Board of Aldermen

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING OF MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2016 AT 200 HIGHLANDS BOULEVARD DRIVE 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor David L. Willson called the Regular Board of Aldermen meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL AND STATEMENT OF QUORUM Roll call showed those present were Alderman Clement, Alderman Stevens, Alderman Hamill, Alderman Ottenad, Alderman Baumann, Alderman Diehl, Mayor Willson and Attorney Gunn. A quorum was present. 3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES a. Minutes of the Public Hearing of Monday, December 5, 2016 regarding a Special Use Permit Request for a semi-private indoor sports facility at 14290 Manchester Road Alderman Clement made the motion to approve the Minutes of the Public Hearing of Monday, December 5, 2016 regarding a Special Use Permit Request for a semi-private indoor sports facility at 14290 Manchester Road. The motion was seconded by Alderman Ottenad and carried unanimously, without objections. b. Minutes of the Regular Board of Aldermen meeting of Monday, December 5, 2016 Alderman Clement made the motion to approve the Minutes of the Regular Board of Aldermen meeting of Monday, December 5, 2016. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried unanimously, without objections. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF ORDER OF ITEMS ON THE AGENDA Alderman Hamill made the motion to accept the Order of Items on the Agenda as submitted. The motion was seconded by Alderman Clement and carried unanimously, without objection Regular Board of Aldermen 12/19/2016 Page 1 5. CONSIDERATION OF PETITIONS AND COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC a. Comments from the Public Mr. Chris Winters, 510 Cardinal Lane, read the following statement: “I’ve made and just delivered copies of this comment to your City Clerk and our local media. If you would like a personal copy please see the City Clerk, because I’ve paid enough for copies lately. Over the past couple of months I have been volunteering my time with a couple of City functions. I’ve been listening and talking with several Manchester City employees, other municipal City employees, my own observations, requesting Sunshine information and investigating things over the internet. I am surprised as to some of the information I have come up with and would like to share some of this with you. Upon a request for public information according to the Sunshine Act, I received a letter from Mrs. Ruth Baker informing me that I could not get any records or minutes information for my request of the August 29, 2016 Executive Session. I was told these documents are closed and not available for public inspection. So much for transparency. I was asked to put a down payment of $150 for a Sunshine Request. Most of what I received was useless but I did find a few items of interest. First of all let’s go into what I will call “the feeder” information: Of several local surrounding municipalities…. We are “Bottom” feeders (as it was so eloquently put by an alderman) of: employee health insurance and other benefits Employee Salaries – across the board We are “Middle of the Road” feeders of: City’s overall budget Employee auto liability, general and workman’s comp insurance. We are “Top” Feeders: In citizen population Utility tax rate – one of the lowest Residential and personal property tax – one of the lowest Budgeted money for storm water projects Of 13 neighboring municipal board members compensation, our Mayor comes in second, in which, I thoroughly believe is just because I see him at EVERY Manchester function that I attend. Our alderman came in at the 4th highest paid in which I see some of you folks at Manchester functions but some, not at all. I would like to point out some of my own observations: Alderman Clement – it seems like you couldn’t have your way with the Arts program – not Regular Board of Aldermen 12/19/2016 Page 2 only did you want to take the ball away, you wanted to remove the entire field. Committees such as this cannot make their own approvals of how they spend the City’s budgeted money. A publicized letter concerning this situation has insulted our Mayor. That is not right as he is far from being the one to blame. Obviously two (2) other Alderman thought it necessary to get rid of the Arts program as well. The “I’ll get you back” attitude needs to go away. Alderman Ottenad – You are upset and take offense of a fellow alderman commenting on “how could we let this happen”. That’s a darn good question if you ask me. He has every right to speak up and you have every right to be offended. But I think it is really offensive that you tell employees and/or their immediate family when they are at a level of hard times “that you gotta do what you gotta do”. In a way that seemed spiteful. Alderman Stevens – your comment walking into the last meeting noticing employees in the audience, “We gave them back their insurance…. what do they want now” struck a nerve with a few people. This is a public meeting and they have every right to be here. Are you going to hold that against them? Alderman Hamill – According to your last election platform, you state that you saved the City of Manchester $200,000 in insurance costs. According to SLAIT’s three (3) tier premium rate increases over the past two (2) years, as compared to the insurance you brought