Board of Aldermen

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING OF MONDAY, JULY 1, 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 Hamill, Alderman Nolte, Alderman Ottenad, Alderman Baumann, Alderman Toben and Mayor Clement. A quorum was present. 3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES a. Minutes of the Monday, June 17, 2019 Work Session of the Board of Aldermen meeting Alderman Ottenad made the motion to approve the Minutes of the Monday, June 17, 2019 Work Session of the Board of Aldermen meeting. The motion was seconded by Alderman Hamill and carried unanimously, with no objection from any members of the Board of Aldermen. b. Minutes of the Monday, June 17, 2019 Regular Board of Aldermen meeting Alderman Hamill made the motion to approve the minutes of the Monday, June 17, 2019 Regular Board of Aldermen meeting. The motion was seconded by Alderman Ottenad and carried unanimously, with no objection from any members of the Board of Aldermen. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF ORDER OF ITEMS ON THE AGENDA Mayor Clement stated he wanted to add Ms. Karen Yeomans of the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to the agenda this evening. Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 1  Aldermen Hamill and Nolte simultaneously made the motion to accept the agenda as amended. The motion was seconded simultaneously by Aldermen Ottenad and Huether, and carried by a vote of 6 – 0, with no objection from any members of the Board of Aldermen. 5. CONSIDERATION OF PETITIONS AND COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC a. Presentation from Tucker’s Place West Restaurant Chief of Police Scott Will stated that Special Olympics is very special, and he has been involved with them even outside of Manchester. He said what is unique about this one is the amount of money that was raised. They raised so much money this time because of what was done at Tucker’s Place West Restaurant. The interesting thing is that when Mr. Struharik found out the amount that they raised originally, it was approximately $10,100 and he didn’t like odd numbers, so he cut out another check for more than $800 to make it an even amount. It is great that Mr. Struharik is so involved in this. Alderman Ottenad stated that this leg of the Special Olympics Torch Run is named after her son, Jeff. She said how this started was when he ran in the International Olympics Games in 1996, and he came home from Connecticut and asked her to find someone from the Police Department who would be involved so he could run in the Torch Run and they would know who they are raising money for. Alderman Ottenad stated that Jeff ran every year in the Torch Run until he passed away, and now his brother, Jason, runs in his place. Chief Will stated that they had two officers run this year for the City of Manchester and for Jeff Ottenad. Mr. Tom Struharik of Tucker’s Place West Restaurant presented to Ms. Stacy Koeller of Special Olympics a check in the amount of $11,000. b. Introduction of new police officers Chief of Police Scott Will introduced Police Officer Jim Ervin. Chief Will stated that Officer Ervin has 9 years in law enforcement and has over 10 years’ experience as a 911 dispatcher. He started as a Police Explorer with St. Louis County Police Department at age 15 and has been involved in the program since. He currently is a Lead Advisor for the Normandy Law Enforcement Explorer Post. Chief Will added that Officer Ervin is married to his wife Laura, and has two children, TJ and Seamus. He is expecting his 3rd in February, 2020. Joining him tonight is his wife, Jennifer, and sons, TJ and Seamus. Chief of Police Scott Will introduced Police Officer Tim Darling. Chief Will stated that Officer Darling has an Associate’s Degree from Ranken Technical College. After graduation he was accepted into the St. Louis County Police Academy. He received special recognition in the areas related to physical fitness and defensive tactics. Once he graduated from the academy, he was hired by the City of Manchester as a police officer in 2011 until 2015. During his time with the City of Manchester, he acquired special assignments related to Taser instruction, firearms instruction, and field training newly-hired employees. Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 2  Chief Will added that Officer Darling is married to his wife, Grace, and has three children, Eli, Isaac and Micah. Joining him tonight is his wife, Grace. c. Police Department Accreditation Update Chief Scott Will stated that Lieutenant Craig Smith would give some facts of where he is with this project. Chief Will stated the accreditation process itself is taking a look at our Department and seeing what we can do better. He has learned the importance of police departments taking a closer look at what is being done right and what is being done wrong. Anytime you are doing something worthwhile, it is never easy, as they are finding out, but it will be a worthwhile project. Lieutenant Smith stated this is a lengthy process. The actual certification process in the manual itself has 39 chapters, and in those 39 chapters there are 208 standards that the Department must meet. The standard is basically the requirements set by the State of Missouri that we must abide by and follow by. Lieutenant Smith read from accreditation process: “Some of the standards have specific requirements while others are less explicit. Due to the latitude given and the discretion of each agency, it is difficult to decide what proofs will be acceptable for each agency. Examples of these proofs are like photographs, forms, observations, and interviews. In this process