Ladue OKs Fence Replacement Along Magnolia Lane

For 77 years, the City of Ladue has maintained what has been termed a mostly unstructured form of city government.

A City Clerk/Administrator works alongside the Mayor for the purposes of governing the City.

That could all change, based on the studies of the Governance Committee, chaired by long-time resident attorney John Sant.

The report of the Governance Committee recommends the city revert to a City Manager type of structure and at the same time considering reducing the number of volunteer boards which steers a host of city activities.  Currently, Ladue has some 27 committees, though most meet only on an as-needed basis.

Mayor Anthony Bommarito, who is stepping down the end of April looks at it this way. “This is not for me. I’ll be gone soon. This is for the employees of the city who work here.” he said.

Ladue has changed some personnel at the top recently. The new incoming fire chief is John Bailot of Olivette. Anne Lamitola recently came on board from Sunset Hills as Public Works Director. 

The Ladue Patch will have a complete report on the findings of the Governance Committee Thursday on Patch.

Council allows amendments to special use permits 

Meanwhile, the City Council was in the mood to provide special use permit changes and a variance request for two organizations and an individual.

Lou Tevlin, former television sportscaster, and an professional sports agent, who resides at 9 Magnolia Lane asked for a fence variance for his home. He is replacing a rusted out, falling down 36 inch chain link fence, installed around 1950. The council gave Tevlin a waiver to construct a white vinyl fence with stonework to close off the sides and back of his property.

Also, the Log Cabin Club and Old Warson Country Club received variance waivers on current projects.

General contractor Holt Tipton represented both clubs.

The Log Cabin Club is doing a small kitchen and storage area expansion within the footprint of the building.

Old Warson is constructing outdoor patio for dining and a small bar in a 2,850 square foot area,  located more than 300 feet from Old Warson Road.

Ladue’s Zoning & Planning Commission previously gave unanimous approval for both requests.

Thursday, look for the full report of the Governance Committee on the Ladue-Frontenac Patch.