved a key milestone.  On May 5 the Dardenne Athletic Association completed the donation to the City of the ball fields that the DAA has owned and managed since the early 1950’s.  The 4.5 acres given to the City by the DAA will be combined with the 2 acres the City purchased from private landowners last year to become the Dardenne Prairie Athletic Complex.

The project calls for removal of the old cinderblock building and wooden shed, the construction of a new restroom and storage building; the upgrade of fields 1 & 2; the creation of a new field 3; construction of a minimum of 2 pickleball courts; construction of a walking trail through and around the Complex; construction of a maintenance building to house the City’s vehicles and equipment used to take care of our parks; enlargement and paving of the parking lot; installation of new lights for the ball fields; and new fencing.  The quality of the playing surfaces of the three fields will be improved.  All of this is scheduled to be completed by April 2021.

The donation of the land to the City by the Dardenne Athletic Association has been under discussion since 2015.  Contrary to some misinformation circulating in some quarters of the City, it was always the plan to obtain ownership of the land before starting construction.

The next step is to obtain financing to pay for the construction.  The Board of Aldermen has set those wheels in motion with the intention of issuing “Certificates of Participation” which, similar to municipal bonds, are a means of borrowing funds for the project.  We anticipate having the Certificates sold before the end of May.  The Certificates will be paid off over a period of 15 years using funds from the Parks and Stormwater Sales Tax approved by the voters in 2017.  The Board of Aldermen approved the hiring of an Underwriter at the May 6 BOA meeting who will be responsible for marketing the Certificates to investors.

I am sure you have noticed the progress of various construction projects around the City.  The Sunterra Short Term Rehabilitation Facility on Highway N next to Canvas Cove is well along.  Phase 1 of the Inverness residential community near the intersection of Bryan and Feise Roads is moving along very nicely.  If you haven’t taken the time to visit, I recommend you drive by (especially on Sunday when the construction crews and vehicles are not there) to inspect it for yourself.

Other residential developments are in the pre-construction phase, including Dragonstone on Bates Road and Ardenne Point on Highway N, east of Sunterra.

Restaurants and other businesses in Dardenne Prairie will be re-opening in the near future.  Please seek them out and patronize them.  We want to see our friends and neighbors back to work.

The Planning and Zoning Commission will not meet in May, but will hold a meeting at City Hall on June 10 at 7:00 PM.  The next Board of Aldermen meeting is set for May 20 at City Hall. The Work Session begins at 6:00 PM and the Business Meeting follows at 7:00 PM.  Come see your City Government at work.

“Shine a Light on City Government”