The Oct. 17 Grantwood Village Board of Trustees meeting was unlike any it has ever held. For the first time, guests of the meeting were able to communicate in an open dialogue with the trustees through a public forum where they discussed issues in the village, easing everyone’s mind in the larger-than-normal crowd of attendees.

The Grantwood Village Board of Trustees meetings are typically pretty cut and dry, focusing mainly on business that has occurred since the previous meeting. For the most part, the only voices heard are the ones of the elected officials, though guests are allowed to speak for a short period of allotted time during the “Villager’s comments” portion of the meeting. This has a catch though: only the guests are allowed to speak. Even if someone directly asks the board a question, the members do not respond. If a resident wants their question answered, they are expected to stay after the meeting is adjourned and have a one-on-one conversation off the record with one of the trustees, a method of communication most villagers deem ineffective.

This format has rubbed many residents of the village the wrong way, especially due to the fact that there are various items of maintenance throughout the neighborhood that have seemingly been ignored by the board in the eyes of several villagers. Additionally, some people believe there is a “lack of transparency” from the board that is only furthered by not addressing issues publicly.

“Overall, I think the residents tend to get frustrated with this board. I think they think the communication could be better, more thorough. Significant repairs throughout the neighborhood could be done more efficiently and in a more timely manner than they have been,” Grantwood Village resident Christine Mago said. “These are items of public safety, they’re items of infrastructure, they’re items that keep our neighborhood beautiful, they keep our neighborhood marketable, they keep our houses selling efficiently, they keep our values high. So from a homeowner standpoint and a neighborhood standpoint, we want Grantwood Village to stay beautiful…and some items of disrepair are starting to pile up. We are starting to get a little concerned that these items of maintenance need to be handled.”

Due to this frustration, over 20 residents attended the recent meeting, double – or even triple – the typical amount of usual attendees. Many asked the board important questions during “Villager’s comments” only to be met with silence. This led to many urging the board for some sort of public forum.

“As much as we appreciate all of your efforts ​​regarding painting the speed bumps and having the county inspector come in and compost piles and beehives, we have a monument that’s been down for over a year. We have sinkholes in people’s properties, we have drains from MSD (Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District) that do not drain – that flood across the streets, that run into people’s basements. We have streets in disrepair for seven, eight years. It seems like we would like some information and some feedback as to what the status of these things are,” Mago said to the board.

After going around the room to make sure each guest who wanted to speak was heard, the board moved to adjourn the meeting. Then Kevin Kelso, the board chairman, said something unexpected, shocking the entire room:

“Now, we’re not going to argue. I’m gonna go through you guys one at a time and one person’s going to speak at a time, otherwise, we’ll close the meeting. I’ll let Officer Emir (Hadzic) escort everybody out, and the meeting will be over.”

The long-awaited public forum at last began. The residents and trustees engaged in an hour-and-a-half-long, productive and clarifying conversation about much needed street repairs, MSD and stormwater infrastructure issues and the beloved monument that used to stand at the front of the neighborhood that has been down for almost a year.

The conversation, though at first a bit tense, seemed to benefit both the guests and the trustees, finally getting everyone on the same page. It was such a positive experience, in fact, that the board announced it will continue this format at its next meetings if time permits.

“Given the positive feedback received, we will be continuing this format, as time allows, at future meetings. We always encourage resident attendance at the monthly meetings and hearing from them directly via the meetings, emailed and phone correspondence,” Jennie Sloss, Grantwood Village clerk, said in a statement following the meeting.

Additionally, Kelso told the villagers that he would try to get a meeting set up with the board, MSD and villagers who are interested to open a dialogue on what is being done about the storm drains in the neighborhood that need to be repaired. This was the main talking point amongst residents, so this pleased the crowd.

“These are things that we would love to know more about, we’d like to be more educated about it. I mean, we’re taxpayers, we live here,” Mago said. “This is one of the best neighborhoods I’ve ever lived in as far as the people and the neighborhood and the neighbors. It’s a great place to live. We appreciate the board and all their efforts. We really, really do. I think just when things begin to pile up and no one really hears anything about it, we start to get a little bit concerned.”