Some Council Members Don't Want More Street Food Vendors
(St. Charles Patch, 6/9/2011)
Steve Darlin (left) and Kyle Cast (right) wait for their
food in the hot weather at Steve O's BBQ & More.
Before the city council meeting Tuesday, Gaurang Bhavsar said he was confident he would be granted a permit to sell Indian food out of a concession stand in the parking lot of West Clay Package Liquor.
Both the owner of the liquor store and the St. Charles City Planning and Zoning Commission gave Bhavsar approval to open the stand. All Bhavsar had to do was convince the City Council to give him a conditional use permit for it. Bhavsar said he wasn’t worried.
“As long as you follow the city’s conditions, they won’t give you a hard time,” said Bhavsar.
Bhavsar said he was surprised when the city council voted down a conditional use permit for the stand.
“I was so shocked, I thought everything was fine,” said Bhavsar.
During the city council meeting, city council members agreed Bhavsar may only be allowed the permit until December 2011 if the measure was approved. Despite this change, the motion failed 2-5. Six votes were needed for the motion to pass.
Council members Mike Klinghammer, Ward 8, Mary Ann Ohms, Ward 1, Tom Besselman, Ward 2, Ron Stivison, Ward 9, and Jerry Reese, Ward 6, voted for the permit, while council members Bob Kneemiller, Ward, 4 and Dave Beckering, Ward 7, voted against the permit. Council members Michael Weller, Ward 5, Laurie Feldman, Ward 3, and Bridget Ohmes, Ward 10, were absent from the meeting.
Some council members said temporary food vendors do not have to put as much of an investment into the city as restaurant owners do.
“It’s unfair competition with the other restaurants,” said Councilman Bob Kneemiller, Ward 4. “They don’t have to pay property taxes. They don’t get inspected by the health department. They don’t have to pay taxes on utilities.”
“We don’t want to get out of balance by having too many. There is a time and a place for them,” said Councilman Mike Klinghammer, Ward 8. “Flowers stands are in the spring, Christmas tree lots are in the winter, but businesses like this (Indian food stand) aren’t appropriate because they are in competition with businesses that have invested more into the city.”
In April, a request for conditional use permit for an outdoor vending cart that would sell hotdogs and soda on Main Street in St. Charles failed to get any support from the city council after several business owners in the area said the stands would take customers from their restaurants.
Steve Pundmann owns a barbecue trailer called Steve O’s BBQ & More which he sets up in the parking lot of the Pundmann Ford off of Duchesne Road. The city council approved the permit for his trailer in July 2009.
Pundmann said he may not have to rent a space for a restaurant, but he is still taking a risk.
“I’ve got $80,000 invested in this trailer," he said. "Some hot dog carts can get away with spending only $15,000, but it’s still an investment.”
Bhavsar said he was hoping to avoid the cost of a failing restaurant by opening up the less expensive concession stand. He said the city should recognize that there is a market for temporary food vendors in the area.
“There is a people who can’t afford expensive food,” said Bhavsar. “And there is a culture of Indian food that is supposed to be out here.”
Bhavsar said he intends to further appeal to the St. Charles City Council for a temporary permit for the Indian food stand. The city has granted five permits to street food vendors in the last year.
Both the owner of the liquor store and the St. Charles City Planning and Zoning Commission gave Bhavsar approval to open the stand. All Bhavsar had to do was convince the City Council to give him a conditional use permit for it. Bhavsar said he wasn’t worried.
“As long as you follow the city’s conditions, they won’t give you a hard time,” said Bhavsar.
Bhavsar said he was surprised when the city council voted down a conditional use permit for the stand.
“I was so shocked, I thought everything was fine,” said Bhavsar.
During the city council meeting, city council members agreed Bhavsar may only be allowed the permit until December 2011 if the measure was approved. Despite this change, the motion failed 2-5. Six votes were needed for the motion to pass.
Council members Mike Klinghammer, Ward 8, Mary Ann Ohms, Ward 1, Tom Besselman, Ward 2, Ron Stivison, Ward 9, and Jerry Reese, Ward 6, voted for the permit, while council members Bob Kneemiller, Ward, 4 and Dave Beckering, Ward 7, voted against the permit. Council members Michael Weller, Ward 5, Laurie Feldman, Ward 3, and Bridget Ohmes, Ward 10, were absent from the meeting.