each agency is required to have policies that meet the standard requirement and then approve the proofs to demonstrate the compliance with directives and policies that are created. If a department writes a policy that is more or exceeds the standards, then it is necessary to show proofs that meet those expectations, and proofs must be provided for each year of the certification cycle, which is generally three years.” He said that if a department writes a policy that exceeds the standard, we have to show proof, but if a certain policy does not, we must generate why we don’t have one. When he is writing policies, it must cover at least one standard. Each policy written must include the policy itself, the certification standard status report and the proof, which is then uploaded to the software the City purchased last year, and this can be viewed by the State. Lieutenant Smith stated when he first came into this process in March, obviously he didn’t know what all it meant, but it needs the assistance of a several people; it is not a one- man show. He learned that most of the policies previously written didn’t meet the state standards at all, so it was decided that we were going to start the process all over from scratch (in March) and that was approved by the State. Chief Will clarified they are not starting over from scratch today. They started over in March. Alderman Hamill asked how long this process had been going on before March. Lieutenant Smith answered it had been 6.5 years. Lieutenant Smith stated that as he started this process over, he is taking several policies from other agencies, that are already accredited, and intertwining with Manchester’s policies. During that process of combining them, he still needs to get input and get the proof. Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 3 Once it is written which is a long process, then he gets approval from the Chief, and then it goes to the City Administrator, and then to the City Attorney. Alderman Hamill asked if there is not just a set standard formula that the state has of policies that any department can just adopt. Lieutenant Smith answered they have a template, but he still has to incorporate into that policy the things that meet what Manchester needs. He said we can’t use a universal policy. Chief Will gave the example that we do not have a jail; we have a hold-over and their policies are written for a jail, so that will need to be rewritten. He said there is a lot of paperwork. Lieutenant Smith stated that we previously had 94 policies, and with this new process, there will be more than double that amount of policies to bring us up to state standard. The policies will cover organization, administration, conduct and discipline, operations, records and communication. With those policies, he will have to create new forms, and again the new forms will be at least doubled. Lieutenant Smith stated that our previous policies were located in different areas of the computer system. With this new system in process, it will be centralized in one area of the computer server, including a table of contents, listed in numerical and alphabetical order, with a master index for search words to make it easier to locate. He said all manuals will be centralized in the same system, training videos, search warrants, writing DWI’s, all centralized on the server, including eventually being able to get it on laptops of all patrol vehicles. This is a big task, and will take time, but he promises it will be worth the wait and worth the while when it is done. As of June 28th, he had 32 policies completed and several more pending approvals. Once they are approved, they can start building the proofs for that. There were some delays when starting this in March. He came into the process at that time, then there were IT problems, followed by a hiring and promotion process which put a delay on it, but he thinks the City is past all this. Lieutenant Smith stated he knows everyone is wondering if this is attainable by the end of the year. He can’t say yes, but in a perfect world, it would be. He said he will give an update in September to give a better idea of where we are. There is a member of the Police Chief’s Association stopping by in a couple weeks to review our progress and where we are. Alderman Toben asked if there is anything that they can do to help. Chief Will stated that Lieutenant Smith has been working very hard on this, even taking it home with him. If it is not done by December, it is not due to lack of effort. Lieutenant West and Kat are very helpful, too. It is arduous process, but anything good is. He said he is convinced that we will look back and be thankful we did it. Alderman Ottenad stated what the Board wants is honesty. She said: “Don’t tell us something to make us feel good”. Lieutenant Smith promised he will not lie to them, and he will give updates. It is a big process. Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 4  Mayor Clement stated he thinks that the members of the Board have a high degree of trust in Lieutenant Smith’s and the Chief’s dedication to this project, which hasn’t been the case in the past. He said he believes it will be finished. Lieutenant Smith stated he won’t quit and guarantees the City will get the accreditation. d. Ms. Karen Yeomans of the Missouri Department of Transportation Ms. Karen Yeomans, Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), stated that 18 years ago this section of 141 was finished, and then there were several sections of old 141 serving as an outer road/connection road. After this was completed, MoDOT started conversations with the City about transferring some of those roadways over to the City. About 12 years ago, MoDOT did transfer from Old Woods Mill, south of Burgundy Lane down to Kennedy High School over to the City. Then things were on hold for a while and several years ago they started on new discussions of three sections, Howard George Drive, Matthew Walker Way, and Topwood which is on the west side of 141 off Burgundy which provides access to several houses on that road. Ms. Yeomans stated there were several discussions, and issues that the City wanted MoDOT to take care of, which they have done. The most recent is that they inspected with cameras all of the storm sewers that will be transferred to the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD). Recently, MSD agreed to accept those storm sewers into their system. Ms. Yeomans stated they are now working on relinquishment agreement between the City of Manchester and MoDOT. The next step is a boundary survey, and then to record the deeds and those areas will become City roads. There are two more sections that the City would like redone, but it is not in the budget for MoDOT. The roads are Woods Mill Road and another on Meramec Station Road. Alderman Ottenad asked about who will be cutting the grass on the ravine off Howard George Drive. Ms. Yeomans answered that anything that is Howard George and 141 will stay in the MoDOT right-of-way. Alderman Hamill asked Director Ruck if the City has any concerns about the streets. Director of Public Works Bob Ruck answered that the roads were built brand new at the time 141 was built and all three remain in good condition. All of them serve Manchester businesses. e. Comments from the Public Mike McCloskey, 1205 Priest Drive, stated that in 48 hours, one of the biggest nightmares in traffic will begin on Priest Drive when Twin Oaks has their fireworks display. He showed a picture. He wanted to propose a resolution that there will be no parking on Wednesday. There will be over 1000 cars, and with half the street torn out, it will be a nightmare for an ambulance or police vehicle. Alderman Clement asked Director Ruck to put up no-parking signs. Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 5  Director Ruck responded that would be done. Mr. McCloskey stated he didn’t realize the problems there would be when the street was torn out. Mayor Clement stated they agree and they do believe there will be problems there. Mr. McCloskey proposed closing the northbound entrance off westbound Big Bend onto Eagleshire. He said they closed the road when they re-did the entire intersection and there was a way for people to get into that portion of the subdivision without going up to Priest Drive. Mayor Clement recommended that Mr. McCloskey contact his aldermen and talk about what he is proposing. Alderman Baumann stated that maybe the City should have a Facebook post about the posting of the no-parking signs along the roadways. 6. REPORTS FROM THE MAYOR a. Mayoral Report Mayor Clement stated he is pleased to announce that Eckert’s Farmers Market is going to open a seasonal market in Manchester at the old Office Depot. They think they will open July 5, but there are some permits and licenses that need to be taken care of. He suggested to go to Eckert’s website, which will tell what they plan to do. It will be a great addition to Manchester for a while. Mayor Clement reminded everyone of the Fourth of July event. He said the concert starts at 6:00 p.m. with the fireworks to follow at 9:15 or 9:20 p.m. At the last Board meeting, they enacted a temporary suspension of certain municipal codes due to the flooding, Mayor Clement questioned if that is still needed. City Administrator Larry Perney stated he would have to get an answer from Director Rippetoe. 7. REPORTS FROM THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR a. Compliments and Kudos for employees City Administrator Larry Perney read correspondence from residents complimenting the following City of Manchester employees: 1. Officer Jake Triulzi 2. Officer Jason Dowdell 3. Officer Travon Green, an ex-marine 4. Public Works Department Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 6  5. An unnamed employee met needs of a lady in a wheelchair. b. At the last meeting regarding budget and audit … typos in West Newsmagazine City Administrator Larry Perney stated that in regard to the budget and audit presentation at the last meeting, there was an error in the West Newsmagazine. c. List of Paid Bills (Warrant dates of June 16 – June 29, 2019) There were no questions. 8. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES a. Planning and Zoning Commission Mayor Clement stated that four of the new business cases had to do with a new homecare complex that may be going into Forest Summit Court. All four were passed by the Planning and Zoning Commission, and he thinks the concept for these homecare facilities are a great addition, specifically assisting men and women with beginning memory loss. Mayor Clement stated there was also a request for an expansion of the Goddard School, because of a demand for childcare from infant on. b. Homecoming Committee Alderman Ottenad stated the next meeting will be on July 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Park Building. Alderman Ottenad reported that they did decide the Business of the Year is Goddard School and the Grand Marshal is Eileen Collins. 9. ACTION ON OLD BILLS a. There were none. 10. INTRODUCTION OF NEW BILLS a. BILL AUTHORIZING ACCEPTING TRANSFER OF THREE ROADWAYS FROM THE MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO THE CITY OF MANCHESTER Alderman Ottenad introduced Bill # 19-2373, entitled: “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO ACCEPT THE TRANSFER OF TOPWOOD DRIVE, MATTHEW WALKER WAY, AND A CERTAIN PORTION OF HOWARD GEORGE DRIVE FROM ITS SOUTH TERMINUS AT ENCHANTED PARKWAY TO THE STATE RIGHT-OF-WAY LINE NEAR 1021 HOWARD GEORGE DRIVE FROM THE STATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM INTO THE CITY OF MANCHESTER’S ROADWAY SYSTEM”, by title only. Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 7  No further action required at this time. b. RESOLUTION APPROVING PURCHASE OF ROAD SALT Alderman Baumann read Proposed Resolution # 19-0682, entitled: “A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER TO EXPEND THE SUM OF TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND FIFTY-TWO DOLLARS ($29,052.00) FOR THE FALL PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF ROAD SALT FOR THE 2019-2020 WINTER SEASON FOR USE BY THE CITY OF MANCHESTER”, by title only. Mayor Clement stated that Director Ruck had informed the Board that the cost of salt has gone up. Director of Public Works Bob Ruck stated that they used more salt in the beginning of the year due to the past winter, and although the price of salt has gone up, the cost is still less that what the City paid in 2014 when there was a shortage. Alderman Baumann made the motion to approve Resolution # 19-0682. The motion was seconded by Alderman Ottenad and carried by a vote of 6 – 0, with no objections from the members of the Board of Aldermen. c. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING ENTERING INTO A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH STERN BROTHERS AND COMPANY Alderman Hamill read Proposed Resolution # 19-0683, entitled: “A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER TO ENTER INTO A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH STERN BROTHERS & COMPANY”, by title only. Alderman Hamill made the motion to approve Resolution # 19-0683. The motion was seconded by Alderman Toben and carried by a vote of 6 – 0, with no objections from the members of the Board of Aldermen. 11. MISCELLANEOUS a. Comments from the Public Ms. Sharon Owens, 107 Baxter Acres Drive, asked what is happening with the gas station at Manchester and Henry. Alderman Baumann answered there have been no permits applied for yet. Mayor Clement stated they don’t know why there is a delay. It is way behind schedule. Ms. Owens asked about the settlement agreement. City Attorney Paul Rost stated the settlement agreement involves using Stern Bros with regard to the Highlands Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds. When investment started in 2010 some of those TIF proceeds were invested in certain securities that the City thought maybe there should be a shorter maturity date and there were some other issues having to Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 8 do with the investment advisor status of the broker that was being used. Over several years talking with Stern Brothers, an agreement has been reached to try to make sure that the City and TIF funds are made whole. They were making sure to divest the City of some of these securities that had a longer maturity date that they would be no issues. Stern Bros denies they did anything wrong, no litigation over how this was handled, but there is an agreement now. 12. EXECUTIVE SESSION: a. Closed Session: Pursuant to Section 610.021 (12) of the Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri pertaining to discussing sealed proposals and related documents, or other documents related to a negotiated contract until a contract is executed, or all proposals are rejected and pursuant to Section 610.021 (1) of the Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri pertaining to legal actions, causes of action or threatened litigation involving a public governmental body and any confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental body or its representatives and its attorneys. Alderman Huether made a motion to go into “Closed Session: Pursuant to Section 610.021 (12) of the Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri pertaining to discussing sealed proposals and related documents, or other documents related to a negotiated contract until a contract is executed, or all proposals are rejected and pursuant to Section 610.021 (1) of the Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri pertaining to legal actions, causes of action or threatened litigation involving a public governmental body and any confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental body or its representatives and its attorneys.” The motion was seconded by Alderman Ottenad. A poll of the Board showed: Alderman Ottenad - Aye Alderman Huether - Aye Alderman Nolte - Aye Alderman Hamill - Temporarily Absent Alderman Toben - Aye Alderman Baumann - Aye Mayor Clement stated that the motion passed by a vote of 5 – 0, with no objections from members of the Board of Aldermen. 13. ADJOURNMENT At 7:57 p.m., Mayor Clement stated that the open portion of the meeting had ended, and the elected officials would be going into a closed session. At 8:42 p.m., after the Executive Session, there being no further business, Alderman Hamill made the motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Alderman Ottenad, and Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 9 carried unanimously, with no objections from the members of the Board of Aldermen. The meeting adjourned at 8:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ruth E. Baker, MMC/MPCC City Clerk Note: This is a journal of the Board of Aldermen meeting of Monday, July 1, 2019 (summary); not a verbatim transcript. If a recording of the meeting is desired, please contact City Hall. Regular Board of Aldermen 07/01/2019 Page 10