Good morning.

We'll start today's housing urban development and zoning committee meetings.

Call into order.

Madam Clerk, please call the order.

Altami Conn.

Aldo Woman Sweitzer.

Present.

Aldo Woman Keys.

Auto Woman Sonier.

President.

Altaman Browning.

Alderman Aldridge.

Present.

Chair Clark Hubbard.

Here.

Alder Woman Keys.

Altam and Browning.

We have five present.

We have a quorum.

All right.

With that out of the motion to approve the minutes from Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026.

So move.

So move.

Second.

So move.

It was moved by vice chairs by executive by Adam and Adjust that we approve the minutes from Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026.

Madam Clerk, please call the row.

Altum and Cone.

Aye.

Alder Woman Swisser.

Aye.

Auto Woman Keys.

Vice Chair Sonier.

Aye.

Alderman Browning.

Altum and Aldridge.

Aye.

Chair Clark Halbert.

Aye.

Aldo Woman Keys.

Alderman Browning.

We have five I votes.

All right.

With that, we successfully approve the minutes from Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026.

Adam and Aldridge, you're recognized on Board Bill 168.

Thank you, Madam Chair, woman, and members of the HUDS Committee.

Today I wanted to present to you all Board Bill sixty-eight, which is amending a current uh petition uh for a CID in the boundaries of the uh soccer uh stadium.

Uh this passed several years ago where the soccer stadium kind of have their own SID, and only thing we're doing is just uh amending it and changing the boundaries just a little bit.

When we did, or when the CID was originally passed in the past, it included the garage that is located at Olive and 20th Street, but the stairs of the garage is left out.

So we just want to uh amend it to complete a full package of the boundaries that we're looking at.

And today with me I have uh Miss Courtney from uh the CDSC that will talk about a little bit more of the reason to extend uh these boundaries and amend the currency if uh she can be able to come up as my expert speaker.

Courtney, can you raise your right hand swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

Or tell the truth.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

You can state your name and your title and then forth.

My name is Courtney Miller.

I'm the director of public engagement for St.

Louis City SC.

So thank you, Alderman, for having us here today to talk a little bit about the soccer stadium STID.

It was uh passed in 2020, right before the stadium sort of broke ground.

The idea was to be able to recover some of the investment cost for infrastructure that the stadium was investing in the district.

So Energizer Park in the surrounding district, it's about 32 acres, is privately owned and operated, and currently the district has invested about $667 million into the stadium, the training facilities, the the training, um, the training pitches, the front office, all the different areas, but also the tunnel that went underneath Market Street, sidewalks all along the district, lighting upgrades, sewer upgrades, and other types of investments that we put into the neighborhood and surrounding district.

So the SID was a way for us in order to, as a public a privately funded project to be able to recover some of the infrastructure cost.

And during the time when it was created, there were a few gaps in the the city that was created.

One was our front office headquarters was not built yet, so that was not included.

So the the amendment includes the front office.

It also includes a sort of donut hole that you can see in the board bill.

Um I also have copies of the old version, if anyone would like to see.

There's an excluded parcel that was actually a parking lot that was partially owned by Anthem at the time, and so before it was purchased and able to be included into the district.

So that was excluded from the SID and is actually inside the stadium.

So we would like to add that back in.

And then we have added a part of Aloe Park West, and we included that is because we have a cooperative agreement with Allo Park and the Parks Department in order to help maintain upgrade and improve Alo Park West as part of being a good neighbor to that area.

We know that sometimes we have events such as Bizdash, Greater St.

Louis Marathon, some of our larger matches where the overflow can end up in Allah Park.

And so that allows the SID, adding in Allah Park allows us to use those funds in order for security, trash pickup, and other types of upgrades.

There's no revenue that is taken from the park for that.

It's just allows us to use these funds in order to help upgrade Allo Park.

So that was in the spirit of the cooperative agreement that was passed between the team and the parks department.

I've copies of that as well, if anyone take a look.