Some council members said temporary food vendors do not have to put as much of an investment into the city as restaurant owners do.
“It’s unfair competition with the other restaurants,” said Councilman Bob Kneemiller, Ward 4. “They don’t have to pay property taxes. They don’t get inspected by the health department. They don’t have to pay taxes on utilities.”
“We don’t want to get out of balance by having too many. There is a time and a place for them,” said Councilman Mike Klinghammer, Ward 8. “Flowers stands are in the spring, Christmas tree lots are in the winter, but businesses like this (Indian food stand) aren’t appropriate because they are in competition with businesses that have invested more into the city.”
In April, a request for conditional use permit for an outdoor vending cart that would sell hotdogs and soda on Main Street in St. Charles failed to get any support from the city council after several business owners in the area said the stands would take customers from their restaurants.
Steve Pundmann owns a barbecue trailer called Steve O’s BBQ & More which he sets up in the parking lot of the Pundmann Ford off of Duchesne Road. The city council approved the permit for his trailer in July 2009.
Pundmann said he may not have to rent a space for a restaurant, but he is still taking a risk.
“I’ve got $80,000 invested in this trailer," he said. "Some hot dog carts can get away with spending only $15,000, but it’s still an investment.”
Bhavsar said he was hoping to avoid the cost of a failing restaurant by opening up the less expensive concession stand. He said the city should recognize that there is a market for temporary food vendors in the area.
“There is a people who can’t afford expensive food,” said Bhavsar. “And there is a culture of Indian food that is supposed to be out here.”
Bhavsar said he intends to further appeal to the St. Charles City Council for a temporary permit for the Indian food stand. The city has granted five permits to street food vendors in the last year.
Dirty Muggs: An Energetic, Funky Cover Band with a Starlit Past
If you were in Forest Park the first week of October, or anywhere within a one-mile radius, you might have heard something funky coming from the Missouri History Museum.
More than 3,000 people came to Forest Park to see the Dirty Muggs’ Parliament Funkadelic Tribute show. The band dressed the part with fake afros, top hats and bold costumes.
“Everyone was talking about how that was the best one (show),” Muggs bassist Edgar "Boni" Hinton said. “Acres and acres of people stopping to see it.”
The Muggs blasted old school funk songs such as "Starchild" and "Cosmic Slop."
The Dirty Muggs play a range of funk, hip-hop, pop, and soul for every generation. With a set list of more than 300 songs, they cover everything from Sly and the Family Stone to Snoop Dogg. Though the band is only a year old, guitarist and vocalist Gary "Dee Dee" James said it has a large following.
While the group is made up of talented artists, many of the band members said it’s the band’s energy and presence that make the show. James said the band wanted to recreate the experience that he and Hinton had seeing shows in the '70s. That includes choreographed dance moves for almost every song.
“That’s a lost art really. Bands used to do that back in the day at certain points, but you don’t see that often,” James said. “Bands playing instruments and moving and doing the whole thing, it takes a lot to do that.”
The Dirty Muggs also like to shake up their set list. Because the Muggs know so many different types of songs, they can play to the crowd’s mood, Hinton said.
“That’s what makes it interesting, because this particular band has been able to play all different crowds and be loved without actually changing ourselves too much,” Hinton said.
A good example of this is the band’s debut at a college couple’s wedding in Grafton, IL.
The 21-year-old bride’s mother asked the Muggs to play at her daughter’s wedding reception. James said the reception was full of crazy young college kids who really got into the music.
“They did even a mosh pit at one point,” Hinton said. “They were crowd surfing. They did everything,” James said.
As an older guy, James said he was surprised to see how much the younger crowd enjoyed their music.
Hometown Boys Rocket To Fame, Come Back To The City
With the exception of Clay, all the band members graduated high school in University City.
James and Hinton said they met each other in grade school, but really got to know each other through Hinton’s father’s landscaping business.
“As a kid that was like one of the first jobs I had. His dad would get up and come over to my house at 6:30 in the morning and fight me to get up. And we’d be out there working, and we wouldn’t get home till it was dark,” James said.
