City Council - Regular Meetings

Exhibit A  Exhibit B Nakazono, Katie From: Dave Buck <dave@buckstl.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 10:49 AM To: Laura W. Arnold; Pam Bliss; Alexander, Karen; Richardson, Sarah; Emily Hixson Shepherd; David Franklin; Emerson Smith; Peoples, Marie; Peterson, Eric; njbatty@aol.com; Nakazono, Katie; Starkey, Jenny; Perry, Mara; Davis, Scott; Rehg, Todd; Curtis, Dale; Perks, Greg; Ellis, Brett; Bainter, Gary Cc: Jaime Mowers; Kevin Murphy; Randy Drilingas; websterjournal@gmail.com; Arnold Stricker; Mark Langston; Jeff Smith; Annie T; Chris Redford; john ahearnstudio.com; Jamie Hasemeier; ccoyne@stlcc.edu; Lexie O'Brien; info@thehubbicyclecompany.com; Holland Saltsman; Shop Descendant; Pincus, Michael J.; Gerry Welch; Kathy Hart; Toni Hunt; Sebastian Bellomo; Jeanne Kirkton; Bill Newhouse; Karen Beck Subject: Dave Buck's "Remarks from the Community & Visitors" at WG City Council Regular Meeting, Tuesday Evening, August 1, 2023 Caution: This is an External Message ‐ Please be cautious when opening links or attachments “During Remarks In your mee ng two weeks ago, I asked a ques on regarding where City Council stands on the possible slogan, “City of the Arts”, and I want to thank, Laura, for mee ng with me in‐person last week to discuss. Regarding the future of the Aqua c Center, for years our family were ac ve recrea onal users of the center, plus my kids were members of the Webster Waves compe ve summer swim team, then later coached the Waves, and also worked as lifeguards and assistant pool managers. As a 23‐year resident of Webster Groves, I am 100% on the side of Councilmember, Sarah Richardson’s “ALL IN” posi on and her strong view that the center is loved and used by many in our community and, over its 30 year span to date, has become a top civic strength, equity and asset. As such, Council should commit to full replacement of the pool, etc. AND install the new lap pool encloser to permit year‐round indoor swimming, swim lessons, swim meets, etc. As Pam knows, a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to give a short talk to the Webster Groves‐Shrewsbury‐Rock Hill Chamber of 1 Commerce on the subject of crea ve thinking. As such, to complement your previous Council work session discussion, I would ask you to turn the clock back 30 years, to 1993. At that point, Webster Groves and other St. Louis County ci es had their own standard municipal swimming pools. These pools were uniformly rectangular in shape, usually with lane line markers in the bo om, and some mes with a one meter diving board and diving well. This was the classic, conven onal & accepted pool design at the me. I have no idea who specifically led the charge, but the city leaders in Webster Groves at the me had the vision to take a risk and embrace a new, radical and truly innova ve idea for our area: not just an ordinary swimming pool, but a fun WATER PARK, that combined a conven onal swimming pool with a fun theme park. And thus was born what is known today as our AQUATIC CENTER! My point is that this new revolu onary idea did not exist anywhere else in the area. Our city leaders had no market research, no data, no numbers to back‐up their decision or make comparisons, etc. As such, to me, they greenlighted the project because THEY BELIEVED IN THE POWER OF IDEA, THEY BELIEVED THAT IT WOULD PROVIDE A BIG BENEFIT TO THE COMMUNITY and THEY BELIEVED IN THEMSELVES & TRUSTED THEIR OWN JUDGMENT so much, it was well‐worth taking the RISK to make it a reality. Stated differently, they built our Aqua c Center on faith, not on budget ra onale. And the rest, as they say, is history that has provided 30 years of fun, recrea on and financial benefit as a gemstone of our community. Finally, just last year, 80% of our community voted overwhelmingly to approve the WG School District’s Prop S, the $45 million no tax increase bond issue to totally tear‐out the en re Moss Field sports complex 2 star ng this September and construct an all‐new wonderful, modern and dynamic new complex for the School District and en re community to use and enjoy. The need for the full replacement of the Aqua c Center is totally consistent with this effort and will gain widespread community support, without a doubt. I am but one, but I am ONE!!!! And this one resident votes for full replacement AND the new pool enclosure for indoor and year‐round use!!!” PEACE. Dave 3