But basically, um we've invested about 15 million dollars so far in the surrounding investments and continue to look at different ways in which we can be a really strong neighbor in downtown West and continue to improve, encourage redevelopment, try to, you know, make it a vibrant neighborhood and be invested in what we're doing.

I know that we've talked up here many times, but we're a soccer team that was created basically to be part of the community and to help lift up civic pride and use sports as an investment in our community because it's a huge sports town, it's a huge soccer town, and there's a lot of things we can do together using the platform of sports.

And this is just a continuation of that basically that was not able to be completed in 2020 because we didn't have all the pieces together, such as our front office, and and very excited, you know, excited and hopeful that we can continue to complete the CID and uh you know continue to do the good work we're doing in the city.

And I can certainly answer any questions um regarding that.

So thank you so much.

Absolutely.

Okay.

Um, Madam Clark, are there any public comments signed up for Board Bill 168?

Yes.

We have Mr.

Conley.

Okay.

Well, we'll do Ms.

Miller is go ahead and take the public comment, and then we'll start with questions to bring you an Ottoman Aldridge back up.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Would you like to see the copy of the previous of the existing SID?

If you can share with the clerk and she can put it in our draft.

Thank you.

Mr.

Conley.

Raise your right hand, sorry to say the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Yes, I do.

Please proceed.

Thank you.

Um, Madam Chair, uh, members of the committee, thanks for the opportunity to speak on Board Bill 168.

Um, I have a neutral position on this particular bill regarding the boundary adjustments.

Um informational, I think we've got so many incentives led on this uh particular stadium.

We've got the tax abatement, which is the highest value.

We've got um the TDD, I believe, this SID, and then the port authority is in the process of uh they took a step this morning, Alderman Cohen was at the meeting as the commissioner uh representing Board of Alderman.

Um they've now approved an amended petition, and that's gonna set in motion um creating this port improvement district, which will also levy an additional one percent.

So your beer and food at the stadium are gonna get even more expensive.

And that particular taxing district is governed by the current port authority.

So the city's port authority commission will govern it.

And one of the things I'm concerned about with that is the transparency and the posting of meetings.

Um we have Mr.

Spikeman here who's the counsel to SLDC who works for Gilmore Bell.

I don't think we have anyone from the SLDC staff here.

Correct me.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

And you know, SODC has this position of not being involved in taxing districts.

So if there's a SID or a TDD hearing, they're not in the room.

Well, just you know, a couple of blocks down the street, they were you know heavily involved this morning in facilitating this board improvement district.

Um I testified there as the owning person, the transparency for that district in terms of a notification.

Is lousy and with three minutes to speak at that hearing.

I didn't have time to explain all the nuances about why it's so difficult to find out about those hearings.

Um my recommendation on on this particular um bill here is to increase the representation of the city.

I believe there may be one city representative, but I'm not sure.

Uh, but I really feel that the Board of A should each have a representative, so someone from the, you know, pointed through the Board of Alderman, someone through the controller, someone through the mayor.

So I just think it's you know a poor practice to have the owner slash developer uh control the district.

Um I'd like to, I'm wondering if you can upload to the civic clerk drive later the the old map because it's been a very convoluted process with the port district.

Apparently state law doesn't permit the port district to spend funds in a public area, so the allot plaza is excluded from or will be excluded from that.

And this hearing this morning, it's like the third time in the last four years they've tried to establish this port district.

So given that it's four years on, it really makes me wonder why they need a new one in addition to the two that exist already.

So those are my comments.

If you have any questions for me, I'd be happy to answer them.

We'll try.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

And there were no speakers online, Madam Claire.

We have no.

Okay.

Ms.

Miller, Mr.

Aldrich, before we go, did you all want to respond to any of the comments?

Um the information, like if you want to find about the soccer stadium, it is online.

I pulled the the map from online from the city's website.

So all that information is available there too.