Hinton and James started playing talent shows in University City when they were about 13 years old.
In the late '80s, James and Hinton started the band DeKrash, which eventually had several Top 40 hits. James said shortly after DeKrash signed with Capitol Records, the band was asked to change its image in order to keep the record deal.
After that, the band lost its energy and hardcore vibe, James said.
“We liked jumped off of stuff and hanging from the rafters. It was great. The band was nuts,” James said. “We let them talk us into calming down.”
DeKrash broke up in 1992. When the band split, James went on to play with greats such as Bootsy Collins and George Clinton. He even toured with Paula Abdul.
The name Dirty Muggs was Bootsy Collins’ nickname for James.
“From my guitar playing cause it’s kind of dirty and kind of crazy," he said. "He just had that thing, where he looked at me and he was like, ‘You’re a dirty mug,’” James said.
James said the name stuck. Later when James told Collins about his new band, Collins told him to just call the band Dirty Muggs, and that name stuck, too.
Hinton started out playing with artists such Outkast and Goodie Mob. Hinton then went on to play and produce music in Europe in 1999. He stayed there for the next 12 years of his life. He also dabbled in teaching guitar in Sweden at an international school.
Hinton and James never lost touch. When Hinton finally came back to St. Louis, James had just broken up with his band.
That was also about the time singer and frontman Justin Clay graduated from LeCordon Bleu culinary school and was finally ready to join the band.
Clay met James just a few years ago when the band he needed another guitarist. Clay became a star at age 10 when he signed with the band Teen 11. When James wanted to start the Dirty Muggs last year, he said everything fell into place.
“I knew the guys I wanted to play with pretty much” James said. “I knew we would get a decent vibe going, something different.”
Muggs To Start Original Recordings
The band’s plan is to start recording Dirty Muggs original songs after the first of the year. James said the band wanted to secure itself financially before moving ahead.
All members of the band play for a living.
“I have graduated from LeCordon Bleu, but I’m not working anywhere as a chef,” Clay said. “This is what we do. This is what we live and breathe.”
Hinton said the band wanted to perfect the band's live performance first, just like the classic funk, pop, and rock bands in the '70s.
“They would make sure they were accomplished on live (performances) first. Then it’s much easier to take it to a record,” Hinton said. “Cause we’ll have more of a strategy of what’s working already live.”
As to how the record with sound, James was a little vague.
“I know it’s going to be danceable, and it’s going to be fun and it’s going to be cool,” James said.
James said the band also hopes to do more old school tributes like the one for Parliament Funkadelic in Forest Park.
Check out Dirty Muggs at 9 p.m. Saturday at Sybergs. Cover is $5 and 10 percent of the proceeds from the “Save the Ta-Tas Party” will go to help fight breast cancer.
St. Charles County Unemployment Down, Industries Optimistic
(St. Charles County Patch Sites, 6/29/2011)
This Missouri Career Center location is scheduled to close.
St. Charles County resident Tewanna Verner has been looking for jobs
at the Missouri Career Center Office on Second Street in St. Charles for
six months.
Verner said the job hunt has been very frustrating for her.
“You put in so much effort and work trying to go to the interviews and they never call you back. Or you just keep calling every now and then and bothering them, but they still won’t call you for the interview. But they say they’re hiring. I don’t know why they put it on there that they’re hiring if they aren’t going to hire.”
According to the Missouri Department of Economic Development, about 7.6 percent of St. Charles County residents claimed to be unemployed last May.
Although that might seem high, Director of Missouri Department of Workforce Development Don Holt said it is the lowest unemployment rate St. Charles County has had in three years. Moreover, Holt said St. Charles County has the lowest unemployment rate in the region.
On the Missouri county unemployment map, St. Charles County looks like a safety bubble in a sea of high unemployment rates. St. Louis, Warren, Lincoln, and Franklin counties all have more than 8.5 percent unemployment.
Holt said some industries in St. Charles County are reemerging. Niche jobs in construction and IT services are becoming available as well as seasonal jobs in hospitality.
More summer jobs for high school and college students are also opening up. Holt said the production and manufacturing industries are showing a lot of potential.
