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Sessio~ 1495, ~ Page 3 May 15, 1989 citizen c~,~L~_nts regazding the 1989-90 City budget. He said all re~arks f~ this b~a~ing, as well as the one held May 1st, will be considered by the Coun- cil over the next fe~ weeks as f_he budget process continues. Mayor Majerus opened the public hearing at 7:38 p.m. Mr. John D. Kerr, 6939 Pershir~, and Mr. Richard Berg, 7103 Waterman, chairman and past chairman, re~ively, of the Municipal C~u,.~ssion on Arts and Let- %ers, asked to address the Council. Mr. Kerr said Council already received the C~,u~ssion's request for a ~x~dest budget fL~,L the city to aid it in per- foisting the duties assigned to it. He read a pYepared statement detailing why the C~,m.~ssion felt it was important that its request be granted. Mrs. Thomp- son wished to know how the C~Ldssion had secured seed money in the past for its projects. Mr. Berg said one exa~ple w-ds the state grant obtained for the recent cooperative project with the Washington University Fine Arts Depart- ment, wherein s~ents were selected to provide public sculpture for the. com- munity and were re~ for their e~penses. Mr. Alex Feldman, 1233 Backer, asked t_hat the l~peaker system in the Coun- cil chamber be improved. Seoond, he suggested that the recent study by Devel- opment Strat~z3ies underl, ined the need for a~{tional housing inspectors, and he proposed that there be at least four part-time, or two full-time, inspect- ors. ~nird, he suggested that TIF funds of perhaps $100,000 be used to adver- tise the possibilities of a w~ll-run TIF program, and also perhaps to buy up small pak~els on Olive Street Road with a view toward providing bigger tracts for large businesses or other users. Mr. Ron Coleman, 7120 Amherst, re~resenting Unitog Rental Services at 6200 Olive, spoke on behalf of a number of residents who want to see imprOVements made in Eas~te Park. He read frcm a list of suggestions which he left with the city Clerk so that copies may be provided to Council. He noted that he had a second list signed by 91 residents who were volunteering to help in the cleanup and ongoing main~_nance of the park. He also suggested that the City might wish to purchase the lot ~t of the park in order to expand the recrea- tion area. He said Unitog will pay the electric bill for the existing lights 'and for any n~w lights installed by the City, and also the quarterly w~'ter bill if the City sees fit to make at l~.~t sc~e of the improvements that resi- dents want. He said Unitog's interest is in keeping up the neighborhood, he believed the condition of Unitog's property reflected this view. Mr. Wag- ner o~m~nded Mr. Coleman on his civic-mindedness. In response to Mrs. Thomp- son, Mr. Ollendorff said Eastgats park w~s built about 15 years ago, and it was on the list to be refurbished next year. Mr. A~ams also c~,,~nded Unitog for its willingness to work with the city, and said they were setting a good exan~le for other bus/nesses. Mr. Ollendorff said that Unitog's facility was one of the nicest and-best landscaped in University City. Mr. Coleman said he was very proud of the Unitcg plant and would lik~ to offer a tour to any coun- cilmember who was interested. Ms. Joan Botwinick, 511 Westview Drive, a representative of A~equate Housing for Missourians, wished to make some suggestions regarding the University city Hom~ Improve~_nt Loan Prowk~am. She said if people are going to continue to be attracted to University city, every neighborhood must be maintained in good