South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

As mayor, Konopka served Green Park residents well

We were sorry to learn last week that Green Park Mayor Tony Konopka submitted his resignation, effective immediately.

“Because of health reasons I feel that I can no longer perform the duties of mayor as I believe these duties should be performed,” Konopka wrote in an Aug. 21 letter to the Board of Aldermen and Zella Pope, city administrator/city clerk.

Konopka was elected to a third, two-year term as mayor in April 2011. He first was elected mayor in 2007 after serving four years as a Ward 2 alderman.

But Konopka’s involvement with the city goes back even further, as he previously served on the city’s Board of Adjustment and formerly was the city’s street commissioner.

Public service often is a thankless job, but we believe Konopka has served the city and its residents well in his various roles.

During his tenure as mayor, the city reconstructed Green Park Road, marking the completion of the project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in June.

For the project, a roughly 6,000-foot stretch of Green Park Road from Tesson Ferry Road to Lin Valle Drive was reconstructed. The road was widened with two extra feet of lanes on each side to make 12-foot lanes.

The completed project includes many amenities, including a new pedestrian pathway along the road’s north side, a right turn lane for northbound traffic from Green Park Road turning onto Tesson Ferry Road and new storm sewers, among other improvements.

Besides the road project, a new bridge on Green Park Road over Gravois Creek also was constructed during Konopka’s tenure as mayor.

The bridge opened last fall.

When he was elected mayor in 2007, Konopka did not waste any time in moving the city forward.

In fact, during his first two years in office, he accomplished more than his predecessor had in the previous six years.

And that progress has continued throughout his tenure as mayor.

In his resignation letter, Konopka wrote, “… With the present Board of Alderman and the excellent Green Park office staff, I know that I am leaving the city of Green Park in very good and capable hands.”

While that’s certainly true, we be-lieve Konopka will be sorely missed.

We applaud him for devoting so much of his time and efforts to the city of Green Park and its citizens.

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