Chesterfield City Council Honors Citizen of the Year

She brought food to volunteers and kept lines of communication open during the flood of 1993. She's built the into the more than 900-member organization it is today. To many present at Monday's Chesterfield City Council meeting, she is one of the city's gems.

Joan Schmelig, the president of the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce, was named the city's 2010 citizen of the year.

"I am just very, very privileged—and I mean it from the bottom of my heart—to live, work and play here in Chesterfield," Schmeling said after accepting the award from Acting Mayor Barry Flachsbart. 

Several people came forward to thank Schmeling for her service to the city. They highlighted her involvement in the flood of 1993 and her work with the chamber throughout the city's history.

"She's always been wonderful; she's always doing things for other people," said Paul Dillender, former Chesterfield Police Officer and current candidate for the Ward 4 city council seat. "Everyone understands (the chamber) is one of the best in the Midwest. That's because of her work." Dillender recounted how Schmeling brought food to the workers during the 1993 flood.

Former councilman and current mayoral candidate Dan Hurt also highlighted her work in the flood. "You were the main communicator in the 1993 flood, and you were watching that thing come up and go down and warning everybody," Hurt said. "You probably saved a lot of property. And for those of us that went through that, we want to thank you."

State Rep. Tim Jones, R-Eureka, presented Schmelig with a state proclamation honoring her work in Chesterfield and thanked her for helping him become "one of Chesterfield's adopted sons." Jones is an attorney with the Chesterfield firm Doster Ullom. 

City Administrator Michael Herring also thanked Schmelig for her work for the city.

"I met Joan about 23 years ago, I think, when I first started sniffing around Chesterfield," Herring said. "She was then and still is the big dog in town, and I was smart enough to realize that." Herring said Schmeling has always worked in partnership with the city. "You walk the walk and talk the talk, and you do it tirelessly and without reservation." 

In other action, city council:

• thanked Ward 2 councilman Lee Erickson for his service on the council. Erickson is not running for re-election on April 5. He has been on the council since 2007. Erickson presided over the meeting, which was his last full council meeting.
• approved a zoning ordinance that allows for three more multi-family homes in the Schoettler Village Apartments development at 15480 Elk Ridge Lane. Before the ordinance was passed, zoning laws allowed for 300 multi-family units and 260 single-family units in an area that includes the subdivisions of West Ridge Estates, Schoettler Valley Estates and Bridle Creek. Currently 253 single-family units have been built. The amended ordinance passed Monday night will subtract the additional three multi-family unites from the seven unbuilt single-family units.
• reappointed Doris Frazier to the city's Human Rights Committee. Frazier is currently the only member of that committee, which works to prevent or eliminate discriminating housing practices according to the city's website.
• approved a bid for construction of Eberwein Park. Kuesel Excavating will begin the construction, which is estimated to cost no more than $690,000. The park should be opened by late summer, Mike Geisel, the city's head of Parks and Recreation, said at the council's agenda review meeting.
• approved Kustom Signals Inc.'s bid of no more than $82,730 to install 13 in-car cameras in the city's police cars. Police Chief Ray Johnson said the in-car camera system will be replaced in its entirety. "The system we went with was operated through the in-car computer system, which was fraught with problems from day one and has necessitated additional equipment because of outages and down time," Johnson said at the council's agenda review meeting. Previously, the police force had 18 in-car cameras, but Johnson said the department won't lose any functionality because this system is more dependable and the police force is now smaller due to layoffs.
• approved a sound system for the amphitheater in Central Park at a cost of no more than $32,500. Tech Electronics Inc. will install the system, which Geisel said should last about 10 years.
• approved the replacement of a brush chipper at a cost of $41,750 and a 1-ton truck with a plow and spreader at a cost of $50,189.
• approved liquor licenses for the city to sell alcohol at the amphitheater in and at the F Quad at the .
• approved a rezoning request for a tract of land at Old Chesterfield Road and Santa Maria Drive from an industrial district to an urban core district
• approved the installation of a fire hydrant at 16682 Baxter Road.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Joan Schmeling's name as of 10:11 a.m. March 22.