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BY CAROL ARNETT
Crime was on the minds of several residents who came to last week’s council meeting to ask what steps the city plans to address the recent rise in criminal activity.

Cliff and Sue Mageehan told the council that their son was robbed at gunpoint at Dunegant Park. The 18 year old was at the skateboard park with three friends. They began talking to a younger group of boys, and as they were getting ready to leave, one of the younger boys pulled out a gun and demanded their wallets and cell phones.

“How did you crime get so out of control?” Sue Mageehan asked.

Resident Rita Wintjen asked what had happened in some recent cases. She said she, too, was concerned about the rise in crime. The city’s website, she said, publishes the crime statistics, and shows a rise since last year. The website shows a rise in robberies from one each in July and August 2007 to seven in July 2008 and eight in July 2009. Wintjen received loud applause when she suggested that the city used “funds used to subsidize the golf course” to fight crime.

The city is dealing with an investigation into the crime of embezzlement at the golf course, where two employees are suspected of stealing over $45,000. The course has not turned a profit since it has opened.

Mayor Robert Lowery responded by saying that crime was up everywhere. He began talking about other municipalities in the St. Louis area, but residents in the audience shouted that they did not live in the other areas and were interested in what the city planned to do about crime in Florissant.

Lowery addressed the recent disturbance at Applebee’s Restaurant. “There were no weapons,” he said, and added that the incident was “overdone” by Channel 2.

“Has crime gone up?” Lowery asked. “Yes, it has.” He said all residents bear a responsibility to help with neighborhood watch programs and by calling in when they see suspicious activities.

“Crime is human nature,” Lowery said. “The city is staying safe, although crime has gone up.”

“We know where the troublemakers are coming from,” he said, adding that they are not city residents. “We’ve been making non-residents leave.” He added, “This department will not tolerate gangs in the city of Florissant.”

Mayor Lowery announced this week two measures to address the issue. On Tuesday, he ordered Police Chief William Karabas to study the feasibility of asking the council to enact legislation to change the curfew for persons 16 and younger to 10 p.m, Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. He said parents would be responsible and would receive a summons if child violations occurred.

The second measure, would involve the city council enacting legislation to deal with offenders infringing on the public peace, including loitering. The mayor said he will ask the council at the next meeting Monday, Sept. 29 for new legislation take the necessary steps to make arrest on loitering violations and any type of disturbance.

Lowery and Karabas acknowledged there has been an increase in crime in the city, which they said has been committed mostly by persons living outside the city. The mayor said a four-man task force has been assigned to the most affected areas and “significant inroads have been made” with over 75 arrested and contraband seized. Park rangers will assistant police continuous surveillance in city parks.

In other news, Rosemary Davison addressed the council about the Bockrath-Weise house in St. Ferdinand Park. She gave a brief history of the house, praised the city’s efforts to save it, and urged them to “make sure you get a firm with experience in
historic buildings to do any work on the house.”

The house needs at least $80,000 to remain structurally stable. Council President Tom Scheider said he thought the city administration and council all wanted the house preserved, but they were still discussing what to do with it after it was preserved. In previous meetings, Lowery has suggested further renovations that would allow the house to be rented out for parties and events. Some council members have said, that while they may like the idea, they do not think the city can afford it at this time.

In other action, the council passed a resolution urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove radioactive wastes in the West Lake Landfill site in North County. The landfill is in Bridgeton. Kay Drey, with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, addressed the council. She said the coalition wants congress to transfer responsibility for the cleanup of the site from the EPA to the Army Corps of Engineers. The city resolution stated concerns that an earthquake or flooding could cause waste to seep into the area’s water supply.

“Leaving radioactive waste in the West Lake Landfill poses a potential health threat to all of the residents of St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis, ” said Lowery. The West Lake Landfill lies within the Missouri River floodplain and aquifer in Bridgeton, Missouri. Less than three miles downstream of this site is the intake plant where the Missouri American Water Company draws water to provide drinking water for the residents of St. Louis County.

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