Board of Aldermen Regular Meeting

DRAFT MINUTES BOARD OF ALDERMEN Meeting Minutes OCTOBER 12, 2020 7:00 PM 1 GOVERNMENT CTR. BALLWIN, MO 63011 THE MINUTES ARE PREPARED IN SUMMARY TO REFLECT THE OVERALL DISCUSSIONS, NOT VERBATIM QUOTES. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Pogue at 7:06 p.m. ROLL CALL Present Absent Mayor Tim Pogue Alderman Mike Utt Alderman Michael Finley Alderman Kevin M. Roach Alderman Mark Stallmann Alderman Frank Fleming Alderman Jim Leahy Alderman Ross Bullington Alderman Raymond Kerlagon City Administrator Eric Sterman City Attorney Robert Jones MINUTES The Minutes from the September 28, 2020, Board of Aldermen meeting were submitted for approval. A motion was made by Alderman Fleming and seconded by Alderman Stallmann to approve the minutes as amended from the September 28, 2020 Board of Aldermen meeting. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion passed. The minutes from the September 28, 2020, Board of Aldermen closed meeting were submitted for approval. A motion was made by Alderman Fleming and seconded by Alderman Bullington to approve the minutes from the September 28, 2020 Board of Aldermen closed meeting. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion passed. City of Ballwin- Board of Aldermen Meeting Minutes DRAFT OCTOBER 12, 2020 1  DRAFT MINUTES BOARD OF ALDERMEN Meeting Minutes OCTOBER 12, 2020 7:00 PM 1 GOVERNMENT CTR. BALLWIN, MO 63011 CITIZEN COMMENTS________________________________________________________ Wally Cammarata, 651 Tanglewilde in Claywood subdivision, addressed the Board. He is concerned about the truck traffic in his neighborhood and would like the Board to consider putting “No Truck Route” signage at his subdivision entrance. He states drivers are using this area to avoid stop lights and the concern will be greater once the new service station opens on Henry. Mayor Pogue stated Alderman Fleming sent an email to the Board and also recognized subdivision trustee Paul Hampton who was in attendance. Alderman Roach asked what the cut through street is; Mr. Cammarata replied Bitterfield. Alderman Leahy stated that this is a short entryway and big vehicles would take wide turns which would be difficult, so he doesn’t see why the signage isn’t put up. Mr. Cammarata further explained how the streets are set when entering the subdivision. Drivers use Bitterfield as it is easier access to Henry. Additionally, there are nearly 1000 cars that use this area on a regular daily basis, avoiding Manchester and 141. Mr. Cammarata also shared that Woodsmill subdivision, just to their north, has no truck route signs posted. Alderman Fleming stated, for the sake of consistency, it makes sense as there are three ways to get into Ballwin from 141; Dutch Mill and Milldale are already covered. A motion was made by Alderman Fleming and seconded by Alderman Roach to draft legislation for a “No Truck Route” sign at the entrance of Claywood subdivision. A voice vote was taken with unanimous affirmative result and the motion passed. CONSENT ITEMS____________________________________________________________ ADMINISTRATION – Ballwin Life Magazine Staff recommends awarding the 2021 Ballwin Life Magazine contract to the low bidder, Messenger Print Group. Discussion: Mayor Pogue asked City Administrator Sterman to explain why there is a change in paper thickness for the magazine. Mr. Sterman shared that we have updated our mailing list and there is significantly more copies to be mailed out. The change in paper thickness will offset the costs of mailing/postage. Marketing and Communications Specialist Kennedy Robinson noted there will be no change to the style/finish of the magazine. A motion was made by Alderman Roach and seconded by Alderman Utt to accept the staff recommendation. A voice vote was taken with unanimous affirmative result and the motion passed. City of Ballwin- Board of Aldermen Meeting Minutes DRAFT OCTOBER 12, 2020 2  DRAFT MINUTES BOARD OF ALDERMEN Meeting Minutes OCTOBER 12, 2020 7:00 PM 1 GOVERNMENT CTR. BALLWIN, MO 63011 ADMINISTRATION/IT – Replacement File Server Staff recommends purchasing a replacement server to replace the existing five-year old server in production at the Police Department. Discussion: Alderman Roach stated he is happy to see improvements for the IT department. A motion was made by Alderman Roach and seconded by Alderman Utt to accept the staff recommendation. A voice vote was taken with unanimous affirmative result and the motion passed. ADMINISTRATION/POLICE – Voice Recorder-Police Department Staff recommends purchasing a new voice recording system for the Police Department to replace the current analog-only system which has reached its end of life. Discussion: None A motion was made by Alderman Roach and seconded by Alderman Utt to accept the staff recommendation. A voice vote was taken with unanimous affirmative result and the motion passed. MAYOR’S REPORT__________________________________________________________ Mayor Pogue shared that the City has been approved for CARES act funding. He thanked staff who worked very hard to get this funding request put through. Alderman Fleming asked that when the summary is sent to the Board, to please explain how the funding will be disbursed within City funds. City Administrator Sterman explained the reimbursement is for public safety costs already incurred, starting in March. CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT___________________________________________________ Nothing to report. City of Ballwin- Board of Aldermen Meeting Minutes DRAFT OCTOBER 12, 2020 3  DRAFT MINUTES BOARD OF ALDERMEN Meeting Minutes OCTOBER 12, 2020 7:00 PM 1 GOVERNMENT CTR. BALLWIN, MO 63011 CITY ATTORNEY’S REPORT_________________________________________________ City Attorney Jones reported that Aldermen Fleming and Roach had asked for his thoughts on possibly amending the City’s process for approving telecommunications towers. He stated that, in reviewing our code, there is a section containing prohibitive language we could not enforce anyway regarding engineering requirements such as height, structural strength, signal interference etc., which were prohibited by federal law from inquiring into. This needs to be removed from Section 7.6. He also shared