The port authority, part of the reason why that is is because there was a spring discovered underneath the stadium land when we're constructing that pumps a large amount of water that needed to be treated and cleaned throughout the uh as part of that.

So the port authority is part of that effort in order to handle what was otherwise a pretty unexpected thing, but um pretty common for the city of St.

Louis to have large springs that are not there.

So um, but yes, thank you.

Appreciate all the public comment on that.

And I can there's any other questions that can answer that as well.

Thank you.

Adam McCall.

Uh I believe you mentioned uh the site was all privately owned, which of course Aloe Plaza West is not privately owned.

You have to come court.

Yeah, you have to come to the microphone.

No, I'm sorry, the pri the stadium is privately owned and operated.

But the CID, no, that also includes Allo Park, which is city property.

Aloe Park West.

Oh, the Park West.

Yeah, I just need to be clear about that.

Uh so uh and the CID, as proposed, wouldn't now incorporate Aloe Plaza, which is east of Alo Plaza West.

So just to be clear with folks, Alo Plaza West is the area where on the south side of the stadium, there's the entry feature, the walkway, and also now the memorial to Mill Creek Valley.

Um this extension of the SID would go eastward to include the actual Aloe Plaza.

Correct.

The western, yeah, the western part of Aloe Plaza, the part that is where we typically will see sometimes fans and other folks will be across because typically, as part of our fan experience, we shut down 20th Street.

And so there's fans can kind of hang around and they hang out in Luffy's Plaza, and we're right next door to Aloe Plaza.

So it'll enables us to be able to put down trash cans, add additional security, just make sure that that area gets cleaned up.

And we had an issue when after a CONCAF match where we had there was extra trash, and the parks department had concerns about that.

And so this is part of our answer to the parks department to say, yes, we are looking very proactively at how we're going to be good responsible stewards of what happens as part of our events.

And this is a way for us to you know be able to continue that on.

And of course, uh SIDS are not legally allowed to supplant city services.

So you would be augmenting the correct, yes.

This would be additional by the parks department.

Additional trash pickup and security as coordinated with the parks department.

I'm just wanting to make sure that you all have clearly communicated that to the parks department that they are not they still have an obligation to do their bare minimum that they are probably doing over there now, cutting grass, picking up trash, whatever you all do is above and beyond whatever their minimal requirement is to maintain those parks, which of course is very minimal.

So I just want to make sure that you all are communicating that expectation to the parks department as well.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

We've like I said, we've we know that sometimes when we have events, that does affect the parks, and so we want to be able to provide extra services during those events, especially with big things like the Olympics and other types of large-scale events we want to have.

We want to make sure that we are very much looking after some of these, you know, our neighbors and making sure that these things are looked at and taken care of ahead of time.

And then uh can you refresh my memory?

What is the revenue?

Is it yearly sales tax, or is it also uh any type of real estate tax?

Sales and use tax, you know.

Sales and use tax okay.

Uh so this is essentially revenue that's generated within the boundaries of the stadium exclusively that will then be betterment of the area around it.

Um the folks that are attending games are the ones that are paying that sales tax.

Uh and likely are also the ones that are using the uh Alo Plaza East.

I'll call it just for you know clarity purposes, but uh I think that that covers the uh majority of my questions here.

Uh I've sorry, I've this is the second time I'm now hearing this.

I was on the port authority and got to listen to uh Mr.

Connolly's concerns earlier and uh the folks from uh the uh soccer stadium uh legal team were there as well.

Um I think that that concludes my questions, Madam Chair, but I appreciate you all being here.

Uh you all uh you know, obviously add additional flavor and color uh to our community.

And uh I have many friends that really enjoy going to the stadium and look forward to the many events and activities that'll be hosted there as well.

And you know, frankly, you know, thank you for picking up where the city isn't able to provide services and you know, keeping those city parks clean.

Uh you know, obviously this is SIDS are taxpayer money as well, so and should be used for the public benefit, whether that's infrastructure, you know, safety, security, or cleanliness.

