PRESENT: Glenda Bolin, Paul Brockmeyer, Bob Copeland, Tim Hooten, Joyce Johnston, Rick Ritter, Marvin Rodenbaugh, Rose Mack, Chris McAmis, Dave Monahan, Ken Orf, Susan Marie Prouty, Dave Schaper, Larry Shroth, Peggy Alexander, Ray Alexander

Guests: Reverend Harry Kishpaugh - Pastor, Shiloh United Methodist Church

President Larry Shroth opened the meeting at 12:05 p.m.

Introductions around the table.

Minutes: June 1, 2005 - Approved.

Treasurer's Report: Paul Brockmeyer - Approved as presented.

City Report: Keith Nelson was absent. President Larry reported that there was a meeting of the City Administration and Developers held at the Alliance Sewer Service office on July 12th. Mike Dooley, new Project Coordinator for McBride and Sons Builder's Liberty Project, was in attendance. They are working on modification and re-design of Liberty. It will have a Victorian theme. Construction will begin around the Post Office. Grading is scheduled to start in the fall, and building to begin in the spring. Water and sewer will be serviced by Duckett Creek. Cuivre River will supply the electric service and Ameren will supply the natural gas. The new waste treatment facility should be operable by July of 2006. T.R. Hughes was present at the meeting also. He has 183 acres in the Foristell area, which he will start developing soon. The Kienstra property of approximately 500 acres is also ready for development. Tom Johnson has land on Cotton Road on which he plans to build 600 units. There should be a lot of rooftops in the Foristell area next year.

Larry also reported that Troy is the 97th fastest growing town in the U.S. according a recent newspaper article. They had established a tax district and were receiving funds from the State for financial assistance. Recently they repealed the tax district, which means that they will no longer receive funds. MODOT had approved $10,000,000 for assistance to Troy for needed highway improvements, but with the repeal of the tax district, these funds will not be awarded. The funds will be awarded to another town to the west. Maybe Foristell will be fortunate enough to receive some of the money. Troy turned down an opportunity to construct a Rec-Plex larger than the one in St. Peters, which could have been built without an increase in taxes. They could have used funds returned from bonds used for the county jail construction.

Current Business: Report on the Safety Break which was held on July 1, 2005 at the east bound Rest Stop on Highway 70 just west of Wright City in lieu of our regular meeting.
Rose Mack said that she talked to a variety of travelers from across the country and that they were very surprised and appreciative that we were there serving refreshments at no charge. The MODOT employees that maintain the Rest Stop were a great help and were glad that we were there. They are looking forward to having us back next year. They will help us with signage if we let them know what we want ahead of time. We might even get a lighted sign. Thanks to Norman Rodenbaugh from Costco for donating bottled water and for the discount prices on the food and soda. Thanks also to all who helped with the project. We fed approximately 250 people. Leftovers were donated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Larry passed out a brochure from the Warren County Fine Arts Council listing free concerts they are sponsoring at Innsbrook this summer. Last year we gave them a donation to help defray the cost of the concerts. We voted to donate $100.00 this year.

Chris McAmis reminded us that Chamber members receive a free listing on the Chamber web site. For those members that do not have a web site, Chris can design one for $300.00. He suggested that the City give him information on current issues so he can put them on our web site

New Business: The Wentzville School District will be celebrating the opening of two new schools. One is Prairie View Elementary School at Fiese and Hanley in O'Fallon. The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Kick Off Cook Out will be held on Monday August 15th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The second school is the Frontier Middle School at 9233 Highway DD in O'Fallon. The Ribbon Cutting and Open House will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on August 21st. A light lunch will be served and you will be able to tour the building.

Students are in need of school supplies. We discussed making donations. They need pencils, book bags, glue sticks, etc. Municipalities are offering tax - free purchasing from State taxes this weekend of August 5th and 6th. It was suggested that now is a good time to purchase. Paul Brockmeyer suggested that we wait until after school starts and coordinate with the schools to see exactly what is needed. He volunteered to contact them. He suggested working through Marvin Rodenbaugh with Costco, and Kim Henson with Office Max to see what kind of discounts we can receive for purchases. Rick Ritter's wife is involved with the Wentzville School Board. He will check with her to see if she can help coordinate what is needed.

Announcements: Chris McAmis announced that Tracker Design is moving into a new facility next week on the north service road of Highway 70 at 2317 Markoe Ave, Wentzville. The business has outgrown his home office. Congratulations Chris.

Marvin Rodenbaugh invited the Chamber members to a Business Trade Fair at Costco in St. Peters on August 7th. Come in and see the new products and services available from local businesses. Starting time is 9:30 a.m.

Ameren is offering $250.00 Power Up Teacher Grants totaling $150,000 directly to individual classroom teachers who can use the grants for various school supplies. They may register on Ameren's web site at www.ameren.com

The St. Charles Economic Development Center is offering a workshop entitled "Experience Economy" with Joe Pine of Strategic Horizons who is a business strategist. It will be held at the St. Peters City Centre at One St. Peters Centre Blvd. On August 10th from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Cost of the seminar is $35.00 per person. Friday, August 5th is the deadline for registration. Call Amy Gordon at 636-441-6880 Ext. 222.

Operation Clean Stream is a project sponsored by the Missouri Conservation Department and Home Depot to clean up creeks in the Wentzville and adjoining municipalities. It will be held on Saturday morning October 22nd. Contact Larry Shroth at 636-639-8211 for more information. He and Frank Eggering participated in the clean up a couple of years ago.

Tim Hooten who is the President of the Kiwanis Club of West St. Charles County, and one of our members, invited us to attend Kiwanis meetings at the Wentzville Holiday Inn on Thursdays at noon. They are sponsoring an Adult/Youth Golf Tournament on Sunday, September 18th at Pheasant Run Golf Course 3465 Highway K, O'Fallon, MO. Registration is at 11:00 a.m., Shot - gun starts at 2:00 p.m. and Dinner at 6:00 p.m. Funds to benefit Kiwanis Youth Programs. Sponsorships are available. Contact James M. Roe at 636-358-8414 if you are interested.

The Western Division of the St. Charles League of Chambers will meet at Culpeppers in St. Peters at noon on August 5th. All members are invited to attend.

The St. Charles League of Chambers Picnic was canceled this year because of beer distribution problems. The Annual League Luncheon, which is a fund raiser to help cover the cost of members going to Jefferson City for Legislative Day, will be held on November 8th at the Old Hickory Country Club in St. Charles at 11:30 a.m. Actual cost has not been determined yet, but it should be $15.00 or $20.00 per person. This year's guest speaker may be Governor Matt Blunt. More information later. We have had representation from our Chamber in the past. The lunch is usually good and it is an excellent time to network with other Chambers.

President Larry asked us to think about what we can do as a Chamber to enhance the Foristell business community, and what type of programs we would like to see in the future. One suggestion was to have the new District Superintendent of the Wright City Schools give a presentation. Another was to have Business Leaders, Developers, and Bob Krismer, the Chairman of the Board of Election Commissioners present a program.

Our next meeting will be held on September 7th at 12:00 noon At Ruggeri's Ristorante in Wentzville. It was decided to put a poll on our web site to decide if we will continue to meet at Ruggeri's at noon on the first Wednesday of the month, or if there is another a date and time which is better for everyone. Meeting time and location will be posted on the web site. E- mails will be sent and post cards mailed to those not having e- mail.
Minutes of the previous meeting will also be printed on the web site.

No further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.