forth, even if we were to remain in the bottom feeder tier, as you put it, of the price percentage increase, you actually only saved the City approximately $40,000. If we had fallen into the middle tier, which is quite possible, you would have actually cost the City money. This figure will also be dwindling due to the fact of other unforeseen costs due to the police officers that will join the armed forces that we will pay the overtime for other officers to work their shifts. Officers that find other employment will create more city expense to equip each new officer at a cost of $2500 and additional cost in the time to train new officers. I would say you are unable to use this as a platform for the next election because you really haven’t saved the City much of anything. There are a number of emails that include back and forth communication between Beattie and Associates personnel, Andy Hixson, Dave Tuberty, and for some reason, you are the only Alderman carbon copied, seemingly making you involved. Also you seem to be much deeper in the negotiation process of the City’s Health Insurance than a typical alderman would pursue. I’ve spoken with several other municipal alderman, City administrators and councilpersons and they do not get involved with administration issues as deep as you do. In fact it’s deep enough that you’re personally receiving emails from “BoBo 11” concerning the insurance issue. “ BoBo 11” sure seems like a friendlier way to sign off on his emails to a specific alderman than that alderman merely suggesting or referring Mr. Beattie of Beattie and Associates to represent the City as their insurance broker. If you would have abstained from the voting of the insurance, this may not have become of suspicious nature with the thought of a conflict of interest. With this email from Mr. Beattie and with your return emails highlighting your signature is your law firm’s general ending statement, which I’m fairly certain has brought your firm under the umbrella of this Sunshine Act request. There is a Manchester ordinance from 1979 which states “Interference is prohibited except Regular Board of Aldermen 12/19/2016 Page 3 when conducting, either directly or indirectly, a proper investigation into matters that affect the City, no member of the Board of Aldermen shall directly interfere with the conduct of any department of the City or with its duties of officers and employees of the City except at the express direction of the Board of Aldermen.” I’m certain most of you will say you gave Alderman Hamill express direction concerning this endeavor without thinking of potential repercussions. We will possibly cross that road. Our City employees definitely have the motivation to do a good job in their positions. They need to make a living to support their family and, preferably do something they enjoy doing. Salary isn’t everything when you enjoy your work. But their morale has been cut off at the knees and that is going to cost us if they decide NOT to go the extra mile to do a great job or leave their jobs for other employment. I’ve been approached to be on a task force to determine new methods of creating revenue streams for the General Fund to support City personnel salaries and benefits. I would be happy to serve on that committee. But I can’t quite figure out why you need a volunteer committee to accomplish this. You folks have also achieved getting another Administrator to find other employment. You all Micro Manage everything to the point that people don’t want to work for or with you. But you’re not the boss here. You are to represent your constituents, not administer, CEO or CFO City business. There are too many Chiefs and not enough Indians in this circle. There seems to be less and less respect in the world these days and you folks are doing a fine job contributing. So during this Holiday season while you’re drinking your Eggnog and watching the Grinch and Scrooge on TV, ask yourself, “Would I personally like to be treated like I am treating Manchester City employees”? We’re all in this together. Together we can make this a better community. So how about we just try to work together to do so. If you think I’m an employee plant, you are wrong. I am a concerned citizen. If want to take this out on somebody take it out on me, not a Manchester employee or anyone else. Alderman Ottenad asked if a response had been made to a speaker who had asked at the last meeting about the deer situation. City Administrator Hixson answered that it would be done. 6. REPORTS FROM THE MAYOR a. Mayoral Report Mayor Willson reported that on December 6, Director Bob Ruck and he attended a meeting at the Metropolitan Sewer District where Clean Stream, stormwater runoff, and Project Clear were discussed. He said they have a program set up, but it will be down the road a few years, and it will be very costly to fix this. Mayor Willson stated that also that day, there was a scout meeting at St. Joseph’s, and he had been invited to lead a session on municipal government. Regular Board of Aldermen 12/19/2016 Page 4  Mayor Willson reported that on December 8, there was a meeting with Davey Tree and they talked about having a tree Ordinance; they also discussed the Emerald Ash Borer. He said it was a very productive meeting with staff and Alderman Clement and Alderman Ottenad there. It will take some time to work this out, but it is going to be a very interesting program. The Mayor reported that