Board of Aldermen

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING OF TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19 , 2019 AT 200 HIGHLANDS BOULEVARD DRIVE 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Mike Clement 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 Huether, Alderman Nolte, Alderman Hamill, Alderman Ottenad, Alderman Baumann, Alderman Toben and Mayor Clement. A quorum was present. 3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: a. Minutes of the Regular Board of Aldermen meeting of Monday, February 4, 2019 Alderman Nolte made the motion to approve the Minutes of the Regular Board of Aldermen meeting of Monday, February 4, 2019. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried unanimously, without objection. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF ORDER OF ITEMS ON THE AGENDA Alderman Ottenad made the motion to approve the order of items on the agenda, as presented. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried 6 – 0, without objection. 5. CONSIDERATION OF PETITIONS AND COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC a. Comments from the Public There were none. Regular Board of Aldermen 02/19/2019 Page 1 6. REPORTS FROM THE MAYOR a. Recommendation of appointment of Juli K. Van Hook to the Audit and Finance Committee Alderman Hamill made the motion to approve the appointment of Juli K. Van Hook to the Audit and Finance Committee. The motion was seconded by Alderman Toben and carried 6 – 0, without objection. b. Recommendation of appointment of Peter W. Bitzer to the Audit and Finance Committee Alderman Ottenad made the motion to approve the appointment of Peter W. Bitzer to the Audit and Finance Committee. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried 6 – 0, without objection. c. Recommendation of appointment of Joseph D. Pohlman as a member of the Board of Adjustment Alderman Toben made the motion to approve the appointment of Joseph D. Pohlman to the Board of Adjustment. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried 6 – 0, without objection. d. Recommendation of appointment of Anne Altepeter as an alternate member of the Board of Adjustment Alderman Ottenad made the motion to approve the appointment of Anne Altepeter as an alternate member of the Board of Adjustment. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried 6 – 0, without objection. e. Recommendation of appointment of Nancy Miller to a three-year term of the Tree Board Alderman Nolte made the motion to approve the appointment of Nancy Miller to a three-year term of the Tree Board. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried 6 – 0, without objection. f. Discussion regarding St. Louis City and St. Louis County unification effort Mayor Clement discussed the unification effort. He said there is a lot of work at all levels of St. Louis County, all regions of the County, and also at the state level. We (the City) have been talking about what we need to do. He said he would be going through these steps that take us logically through where we are today and where we want to go. Mayor Clement said that the two primary agendas that are the most critical are (1.) To encourage the signing of the establishment Freeholder petition, and (2.) To inform residents about the consequences from a positive statewide vote to unify. Those are the two big challenges out there, and absolutely the first one out there is to get the signatures necessary Regular Board of Aldermen 02/19/2019 Page 2 to establish the freeholder board. He said the next steps which are going on at a broad level include working with other Mayors and City Administrators, Aldermen, Councilmembers, Police Chiefs, State Officials and Community Leaders. He stated that we need to be talking about the petition and looking at building networks between all of these. He said the people in the City of Manchester need to be informed. Mayor Clement stated the third step is that the Board of Aldermen needs to pass a resolution opposing the unification effort and supporting the creation of the Freeholders Board through the petition effort. That resolution is on the Agenda tonight. Mayor Clement stated the fourth step is the City needs to sponsor and host informational meetings during March and invite residents to attend and learn about the unification effort and its impact or what its impact might be on city services and community life. We would see these Informational meetings occur at a City venue with a presenter. Also, the presenter would be taking questions and encouraging those residents to sign the Freeholders Petition. The City needs to develop common shared interests and local points. He mentioned the letter that they are talking about that would also give communication about the informational meetings with residents and city groups. Right now that task has been given to City Administrator Perney. He said they are also talking with other communities that are a little ahead of us in their informational meetings. There is another meeting this evening in another community. Mayor Clement stated that he and City Administrator Perney do plan to attend the other meetings. Mayor Clement stated the fifth step is for them as a Board, to solicit signatures for the Freeholder Petition between now and Election Day. The letter that would go out to the community would inform the residents, and he thinks there would be a lot of desire to sign the Freeholder Petition. He said the Board that meets with the Community needs to reach out to trustees and community leaders. There are trustees meetings coming up in early March. We need to be seeking their help in the petition effort. Mayor Clement stated the sixth step would be to authorize the City Attorney and firm to do research from the Better Together proposal, the research which would be supplied to other cities and the cost