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Parents have recently attended St. Charles County Council meetings to express their anger and frustrations about COVID-19 mask mandates and quarantine policies of local school districts. Many blame the St. Charles County Public Health Department, but the department is required by state law to follow requirements set by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). It is also important to note that school districts, similarly, are regulated by the state (the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education), and County government has no regulatory authority over them. 

Some of the school districts also blame the County health department; however, the school districts are required to send the names of students who test positive or may have been in close contact with a student who tested positive for COVID to the County health department. The blame game goes on and on. Recently, DHSS has given some flexibility to county health departments and school districts to reduce or eliminate quarantine requirements for close contacts. Credit should be given to the St. Charles County Executive’s office for their efforts in encouraging DHSS to change the quarantine requirement. Thank you, County Executive Steve Ehlmann.  

The way I witnessed it, this is the truth of what's going on, folks.

Southwest St. Charles County is a jewel for the entire region. It is home to the oldest wine district in the country and is one of the largest with 67 wineries from St. Charles to Hermann, perched on the Missouri River bluff. With the wineries, unique shops, bed and breakfasts, parks, boating, and camping, it is a popular destination. 

With this popularity comes more commercial and residential development. And while development of all kinds can be good, we need to keep a close watch to make certain the beauty of this rural area isn’t lost.

Large corporations have purchased many of the well-established local wineries with the hopes of drawing more people to enjoy the beauty of the countryside. But often, drawing more people to an area can jeopardize the very thing that makes it so attractive.

In rural, agricultural areas, the majority of new housing development is on 3-5 acres. With the influx of people wanting to move to more rural areas, developers often want to build subdivisions on ¼-acre lots. The County’s requirement for five-acre minimum lots is what makes this area so attractive and beautiful and helps preserve the countryside, rural roads, trees and hillsides. While further development of the wineries and tourist options provides positives for St. Charles County, we also want to be sure to counter the growing demand for higher density residential development and stay true to the future land use goals of larger lot development in this area as outlined within our Master Plan.

Even in fast-growing counties, the rural way of life must be preserved so tourists, and most importantly, the people who live there can still enjoy what brought them there in the first place. St. Charles County must remain small town strong!

County government recently sent two mailers to all households in St. Charles County with information about the history and plans for the County’s ½-cent Transportation Sales Tax; one in December 2021 and one in March 2022. I hope you have had an opportunity to read them. I did, and I can tell you, I am impressed with how well that money has been managed. 

Did you know that if we hadn’t had this tax to contribute to important projects like Route 364/Page Avenue, the Gutermuth Road Interchange, and the Heritage Crossing Ramps, they wouldn’t be complete? And, that important projects like David Hoekel Parkway, Route K/I-70 Interchange and the Route 94 Widening might not even be in progress?

As you can see on the informational mailers, funding from this tax has been distributed equitably across the county. I’m pleased that each County Council member has been actively involved in making certain their district roads receive the funding necessary to complete important projects and thank the St. Charles County Road Board for doing the heavy lifting by evaluating and recommending projects for the Transportation Improvement Plan each year.

In District 1, the district I represent, these are some of the projects budgeted for 2022:

• Reconstruction and improvement of land configuration on Guthrie Road
• Construction of Phase 2D of David Hoekel Parkway
• Construction of Great Oaks Road Extension
• Improvements and reconstruction of Mexico Road from Josephville Road to Midland Park Drive
• Reconstruction of part of Peine Road
• Construction of US 61 West Outer Road Extension Phases 2, 2A and 3
• Reconstruction of Phase 3 of a section of West Meyer Road
• Reconstruction at West Pearce Boulevard and Meyer Road traffic
• Reconstruction on Josephville Road from Highway P south to Kersting Road
• Reconstruction of West Meyer Road from Highway W east to Duenke Road

As you read in this newsletter, reauthorization of this tax is up for your approval on the April 5 ballot. I encourage you to read up on all this tax is enabling us to do to improve the infrastructure of St. Charles County prior to making your decision how to vote.

I remember how our county roads used to be before the Transportation Improvement Plan program and enjoy the benefits from all the improvements. That is why I fully support the continuance of this small sales tax for our roads.