Large concrete planters were installed today (Sept. 25) along a portion of Mill Street in an effort to improve safety for people walking to Main Street, City Administrator Happy Welch said.
Council members voted 5-1 on July 21 to pay Petersen Manufacturing $15,440 for 10 rectangular and 10 round planters, and today Festus employees installed 10 of them.
Seven rectangular and three round planters were placed in an approximate 140-foot stretch of Mill Street along the narrow sidewalk next to the Main & Mill Brewing Co., which is slated to open in the next two to three weeks, said co-owners Denny Foster and his father, Barry Foster.
The stretch of Mill Street where the planters were installed leads to Main Street.
“(The planters) are supposed to be for the safety of anyone walking down Mill Street to Main – to increase the pedestrian area,” Welch said. “They arrived a while ago and we finally had time to install them.”
He said city officials have not yet determined where to place the remaining 10 concrete planters, although several likely will be placed along Main Street.
Council members began looking at ways to improve safety along Mill Street after they got a request from the Fosters, who have been rehabbing the building at 240 E. Main Street so the Main & Mill Brewing Co. restaurant and microbrewery could be housed there.
The Fosters made that request not long after Jan. 15, when a driver traveling east on Main Street lost control and crashed through the building’s brick wall that faces Mill Street. Fortunately, workers on scaffolding inside the building were not hurt, but the incident underscored potential dangers at the busy intersection, they said.
The Fosters said they believe the planters will protect pedestrians.
“For sure, it’s definitely going to be safer,” Denny Foster said.
Ward 2 Councilman Tim Montgomery voted against buying the planters at the July 22 meeting, saying he felt city officials were showing favoritism to the Fosters and also questioning the cost of the purchase.
“So, we’re protecting one (business) in town?” Montgomery asked at the meeting.
Council members Gary Underwood and Paul Schaffer of Ward 1, Brian Wehner of Ward 2, Kevin Dennis of Ward 3 and Michael Cook of Ward 4 voted to buy the planters. Council members Bobby Venz of Ward 3 and Jim Tinnin of Ward 4 did not attend the meeting.
Councilmen who supported the measure said that particular stretch of Mill Street is a popular walkway for people visiting Main Street and the microbrewery could spark even more traffic to the area, so increasing safety there was a reasonable step to take.
“You have to spend money to make money sometimes,” Wehner said before the vote. “We’re spending money to benefit downtown.”
The Fosters bought the building, which dates back to the 1880s, in 2012 and have worked to restore it and open the microbrewery there ever since.
“We’re, like, 10 to 21 days out (from opening),” Denny Foster said today. “I say it like that because you never know how long it will take to get an occupancy permit.”