Park Commission Members Frustrated at Lack of Involvement Over Some U City Issues

Members of the park commission expressed frustration at Tuesday night's meeting that they have not been consulted on big issues that are impacting University City residents.

The group said it was left out of the loop on construction going on at Ackert Park Walkway. A statue of Chuck Berry is slated to go into the plaza area next to Fitz's Soda Bar & Grille, the area used to house the Ackert Plaza Arch. That was torn down. However, no one on the park commission nor the city council knows who green-lighted that action.

“Our parks are named for mayors--Chuck Berry is not even a resident of University City," commission member Caryn St. Clair said.

Councilmember Lynn Ricci, who is council liaison to the park commission, said to her knowledge, the Berry statue was approved at a November 2010 Arts and Letters Commission meeting. She said the vote on the statue was not on the agenda, but appears in the minutes of the meeting. It did not go to the parks commission.

Ricci said the statue is technically not going into a park but in a University City right-of-way.

"I'm embarrassed to tell people, gee, I don't know. I don’t know why we did that," Park Commission President John Sweeney said. "If I'm going to have this job as a park commissioner, I want to be able to tell people I know what is going on," he said. "So, I'm fixing my problem."

Members of the park commission voted unanimously on a motion to recommend that construction on Ackert Walk be halted until design and development plans are brought before parks for review and recommendations to the council.

Park members also expressed disapproval that they were not consulted about the fate of the lights at the Ruth Park Driving Range, which City Manager Lehman Walker recently decided should be permanently turned off.

"If we're just a paper tiger, then we don't need to be here," Sweeney said. "I think it's insulting that we have been bypassed for some of these things," member Karen Dille said.

In a unanimous vote, park members approved a motion to recommend reopening the driving range lights issue for review and recommendation to the city council.

Earlier this month, City Manager Lehman Walker decided to keep the lights off, and told University City Patch "It was in the best interest of the residents who live across the street." Before the policy change, the range lights would stay on until 9:30 p.m., weather permitting.

A committee of driving range neighbors and golf enthusiast was formed at Walker's insistence to look at complaints about the range and make recommendations. A permanent shutdown of the lights was not among the suggestions sent to him. 

Park  member William Field was part of the driving range committee, but his role was as a resident not a board member.

Park members also approved a motion that all future park-related issues be brought before the Park Commission for review and recommendation per the city charter.

The three recommendations will now go to the City Council.

The board members hope the recommendations will spur council to look more closely into what is happening in University City.

We're making sure that "our City Council knows that we're hearing from citizens that we're not doing everything we should do and it's time to step up and do that," Sweeney said.