“We are seeing some real positive indicators with some of our manufacturers,” Holt said. “We don’t have anybody hiring 30, 50 people, but we do have people that are starting to hire a half dozen or whatever. And they’re starting to talk positively about [how] they think they’re going to be hiring more in the next 6 to 8 months. So we are seeing those jobs come back.”
Holt said the IT service companies have also talked about hiring and more companies are looking for people with skills in information technology.
He said though very few major layoffs are expected to happen in St. Charles County in the near future, American TV is closing three stores in the region.
“Out of their four locations in the metropolitan area, three of them are right here close by,” Holt said. “So, we have a lot of residents that work in those locations. So, that one’s going to be a fairly big one. I don’t know of the numbers for sure, but between the three locations we’re probably talking hundreds of people, easily.”
Holt said the unemployment rate is down to where it was in 2008, but the county is still far away from the low unemployment rates we had before the recession.
“It’s been a tough couple of years. We are seeing things start to turn around here,” Holt said. “We’re making some positive progress. We feel good about that. We’re kind of leading in a lot of ways for the metropolitan area, but I don’t think any of us are satisfied with where we are. Both from the business perspective and the employee perspective.”
This means, though St. Charles County’s economic situation is improving, residents like Tewanna Verner are still going to have to find new ways to market themselves to employers.
Verner said she is going back to school to put a college degree on her resume.
“I think the hardest thing is that I don’t have a college degree cause a lot of jobs require some kind of college. We jumpstarted school in the fall for EMT, so I am going back to school cause I’m tired of this trying to find a low budget job, or ‘you can’t get the job because you don’t have some kind of college degree behind you.’”
Verner said the job hunt has been very frustrating for her.
“You put in so much effort and work trying to go to the interviews and they never call you back. Or you just keep calling every now and then and bothering them, but they still won’t call you for the interview. But they say they’re hiring. I don’t know why they put it on there that they’re hiring if they aren’t going to hire.”
According to the Missouri Department of Economic Development, about 7.6 percent of St. Charles County residents claimed to be unemployed last May.
Although that might seem high, Director of Missouri Department of Workforce Development Don Holt said it is the lowest unemployment rate St. Charles County has had in three years. Moreover, Holt said St. Charles County has the lowest unemployment rate in the region.
On the Missouri county unemployment map, St. Charles County looks like a safety bubble in a sea of high unemployment rates. St. Louis, Warren, Lincoln, and Franklin counties all have more than 8.5 percent unemployment.
Holt said some industries in St. Charles County are reemerging. Niche jobs in construction and IT services are becoming available as well as seasonal jobs in hospitality.
More summer jobs for high school and college students are also opening up. Holt said the production and manufacturing industries are showing a lot of potential.
“We are seeing some real positive indicators with some of our manufacturers,” Holt said. “We don’t have anybody hiring 30, 50 people, but we do have people that are starting to hire a half dozen or whatever. And they’re starting to talk positively about [how] they think they’re going to be hiring more in the next 6 to 8 months. So we are seeing those jobs come back.”
Holt said the IT service companies have also talked about hiring and more companies are looking for people with skills in information technology.
He said though very few major layoffs are expected to happen in St. Charles County in the near future, American TV is closing three stores in the region.
“Out of their four locations in the metropolitan area, three of them are right here close by,” Holt said. “So, we have a lot of residents that work in those locations. So, that one’s going to be a fairly big one. I don’t know of the numbers for sure, but between the three locations we’re probably talking hundreds of people, easily.”
Holt said the unemployment rate is down to where it was in 2008, but the county is still far away from the low unemployment rates we had before the recession.
“It’s been a tough couple of years. We are seeing things start to turn around here,” Holt said. “We’re making some positive progress. We feel good about that. We’re kind of leading in a lot of ways for the metropolitan area, but I don’t think any of us are satisfied with where we are. Both from the business perspective and the employee perspective.”
This means, though St. Charles County’s economic situation is improving, residents like Tewanna Verner are still going to have to find new ways to market themselves to employers.
Verner said she is going back to school to put a college degree on her resume.
