Politics & Government
Dardenne Prairie Aldermen Up Advertising for Prairie Day, Move Forward With Security Cameras
The board discussed an offer by Westplex 100.7FM for radio ads for Prairie Day and received a cost estimate on city hall and park security cameras.
At Wednesday’s Dardenne Prairie Board of Aldermen workshop, the board discussed hiring Westplex 100.7 FM out of Moscow Mills to help advertise for this year’s Prairie Day celebration.
Westplex offered to play on-air ads prior to the event and broadcast live from Prairie Day to the tune of $450. Mayor Pam Fogarty said that in the past, the city has spent only about $100 on advertising for Prairie Day. Most of the board members agreed that the city needs the publicity.
Ward 3 Alderman Michael Conroy said the city is in competition with neighboring cities who host popular festivals every year. Lake Saint Louis has its and St. Peters has .
“We just want to draw a bigger crowd,” Conroy said before Wednesday’s board meeting. “We are up against a lot of things and I think that if we got more advertising we’d get more people here.”
The board decided to hire Westplex in addition to the city’s own advertising for the event.
Conroy said the city hopes events like Prairie Day will put Dardenne Prairie on the map. "When I first moved here, 13 years ago or something like that, half the people thought they were in O’Fallon. You go to a store and give them our zip code and it comes up O’Fallon," Conroy said. "It just bothers me."
Prairie Day will be on Saturday, September 17th. Admission is free.
Though local restaurants will be opening concession stands, only sales from the city concession stands will go to fund the new city hall park.
Board Moves Forward With Security Cameras
The Dardenne Prairie Board of Aldermen approved about $12,000 to install at the city hall and the new city park.
14 cameras will be placed to protect the city hall building and the park area from vandalism. At a , Mayor Fogarty said the cameras could also be used as a public safety tool to catch other crimes on tape.
Before the board meeting, City Administrator Brad Turvey said the city will only look at the tapes if a crime has been reported.
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“There is a computer monitor by the DVRs, so if there is an incident, we could go back to every time we know something happened,” Turvey said. “We can back it up and review the recordings.”
Turvey said the board will most likely approve the money for the cameras at the next Board of Aldermen meeting.