Um thank you uh for your presentation and time this morning.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

Alta Miss Weisser.

Thank you so much for being here and for the presentation.

Uh several months ago now you all you gave me a tour of the soccer stadium, especially around the the waste management side of that, and I just enjoyed that greatly.

It's so great to see what you all are doing with waste management within the soccer stadium.

I thought I learned a lot, and it was just really interesting.

We had zero waste last year too.

So what's that?

We had zero waste last year, so nine ninety percent of all waste was diverted during all of our match days last year.

It was our goal.

So we were very excited about it.

So that's in it's incredible, and I appreciate that.

And you all are a leader in that space, so thank you for that work.

Um against uh single-site SIDs.

I have issues with um, you know, a board of directors that's using tax money that is all uh a private company.

Um, but because this is amending the boundaries and not creating a new one, um, I'm going to vote in favor of it today.

So thank you for your time and and for what you're doing in the community.

Thank you.

Ottawa McKeith.

Thank you, madam chair.

Um, no questions, uh, but uh thank you all for the presentation.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

Vice Chair Saye.

Madam Clark, is the vice chair say still?

Yes, she's still online.

Oh, there you go.

I don't have any questions, madam chair.

All right, I don't have any questions either.

Thank you uh for everything for the presentation today for responding to some of the other information and congratulations on Azura Ways accomplishments.

It's great.

Absolutely.

Uh Altamir Aldrich, you're welcome to close.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, Madam Sharks.

Madam uh Chairwoman and members of the HUDs committee.

Um I think Ms.

Courtney laid it out very clearly.

Again, this is just extending the current um SID boundaries that did exist.

And you know, I just want to personally thank uh MLS and just how they've been a great partner to the city of St.

Louis.

You know, uh we know that the city is always um scrapped for resources and um, you know, uh services that we can provide anytime uh we can have good partners like MLS that is you know going above and beyond.

They have a lot of events.

We're looking very forward to the Olympics coming uh here in the future and to be able to just help out and supplement uh some of the the needs if it's infrastructure cleanliness in the park is always uh extremely helpful and great and appreciate not only Courtney but all the uh members of the MLS soccer stadium that continue to be uh a great partner, not just generate money uh here in the city, which benefits all of us, but also being a good partner uh to the city of St.

Louis.

I will be remiss if I do not go on record and just talk about even how intentional uh they have been with trying to uh and get younger uh folks involved into soccer who typically wouldn't know about soccer, like the many pitches that they have created uh in the 14th award and throughout the city and throughout St.

Louis County.

So with that, I would ask for a do pass uh recommendation and take a motion for uh due pass recommendation on Board Bill 168.

Madam Clerk, can you hear me as a co-sponsor to Board Bill 168?

So noted.

Thank you.

With that, I'll accept the motion for uh board bill 168.

I move that we pass Board Bill 168 out of committee with a due pass recommendation.

Second, it was moved by Alderman Cohn and seconded by Alderman Alders that we pass Board Bill 168 out with the due pass recommendation.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Alderman Cone.

Aye, Alder Woman Sweitzer.

Aye, Alder Woman Keys.

Okay, Vice Chair Sonier.

Aye Alderman Browning.

Alderman Aldrich.

Aye.

Audible Tara Clark Hubbard.

Aye.

What your vote was thank you.

We have six eye votes.

All right, congratulations that you successfully passed out Board Bill 168 with the due pass recommendation.

Do we have any resolutions for review?

We have none.

Are there any committee discussions?

We have none.

Is there any written testimony?

We have none.

Any announcements?

I would like to excuse Alderman Browning for necessary absence.

I move.

Second.

With that, I'll accept the motion to adjourn.

Second, you adjourn.

Previous role.

It was moved by Alderman Cohn, seconded by Alder Woman Sweiser with the call from the previous row that we adjourn with no objection.

We are adjourned.

Everyone have a blessed day.