would be shared with other cities. He said they think the City cost would be in the range $2,500 to $3,000. This research would address deadlines, procedures, and weakness and would give us a firmer legal basis in what we would say. Mayor Clement stated that he thinks these are the steps that we could really start on right now and we need to be moving briskly through the month of March. The original deadline that we heard from the Municipal League was mid-April. It may have been moved back a little bit because of the withdrawal of the petition from Better Together. But they really need to get out and go to work. He thinks that there are communities that are further ahead of us. Alderman Nolte said not everyone is better together. The worst part of Better Together is we losing our police force. He thinks that the police force is the most important. Mayor Clement said we would also lose public works and planning and zoning. Alderman Nolte stated that we are generally a safe community and our financial resources would be redirected to other areas and we would lose the safety that we have now. Regular Board of Aldermen 02/19/2019 Page 3  Alderman Ottenad asked if we know when the letters from the City would go out. Mayor Clement stated his own plan is to come to City Hall on Friday, and then they will set the dates for the informational meetings. For Manchester they see them as being two meetings for two hour blocks. Mayor Clement said he will draft a letter and have it to City Administrator Perney by Monday of next week. The consensus was to mail the letter first class. Mayor Clement stated that there will be four meetings over two or three weeks. Alderman Baumann stated that his concern, along with some residents, is that this is considered as a bail-out for the City of St. Louis. Mayor Clement said that he, along with City Administrator Perney and Alderman Huether, went to Jefferson City today to show support for a resolution for a vote for unification to be strictly for St. Louis City and St. Louis County. He said there was a large contingent of people there with the same perspective that Manchester has. There was a gentleman there from Better Together and there was also someone else who needed to testify as informational. Things are going on at the state level and he believes something will happen at St. Louis County that might show some division between the County members and the County Executive. Alderman Ottenad stated there was a Professor Terry Jones who was on the radio this morning speaking against this. He has put out an informational four-page letter. City Administrator Perney stated that they are still trying to piece everything together. Ms. Patti Carroll, 5 Leaside Court, Glan Tai Subdivision, said she wanted to let the public know this is a nonpartisan issue; people in both the City and the County are against it. Mayor Clement asked for a motion to approve authorization for the City Attorney to provide research as he outlined. Alderman Nolte made the motion to approve authorization for the City Attorney to provide research as Mayor Clement had outlined. The motion was seconded by Alderman Ottenad, and carried 6 – 0, without objection. Mayor Clement stated that there is a meeting Friday morning with the Lafayette Area Mayors’ Organization to discuss what our local cities are doing together. g. Mayoral Report Mayor Clement stated there was a really nasty ice storm this past Sunday, and he had some feedback from residents about police officers. He said he especially heard about Officer Nik Sampson from someone on Facebook, whereby there were three or four police cars that stopped and the officers helped residents on Highway 141. He said the people who were stopped and couldn’t move forward were very appreciative. The officers helped them and waited with them for a salt truck to come by, and then the Police Officers helped the drivers and got them safely on their way. Regular Board of Aldermen 02/19/2019 Page 4  Mayor Clement stated that they spoke about Officer Sampson by saying that a neighbor fell and hurt his arm, and Officer Nik Sampson, who had also fallen and could barely move his own arm, was trying to help this person who had fallen on the ground. Mayor Clement stated Manchester has been awarded Tree City USA, which has been one of our goals. At the April 1 Board of Aldermen meeting, the Tree Board will be introduced. On April 13, the usual tree giveaway will take place at the Parks Department. The City plans on planting a ceremonial tree that morning. Mayor Clement stated one of our young Manchester residents, Maddy Buehler, was awarded “Top Junior Handler” from the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show which took place recently. Mayor Clement stated they had a meeting scheduled to talk with an informal group of residents and interested parties as we look into what we can do support and recognize veterans in this community. He said our community has a lot of interest intersecting here, and he would like to recognize that. He has begun to attend veterans meetings. Mayor Clement said he has been meeting with an informal group of residents and an interested party talking about supporting veterans in our community. A small group of residents has been built, and including the American Legion, and he has found out that a couple of our police officers are also veterans and those officers were with the group last time. The importance of last night’s meeting was more significant as a result of what happened on Sunday at the Manchester United Methodist Church with the veteran who came back to the Church from Indiana and committed suicide. That brought home the agony that many of our veterans go through, and the importance of last night’s meeting was talking with two police officers who are veterans, and they reiterated the agony that many veterans experience. Mayor Clement stated one of the officers stated that he had 16 brothers that have committed suicide. That whole focus last night took on a totally different meaning. After last night’s meeting, the direction is changing but now it is obvious we need to listen to the veterans on our Police Department and the younger veterans and talk about what we need to do. There were also representatives from the American Legion and they were also thunder struck as everyone else. The two police officers had many manageable ideas of what we can do. 7. REPORTS FROM THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR a. List of Paid Bills (Warrant dates of February 3 – February 16, 2019) There were no questions. 8. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES a. Planning and Zoning Commission Alderman Hamill stated there was a short meeting with a site plan approval for an existing garage to be changed into a bedroom on Hanna Road. Mayor Clement stated there will be no meeting next Monday night. Regular Board of Aldermen 02/19/2019 Page 5 9. ACTION ON OLD BILLS a. There were none. 10. INTRODUCTION OF NEW BILLS a. RESOLUTION FOR PROPOSITION S CONCRETE REPLACEMENT Alderman Hamill read Proposed Resolution # 19-0657, entitled: “A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH M & H CONCRETE CONTRACTORS, INC. IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED THREE MILLION SIXTY-NINE THOUSAND ONE DOLLARS AND FIFTY- EIGHT CENTS ($3,069,001.58), INCLUDING A THREE PERCENT (3%) CHANGE ORDER IN THE AMOUNT OF EIGHTY-NINE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($89,500.00) FOR UNFORESEEN WORK CONDITIONS FOR THE 2019 “PROPOSITION S” CONCRETE STREET IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT TO BE UNDERTAKEN IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF MANCHESTER”, by title only. Director of Public Works Bob Ruck stated there were four bids. The Engineer’s estimate for this project was $3.1 million, the low bidder was under $3 million, the second lowest bidder was just below $3.1 million. He said this Resolution, if approved, would be with the same contractor who performed the 2018 concrete replacement. Alderman Hamill made the motion for approval of Resolution # 19-0657. The motion was seconded by Alderman Ottenad and carried 6 – 0, with no objections from members of the Board. b. RESOLUTION FOR CONCRETE PAVEMENT SAWS PURCHASE Alderman Baumann read Proposed Resolution # 19-0658, entitled: “A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE BID OF W. W. GRAINGER, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF FIFTY-FOUR THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED NINETY-TWO DOLLARS AND SEVENTY-TWO CENTS ($54,892.72) FOR THE PURCHASE OF TWO (2) HUSQVARNA CONCRETE PAVEMENT SAWS AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER TO ISSUE A PURCHASE ORDER THEREFOR”, by title only. Director Ruck said this would be replacing two older saws, and with concrete work expanding, it will be more efficient for City staff to do this type of work and allow the contractor to do their work. Alderman Baumann made the motion for approval of Resolution # 19-0658. The motion was seconded by Alderman Ottenad and carried 6 – 0, with no objections from the Board. c. RESOLUTION SUPPORTING FORMATION OF A BOARD OF FREEHOLDERS IN REGARD TO THE ST. LOUIS COUNTY AND ST. LOUIS CITY UNIFICATION EFFORT Regular Board of Aldermen 02/19/2019 Page 6  Alderman Ottenad read Proposed Resolution # 19-0659, entitled: “A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE FORMATION OF A BOARD OF FREEHOLDERS/ELECTORS AS AUTHORIZED BY ARTICLE VI; SECTION 30 (a) AND 30 (b) OF THE MISSOURI CONSTITUTION”, by title only. Alderman Ottenad read the first paragraph in its entirety: “WHEREAS, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Manchester previously passed a Resolution on April 21, 2014, resolving to continue to work towards the betterment of the St. Louis region, but opposing the unification of St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis and the elimination of the local government which would result in the reduction of services provided to Manchester’s residents and business owners, and to oppose threats to its sovereignty and the rights of its residents to be involved fairly and equitably in the decisions of local government.” Alderman Ottenad made the motion for approval of Resolution #19-0659. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried 6 – 0, with no objections from the Board. MISCELLANEOUS a. Comments from the Public Mr. Roger Carroll, 5 Leaside Court, thanked Bob and his crew for solving a drainage problem. He said they did a terrific job, and he expressed his thanks. Mr. Carroll talked about the Better Together challenge. The Board of Freeholders is a solution that if they don’t find a way to make this happen, it is possible to have our say at least presented to the people of the State of Missouri, the chances of us fulfilling our hopes and dreams of keeping our own local government are going to disappear from us. Mr. Carroll stated he finds this is a very critically important thing. He is willing and able and has done a lot of Board room presentations in his life and he knows fiber optic network services. He said he is offering his assistance. 12. ADJOURNMENT At 7:36 p.m., there being no further business, Alderman Hamill made the motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Alderman Nolte, and carried unanimously, with no objections from the members of the Board of Aldermen. The meeting adjourned at 7:36 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ruth E. Baker, MMC/MPCC City Clerk Note: This is a journal of the Board of Aldermen meeting of Tuesday, February 19, 2019 (summary); not a verbatim transcript. If a recording of the meeting is desired, please contact City Hall. Regular Board of Aldermen 02/19/2019 Page 7