On Monday night the city council voted in favor of granting liquor licenses to two University City businesses.

The council voted unanimously to approve a liquor license for Jilly’s Cupcake Bar, located at 8509 Delmar Blvd. and Queen of Sheba at 6665 Olive Blvd. City Manager Lehman Walker postponed action on a liquor license for Dollar General Store, located at 7900 Olive Blvd.

Jilly's Cupcake Bar has had quite the year. In September, it showing off its expanded and remodeled digs. The new space includes more seating, a bigger kitchen and a party room for private events. In June, Jilly's was declared the winner of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. The win was a big coup for the University City bakery.

The Queen of Sheba serves Ethiopian cuisine. The restaurant held a grand re-opening in August to re-open its doors under new management.

Street resurfacing

Council voted unanimously to approve a contract with Byrne and Jones Construction for street resurfacing, specifically microsurfacing. The contract is worth $112,258. Byrne and Jones Construction provided the only bid. University City checked with the cities Clayton and Creve Coeur to help determine if the bid price received was comparable to prices those cities received on projects. Staff determined the bid by Byrne and Jones Construction was acceptable.

Citizen comments

Longtime resident and former councilmember Elsie Glickert spoke out against any plan to make permanent the "non park" sign, which currently sits at the corner of Kingsland Avenueand Olive Boulevard. She said the sign is negative for the community.

"That is an absolute insult to our neighborhood," Glicket said. "I'm going to ask this council, do not permit that to happen."

Students at Washington University installed the sign as part of a sculpture series project. At an Arts and Letters Commission meeting in October a member voiced support for pursuing whatever paperwork is needed for donation of the "non park" sign.

Glickert also cautioned the council to carefully consider each liquor license application before signing off on it. She said previous councils, "spent a lot of time" designing the current ordinance. "It has protected us and the vacant buildings along Olive from becoming liquor stores with a potato chip attached to it."

Longtime resident Richard Dockett urged the council to keep Heman Park Community Center at 975 Pennsylvania Ave. open full time and allow senior citizens to continue using the building during the week.

"I'm here to ask the council and the mayor, please, let us stay at home where we are at now, at 975 Pennsylvania," Dockett said.

He said transferring seniors to Centennial Commons is not the right solution. He said space is more limited there. "Packing us in there like sardines," was how Dockett described the space at Centennial Commons.

Replacing Janet Watson

Last week, Janet Watson started her new job as the director of finance and administration for the City of Clayton. Watson had been the Deputy City Manager and Finance Director for University City. At Monday night's meeting, Ward 3 Councilmember Byron Price asked the city manager about hiring someone to fill Watson's vacancy.

Walker said he was undecided about replacing the position, adding that it was too early to tell.