“I think the hardest thing is that I don’t have a college degree cause a lot of jobs require some kind of college. We jumpstarted school in the fall for EMT, so I am going back to school cause I’m tired of this trying to find a low budget job, or ‘you can’t get the job because you don’t have some kind of college degree behind you.’”
St. Charles Family Hopes To Get Approval For Miniature Pet Pig
(St. Charles Patch, 7/27/2011)
Pepper the pig (Photo by Kerrie Meyers).
At Monday night’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, Kerrie Meyers pleaded with the commission to allow her family to keep their Juliani pig.
The Juliani pig is a rare miniature pig breed that ranges from 25 to 35 pounds. Meyers said her family bought the pig, Pepper, for her two youngest children, Heidi and Blake. Heidi and Blake are allergic to cats and dogs, so the Juliani pig was a hypoallergenic alternative.
When Meyers moved to St. Charles from Lake St. Louis two years ago, she was unaware that residents are not allowed to keep miniature pigs as pets.
Kerrie Meyers' said Pepper will be trained as an emotional support animal for her children, which recognizes the pig under the American's with Disabilities Act.
"Not only is Pepper loving and emotionally supportive to our own children who have had difficulty dealing with their parents divorce, he will be able to offer emotional support to other members of the community and will have his first visit next month at a local nursing home to brighten the residents' day."
Meyers said Charlevoix Health Care Center, a nursing home on Boonslick Road, has agreed to let Pepper visit to complete his therapy pet certification training.
Meyers said she wants to keep Pepper legally while he is still in training. City Councilman Tom Besselman, Ward 2, spoke in support of Meyers’ pig.
“There were extremely different circumstances,” Besselman said. “When she (Meyers) started talking about the therapy that the dog does now and the service...that’s it.”
Besselman also said Meyers does not have any neighbors who oppose the pig because Meyers lives next to a graveyard.
The proposed amendment to the ordinance would allow households to keep one Juliani pig as long as they applied for a conditional use permit for the pig. Some commission members opposed the amendment because then all Juliani pigs would have to be approved by planning and zoning on a case-by-case basis.
Commissioner Mark Hopkins made a motion to allow all animals going through therapy service training to live in the city. Hopkins said this would help owners of nontraditional pets in the process of therapy training to keep their pets without allowing all residents to keep miniature pigs in the city.
The revised amendment will be brought back to the planning and zoning commission in one month.
The Juliani pig is a rare miniature pig breed that ranges from 25 to 35 pounds. Meyers said her family bought the pig, Pepper, for her two youngest children, Heidi and Blake. Heidi and Blake are allergic to cats and dogs, so the Juliani pig was a hypoallergenic alternative.
When Meyers moved to St. Charles from Lake St. Louis two years ago, she was unaware that residents are not allowed to keep miniature pigs as pets.
Kerrie Meyers' said Pepper will be trained as an emotional support animal for her children, which recognizes the pig under the American's with Disabilities Act.
"Not only is Pepper loving and emotionally supportive to our own children who have had difficulty dealing with their parents divorce, he will be able to offer emotional support to other members of the community and will have his first visit next month at a local nursing home to brighten the residents' day."
Meyers said Charlevoix Health Care Center, a nursing home on Boonslick Road, has agreed to let Pepper visit to complete his therapy pet certification training.
Meyers said she wants to keep Pepper legally while he is still in training. City Councilman Tom Besselman, Ward 2, spoke in support of Meyers’ pig.
“There were extremely different circumstances,” Besselman said. “When she (Meyers) started talking about the therapy that the dog does now and the service...that’s it.”
Besselman also said Meyers does not have any neighbors who oppose the pig because Meyers lives next to a graveyard.
The proposed amendment to the ordinance would allow households to keep one Juliani pig as long as they applied for a conditional use permit for the pig. Some commission members opposed the amendment because then all Juliani pigs would have to be approved by planning and zoning on a case-by-case basis.
Commissioner Mark Hopkins made a motion to allow all animals going through therapy service training to live in the city. Hopkins said this would help owners of nontraditional pets in the process of therapy training to keep their pets without allowing all residents to keep miniature pigs in the city.
The revised amendment will be brought back to the planning and zoning commission in one month.