Florissant Honors John Grib,

Fall Festival & Old Town Partners

                                                By Carol Arnett

The Florissant City Council Monday night paid tribute to former Councilman John Grib, who passed away last week. The council hung their ties from their microphones and wore polo shirts in his honor. They also observed a moment of silence.

“John was not a suit and tie kind of guy,” said Councilman Tim Lee. “Once in a while you meet someone and things click and you know you have a friend for life,” Lee said. “It was an honor and a privilege to call him my friend,” he added.

“When I first met him, he kind of scared me,” said Councilwoman Jackie Pagano. But, she said, he quickly won her over. “He became a teacher and a role model for me.”

“I had the good fortune and privilege of working with John on both the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council for several years,” said City Attorney John Hessel. He said he was trying to no express grief, but to express gratitude that Grib was a part of his life for so long.

Council President Joe Eagan said that while he wanted to acknowledge that Grib was smart and knowledgeable about city government, he was also “a heck of a lot of fun to be around.” As Eagan closed the tributes, he added, “For the record, John would not like any of this.” (see more on John Grub on page 11)

   2 Restaurant Public Hearings

The council held two public hearings. In the first, they heard from Marko Felix, who would like to open Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill, a restaurant/grocery store, at 758 S. New Florissant Rd. This is near the Family Dollar at the intersection of New Florissant Rd. and St. Anthony Lane

“We would offer healthy groceries as a complement to our food,” Felix said. The business would be open from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. every day except Saturday. No alcohol would be sold, and the restaurant portion would be take-out only.

Council member had several questions about the bathroom situation at the business. As shown in the plan Felix presented to the council, customers would have to go through the stock room to get to the restrooms.

“This is not a good option for the bathrooms,” Councilman Mark Schmidt said. “Having customers walking through the kitchen and stock area.” Pagano had concerns about trash removal. “There is no back door exit to the trash area,” she said.

Felix said he would take the council’s concerns back to his architect to work on other solutions. The council postponed the hearing until Nov. 11.

     In the second hearing, the council heard from Mohamad Yaacoub. He was requesting a special use permit for New York Grill to operate a carry-out restaurant at 540 N. Hwy 67. Yaacoub already has a New York Grill in Flower Valley Shopping Center, by Kmart and Shop N Save. The new store would be for carry-out only, he said. The hours would be from 10 a.m. to midnight seven days a week. The council held a first reading on a bill authorizing the restaurant.

In other matters , the council passed several bills that were up for second readings. They passed two bills that make changes to zoning codes, they passed a bill approving the Community Development Block Grant budget for 2016, and they passed some bills that move money from one budget account to another for end of year budget adjustments.

   City Honors 2 Fall Festival Chairs

The Florissant City Council and Mayor Tom Schneider passed a joint resolution praising Florissant Old Town Partners and the Fall Festival. Old Town Partners was formed in August of 1996, the resolution states. The group started the Fall Festival 18 years ago. The resolution states that the council and mayor would like to recognize Old Town Partners for their efforts with the festival and congratulate them for its success.

The resolution specifically recognizes Karen Goodwin and Diana Weidinger for co-chairing the Fall Festival for the last nine years. The council also recognized the Fall Festival Planning Committee for their hard work, as well as the city employees for their work with the festival.

Goodwin and Weidinger accepted the resolution. They said that several people were involved in making the festival a success over the years.

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