on December 11, he joined his friends who were giving away Christmas trees for Veterans at Eagle Bank on that Sunday afternoon. He said all together, there were 300 Christmas trees, and some of them went to the St. Patrick Center, but there were 125 trees that were given away at Eagle Bank. He stated that it was a real eye opener when you see the Veterans living in their cars and they haven’t had a Christmas tree in five (5) years. He said the Kaufman Fund (Wayne Kaufman, President), with Irwin Loiterstein, Al Finkelstein and Howard Berliner, gives away these trees for Veterans. At the Employee Awards luncheon recently, Irwin happened to be there with a couple of his friends, so he introduced Irwin to the employees and explained to the employees what the program is. This event will likely take place again next year at Eagle Bank, and Mayor Willson stated he would ask if some City employees and elected officials might be available to help. He said it is really a nice event. Mayor Willson reported that on December 12, he attended the Lafayette Industries Christmas Concert; Alderman Clement, Alderman Ottenad, City Administrator Hixson and Kat Douglas were all there for the program; there were a lot of people. He said the evening consisted of the Arts Show, the concert, and the bell choir; it was a fun evening. He said this event makes you appreciate what those people do and how much fun they have. The Mayor stated that on December 14, there was a scout meeting at Pierremont School regarding municipal government. He said what is interesting is that when he asks if there are any questions, the parents often are the ones asking the questions. Mayor Willson reported that on December 15, he attended the luncheon for Senior Citizens in the City of Manchester. He stated that Alderman Clement, Alderman Baumann, and Alderman Ottenad and some staff members were also in attendance. He stated that the presentation from the Carmen Trails Choir keeps getting better; there are 52 participants in it now. He said it was a great program, food was good, and everyone enjoyed it. He advised that there were about 20 or more new people there. Mayor Willson spoke about the Employee Awards Luncheon on December 16, and stated he appreciated the employees coming. He mentioned that Director of Public Works Bob Ruck was recognized for his 45 years of service with Manchester, and Detective Sergeant Dan Rehm was recognized for 20 years of service, in addition to other anniversary recognitions. He said there were also shooting awards and attendance gifts; it was a nice event. Mayor Willson wished everyone a Merry Christmas, and advised that the next meeting will be in January. He stated that this is Andy Hixson’s last meeting as City Administrator; he said he enjoyed having him here for over four years; he is a real nice guy, and Mayor Willson wished him well as he goes on to his next endeavor. Resumes will be collected, and he will start interviewing the first of next year. 7. REPORTS FROM THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR Regular Board of Aldermen 12/19/2016 Page 5  City Administrator Hixson stated that he has enjoyed tenure here and working with everybody. He said he has accomplished one of the most rewarding things in his career with Lafayette Industries, and he will miss everyone. a. List of Paid Bills (Warrant dates of December 4 – December 17, 2016) There were no questions. 8. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES a. Planning and Zoning Commission Alderman Clement stated that he was not at the last meeting; he was at Lafayette Industries. He stated that there were two cases, one was a Special Use Permit for a massage therapist at a site in Stonegate Center, and the Planning and Zoning Commission gave their recommendation for approval; the second case was a zoning text amendment –which had quite a bit of discussion, and was deferred for some tweaks. He said it will likely be on the Agenda for the next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. b. Manchester Arts Alderman Stevens stated they are developing plans for next year. The artwork presently on display will be up until February. New activities for next year are being planned. 9. ACTION ON OLD BILLS a. SUBSTITUTE BILL # 16-2286 - AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A SEMI-PRIVATE INDOOR SPORTS FACILITY AT 14290 MANCHESTER ROAD Alderman Ottenad read for the second time, Substitute Bill # 16-2286, entitled: “AN ORDINANCE CREATING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT AND GRANTING THE SAME TO, WC TRAINING PARTNERS, LLC TO OPERATE A SEMI-PRIVATE INDOOR SPORTS FACILITY LOCATED AT 14290 MANCHESTER ROAD, AS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 405.240(C)(5)(b) OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER”, by title only. Alderman Ottenad made the motion that Substitute Bill # 16-2286 become Ordinance # 16- 2170. The motion was seconded by Alderman Clement. A poll of the Board showed: Alderman Hamill – aye Alderman Diehl - aye Alderman Baumann - aye Alderman Ottenad - aye Alderman Clement - aye Alderman Stevens – aye Regular Board of Aldermen 12/19/2016 Page 6  Mayor Willson stated that the motion carried, with no objections from the Board. b. BILL # 16-2287 - AN ORDINANCE APPROVING PLAT FOR LAUREL OAKS SUBDIVISION Alderman Hamill read for the second time, Bill # 16-2287, entitled: “AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE