The Holts Summit Board of Aldermen honored former Mayor Reggie Largent, who died earlier this month - just a few days before his May 15 birthday.
May 15 will now be known as Mayor Reggie Largent Day. Largent was a longtime resident of Holts Summit, serving on the planning and zoning commission, the board of aldermen, and as the mayor in the mid-1990s. His family was honored with two plaques remembering his service to the city.
During the work session, Allied Waste representative Lillian Kinard gave an update on the proposed unification of trash service for the city. She informed the aldermen that survey results on the optional recycling program were pretty close to split.
Kinard said 315 of 1,000 surveys were returned. Of those, 127 participants favored the optional recycling program, 121 opposed it and about 67 said they support it at no additional cost. During the discussion of the trash service issue, City Administrator Brian Crane said billing would be at or below what current customers pay today for trash service. The decision to move forward with the trash service was made.
Aldermen approved the ordinance to have an operating beer garden sponsored by "Doc N Rays" at the 2014 Fireworks Festival in July. The board also passed ordinances to strip some streets in the city, begin a comprehensive rezoning project and finance public improvements to the Municipal Center.
Bills were introduced to construct a sidewalk, curb and gutter from South Summit Drive to Simon Boulevard and for the formation of a nonprofit corporation to facilitate the financing of capital improvements.
Aldermen also discussed the issue of ramp beautification. The ramp committee recently decided there would no longer be people available to maintain the six city ramps. It is estimated that each ramp cost $100-120 per month (labor and raw materials included), according to Crane. Mayor Lucas Fitzpatrick suggested soliciting volunteers of the city to help maintain the upkeep of the ramps.