January 9, 2026

Happy New Year! We are looking forward to a new year and new adventures. To begin 2026, we are welcoming our new City Administrator, Ms. Rachel St. Pierre. She will be taking over responsibilities to manage the operations and grants of the city. We look forward to her expertise and experience she will bring to the City of Bel-Nor.

BOA Meeting: The Board of Alderpersons meets every third Monday of the month. The meeting location is at City Hall, 8416 Natural Bridge Road, 63121. Meetings start at 7:30 pm. The next BOA meeting is Monday, January, 19th.

Tree Trims & Removals: Please note that crews will be in the area in January to remove and trim trees in the easements. Please allow them to work and give them plenty of room.

Emergency Training: Are you the person that runs towards emergencies to help others? We need you! 24:1 is hosting 9 weeks of emergency training beginning in late March. This will cover various topics on what to do as a community if a disaster hits. If you are interested in participating, please contact mayor@cityofbelnor.org.

Christmas Recycling: Don’t throw your old Christmas decorations in the trash.

Christmas lights can be recycled, but not in your curbside bin: Lights can be recycled at various Lowe’s, Earthbound Recycling, Scrap Mart, Spectrum E-Cycle, Wellston Scrap & Metal & Tilles Park.

Live Christmas Trees can be dropped off at Forest Park, O’Fallon Park or St. Louis Composting locations.

Library E-Reading: SLCL offers a variety of free eMedia to download or stream including books, audiobooks, magazines and more. Learn how to download free eMedia to your device with your library card at these upcoming online workshops.  Learn more.

Bel-Nor Tree Board Updates: During the 2025 planting season, 139 new street trees were planted throughout Bel-Nor - a new high water mark in the Tree Board’s undertaking to replenish our community’s renowned tree canopy. 

The Tree Board’s 2025 planting events added 85 street trees from April's Arbor Day kickoff to November's Thanksgiving Day of Service. An additional 25 trees have been installed within four of the city’s parks and gardens thanks to a grant awarded to the 24:1 Forestry Department. To cap the year, 29 new native trees were planted along Normandie Golf Course’s eastern edge, restoring the Normandy Drive tree tunnel. Through advocacy and planning with the 24:1 Forestry Department and in cooperation with the Normandie Golf Course, the Tree Board looks forward to additional promised tree plantings along St. Charles Rock Road and throughout the course in 2026.

With a new year, our maintenance calendar begins again and planning commences for the next planting season. In January, Rite-A-Way Tree Service will begin pruning and removing dead and dying limbs and trees as part of Bel-Nor’s annual safety initiatives. Winter is the safest time to prune trees and offers the best value for otherwise expensive removals. Twenty trees will be removed - all are marked with a large orange dot - and five additional trees will be pruned. Rite-A-Way of Cottleville won our 2026 contract in a competitive bidding process. If you require any trims or removals on your private property, contacting Rite-A-Way now for a potential removal in February may provide you with substantial discounts, as their crews will already be busy in Bel-Nor starting soon.

The Tree Board will also begin planning late winter trimming and mulching workshops and spring planting events during our first meeting of 2026 on Wednesday, February 18th. If you have a young tree that needs pruning or mulching or if you’ve been thinking about adding a new street tree to your tree lawn, email BelNorTreeBoard@gmail.com. Arbor Day - Friday, April 17th - will be your next opportunity to receive a new street tree. Our revised online request form will be live by March 1. 

Finally, the Tree Board wishes to thank Issa Doude for his service to the community as vacates his seat on the Tree Board to focus on personal and professional obligations, including the arrival of a new baby. We extend our thanks and congratulations to his wife Rachel and their entire family. 

If you’re interested in serving on the Tree Board, the mayor will soon be accepting applications to fill the vacancy. An online form will be made available to all residents as soon as possible. 

Thank you to our partners at Forest ReLeaf and the Missouri Department of Conservation for all of their support and leadership and thank you to all of the volunteers - including neighborhood photographer Jim O'Brien - who made 2025 such a productive planting year. We hope to see you soon at one of our workshops or events in 2026. 

If you have any questions, including general questions about trees, email BelNorTreeBoard@gmail.com.

Neighborhood Preservation: Can your address be seen at night? This visibility is crucial for numerous reasons, such as being a good neighbor, assisting emergency responders, and facilitating deliveries. There are various ways to achieve this, including the use of solar-powered address lights. Rest assured, these lights function effectively even beneath a tree canopy.

Neighborhood Safety: If you are heading out of town this winter, feel free to fill out a vacation form at City Hall and it will be forwarded to the police. Here are some additional tips for when you are out of town:

• Lock all doors and windows, including garages

• Don’t leave a spare key out, give it to a trusted neighbor

• Use timers for lights, TVs, and radios

• Unplug non-essential appliances

• Do a dance when you lock your door to leave, you won’t forget that you locked it

• Consider keypad or locks that are connected to apps, this way you can doublecheck that everything is locked.

Meetings & Reminders

Jan 19: BOA meeting, City Hall, 7:30 pm

Feb 16: BOA meeting, City Hall, 7:30 pm

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!