SUBDIVISION OF A PARCEL OF PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT “A” ATTACHED HERETO AND COMMONLY KNOWN AS 1187 BIG BEND ROAD IN THE CITY OF MANCHESTER, MISSOURI”, by title only. Alderman Hamill made the motion that Bill # 16-2287 become Ordinance # 16-2171. The motion was seconded by Alderman Clement. A poll of the Board showed: Alderman Diehl - aye Alderman Baumann - aye Alderman Ottenad - aye Alderman Clement - aye Alderman Stevens - aye Alderman Hamill – aye Mayor Willson stated that the motion carried, with no objections from the Board. c. BILL # 16-2288 - AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING INSTALLATION OF ONE FIRE HYDRANT IN THE LAUREL OAK MANOR SUBDIVISION Alderman Hamill read for the second time Bill # 16-2288, entitled: “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING MISSOURI AMERICAN WATER COMPANY TO INSTALL ONE FIRE HYDRANT WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER, MISSOURI”, by title only. Alderman Hamill made the motion that Bill # 16-2288 become Ordinance # 16-2172. The motion was seconded by Alderman Clement. A poll of the Board showed: Alderman Baumann - aye Alderman Ottenad - aye Alderman Clement - aye Alderman Stevens - aye Alderman Hamill - aye Alderman Diehl – aye Mayor Willson stated that the motion carried, with no objections from the Board. 10. INTRODUCTION OF NEW BILLS a. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING PURCHASE OF PATROL CARS Regular Board of Aldermen 12/19/2016 Page 7  Alderman Baumann introduced Resolution # 16-0578, entitled: “A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE BID OF LOU FUSZ FORD, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-SIX THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY-ONE DOLLARS ($136,741.00) FOR THE PURCHASE OF FIVE (5) 2017 FORD POLICE INTERCEPTOR UTILITY VEHICLES AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER TO ISSUE A PURCHASE ORDER THEREFOR”, by title only. There being no questions, Alderman Baumann made the motion for approval of Resolution # 16-0578. The motion was seconded by Alderman Clement and carried unanimously, with no objections from the Board. b. RESOLUTION APPROVING A CONTRACT FOR CERTAIN BUILDING CLEANING SERVICES FOR CITY HALL AND THE POLICE FACILITY Alderman Stevens introduced Resolution # 16-0579, entitled: “A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH JANI-KING OF ST. LOUIS, INC. IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED TWENTY-ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR DOLLARS ($21,564.00) FOR CERTAIN BUILDING CLEANING SERVICES AT THE MANCHESTER CITY HALL AND POLICE/COURT BUILDINGS FOR THE YEAR 2017”, by title only. Alderman Stevens made the motion for approval of Resolution # 16-0579. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried unanimously, with no objections from the Board. c. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING SIGN INSTALLATION REGARDING RESTRICTED PARKING IN CERTAIN PLACES WITHOUT A STICKER Alderman Diehl introduced Resolution # 16-0580, entitled: “A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE INSTALLATION OF SIGNS BY THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS RESTRICTING PARKING AT CERTAIN PLACES AT CERTAIN TIMES IN THE CITY OF MANCHESTER EXCEPT WITH A STICKER”, by title only. Alderman Clement asked if Exhibit “A” is what the new restrictions are going to, or whether that is what they are. Director of Public Works Bob Ruck explained that those are the new restrictions. He also had and showed information of the original restrictions which all reflected different time zones. He said the only one that is not changing is the time restriction of 7 – 11 that was posted and requested by the subdivision by the Parkway South soccer field. All the other areas have been compromised. He said almost all of this was in place as inherited from St. Louis County, and there was a variety of times posted in that area. He said this is all being consolidated down to one time restriction, except for the one in Big Bend Woods. Alderman Diehl made the motion for approval of Resolution # 16-0580. The motion was seconded simultaneously by Alderman Clement and Alderman Ottenad and carried unanimously, without objection. 11. MISCELLANEOUS Regular Board of Aldermen 12/19/2016 Page 8  a. Comments from the Public Alderman Rich Baumann said he wanted to second what the Mayor said about thanking Andy for his service and wishing Andy good luck. Also, Alderman Baumann stated that Lieutenant Lancey and he went out last week and handed out some gift cards that were collected from the Trivia Night last spring. He said there was some really good, positive feedback from the community. He said he caught some people who needed some help, helped an elderly person into the car with some groceries, and gave out gift cards. Mayor Willson stated that the next Board of Aldermen meeting will be Tuesday, January 3, 2017. 13. ADJOURNMENT At 7:32 p.m., there being no further business, Alderman Clement made the motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried unanimously, without objection. The meeting adjourned at 7:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ruth E. Baker, MMC/MPCC City Clerk Note: This is a journal of the Board of Aldermen meeting December 19, 2016 (summary); not a verbatim transcript. If a recording of the meeting is desired, please contact City Hall. Regular Board of Aldermen 12/19/2016 Page 9