there is framework set up where certain telecommunications towers are permitted uses, typically collocation or replacements, attached to existing buildings and camouflaged or an electrical transmission tower. Another option is an administrative permit which Public Works can authorize; this is basically disguised support structures in other than residential areas. Everything else requires a special use exception (SUE). He suggested moving telecommunications towers such as the one just reviewed into the administrative permit authorization section as long as it’s in a zoning class other than residential. Alderman Roach asked Mr. Jones to clarify a residential district. Mr. Jones stated if the property where the tower is located is zoned residentially, we would follow the SUE process. Alderman Roach stated he thinks the larger impact is the proximity to land that is zoned residential as in the case of tower just considered is what causes the public concern. Mayor Pogue asked Mr. Jones if there is the option of modeling something similar to the SUE process, whether solely for cell towers, but maybe not following the exact language between state and federal laws and what our SUE requirements are. Mr. Jones replied we could take those factors out of what is considered when approving an SUE and instead just track the language of the Missouri state statute. We could have a similar kind of process with public hearing and legislation and take that language out of our standard SUE qualifications. Alderman Roach stated that, for Ballwin homeowners and residents, we should have a process to make sure we are exercising all of our rights as a municipality under state/federal law; he does not want to create a process that makes it easier for applications to go through without oversight. Mr. Jones replied that, as discussed, the City really doesn’t have much control and if the concern is that streamlining the process is making it easier, then maybe there should be no change. Alderman Roach feels that filing the application and having it handled administratively is a lot easier than several hearing before various boards. Alderman Fleming shared his appreciation to Mr. Jones for reviewing the process and stated his concern in handling via SUE is that the public reads the requirements and feel the neighborhood is affected and they don’t understand why the application is still approved; he further talked about having to explain state/federal laws and how they relate. He sees three options based on what Mr. Jones said: keep with the SUE process but amend language to have a strong disclaimer stating not withstanding state/federal guidelines, the administrative process or Mayor Pogue’s suggestion of something especially written for the process. Alderman Fleming feels the administrative process would alleviate his concern of the public not understanding the SUE process. Alderman Stallmann agreed that we need simplification of our process. Our current ordinance gives the public the City of Ballwin- Board of Aldermen Meeting Minutes DRAFT OCTOBER 12, 2020 4  DRAFT MINUTES BOARD OF ALDERMEN Meeting Minutes OCTOBER 12, 2020 7:00 PM 1 GOVERNMENT CTR. BALLWIN, MO 63011 impression that we have the authority to do something which is contrary to the state/federal laws which override the City’s authority. Mr. Jones stated the current trend has been to go to the administrative approval process at least in commercial zoning districts. As far as historic or residential districts, most cities are maintaining whatever process they had in place. Alderman Roach asked Mr. Jones if there has been any test of a municipality’s authority under the new law. Mr. Jones stated the only case he could find was in University City and it wasn’t really dealt with head on, so it is safe to say there has been no challenge. Alderman Roach stated that it is safe to say the exact boundary where municipal authority ends has not yet been defined. Mr. Jones replied not by Missouri state courts, though there have been federal decisions made. Alderman Roach asked if it is possible to have an SUE process which allows us to not attest to characteristics that don’t apply. Mr. Jones replied we could not call that an SUE; it would instead have to be something like a special permitting process. Alderman Roach feels the SUE language puts the Board in a position where they have to attest to things that are not true because of the way it’s written. Mr. Jones stated we could have something as simple as saying not inconsistent with state/federal law, there are these findings. Alderman Fleming stated that would be something similar to the disclaimer option he described. Alderman Roach asked Mr. Jones if there would need to be a motion to remove clauses in our code which he had mentioned earlier. Mr. Jones stated there would need to be a motion to prepare legislation to remove the analysis section which was prohibited by state statute passed just months after we passed our ordinance. Alderman Roach asked which section; Mr. Jones replied that it is the last paragraph of 7.6-6. We would substitute language in that the petitioner would say there is no other adequate location within the search frame. A motion was made by Alderman Finley and seconded by Alderman Bullington to allow the City Attorney to draft legislation to make the recommended changes. A voice vote was taken with unanimous affirmative result and the motion passed. Alderman Fleming stated he would recommend the administrative process which removes all language the public gets confused by. He also stated he would like to address this issue in the future. City of Ballwin- Board of Aldermen Meeting Minutes DRAFT OCTOBER 12, 2020 5  DRAFT MINUTES BOARD OF ALDERMEN Meeting Minutes OCTOBER 12, 2020 7:00 PM 1 GOVERNMENT CTR. BALLWIN, MO 63011 ALDERMANIC COMMENTS__________________________________________________ None A motion was made by Alderman Fleming and seconded by Alderman Finley to adjourn. The motion was passed by unanimous affirmative voice vote and the meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. ______________________________ TIM POGUE, MAYOR ATTEST: ____________________________________ POLLY MOORE, CITY CLERK City of Ballwin- Board of Aldermen Meeting Minutes DRAFT OCTOBER 12, 2020 6