MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING
City Hall November
7, 2005
Council Chamber 7:00
p.m.
The Mayor led with the Pledge of
Allegiance.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Mayor Kelly,
Alderwoman Jepsen, Alderman Marshall, Alderman Leahy, Alderman Golfin, Alderman
Robertson, Alderman Wynn, Alderman Cross.
City Attorney Albrecht and City
Clerk/Administrator Seemayer.
ABSENT: Alderman Kramer,
Director of Public Works/City Engineer Payken, Executive Secretary Williams and
City Treasurer Reynders.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
THE AGENDA OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING OF NOVEMBER 7, 2005
Motion was made by Alderman
Golfin, second by Alderman Wynn to approve and adopt the Agenda of the Regular
Board of Aldermen Meeting of November 7, 2005.
Roll call: Alderwoman Jepsen,
yes; Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes; Alderman Golfin, yes;
Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING OF OCTOBER 17, 2005
Motion was made by Alderman
Golfin, second by Alderman Marshall to approve and adopt the Minutes of the
Regular Board of Aldermen Meeting of October 17, 2005 as presented. Roll call:
Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes;
Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman Wynn, yes; Alderman
Cross, yes.
BIDS - NONE
HEARING OF ANY MATTER OF PUBLIC
INTEREST UPON REQUEST OF ANY PERSON PRESENT
Mayor Kelly introduced Danny
Aleshire, a Coro Fellow who has worked as an intern at the City of Brentwood
for the past three weeks. He has
researched grants for new equipment for the television station and is currently
analyzing trends in retail sales in Brentwood to forecast sales tax growth in
the City. He has also spent a great
deal of time interviewing City staff and members of the Board of Aldermen to
learn more about the City of Brentwood and how local governments operate. The Coro Program is an intensive nine-month
fulltime leadership-training program in public affairs. It places college graduates and young
professionals into internships with nonprofit organizations, local government
organizations, organized labor associations, business groups and political campaigns
to expose them to all of the major groups that influence public policy and
community decision-making. Before Mr.
Aleshire came to the City of Brentwood, he spent a month as an intern at the
United Way, a nonprofit organization.
His colleagues in the program can be found around the St. Louis area
working for government agencies such as Metro St. Louis, City of Richmond
Heights, City of Maplewood, County Public Works Department, County Municipal
League, St. Louis Comptroller’s Office and the Metropolitan Police Department.
Danny Aleshire came before the
Board and stated the Coro Fellows Program that he is in has five centers across
the country. The one in St. Louis has
15 fellows in it. There are centers in
L.A., New York, San Francisco and Pittsburgh.
He has had a great time in Brentwood and has enjoyed the
internship. He attended Occidental
College in L.A. and graduated with a B.A. in Politics and Economics.
INTRODUCTIONS, READINGS,
AND PASSAGE OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS – None
ACCOUNTS AGAINST THE CITY
Motion was made by Alderman Marshall,
second by Alderman Cross to approve the warrant list dated 11/7/05. All in favor none opposed.
Alderwoman Jepsen asked why was
the snowplow, spreader truck charged to the storm water/parks account.
City Administrator Seemayer
stated it is a parks department vehicle that will be used for their parking lot
and the trails. The storm water/parks
is one fund and it is charged within that account to the parks/capital
improvement account number.
Alderwoman Jepsen asked if the
truck would only be used within the parks department.
City Administrator Seemayer said
yes.
REPORT OF COMMITTEES AND
DEPARTMENT HEADS:
Mayor’s Report
Naming of Baseball Field
Mayor Kelly stated he had a
request from a resident for the City to look into the possibility of naming
Brentwood Baseball Field #1 after Coach Taylor from Brentwood High School. He has coached a number of very good
baseball teams over the years for Brentwood High School. They would like the
City to dedicate the field in his honor.
He may be retiring within the next couple of years.
Grant
Mayor Kelly stated they have
received notification that the City has received approximately a $580,000 storm
water grant from SEMA. That grant will
be used to purchase two pieces of properties in Hanley Industrial Court that
are in the floodplain. The properties
will be turned into parkland. There is
a 20% match on the grant, which MSD upon their submittal agreed to fund. There will be no cost to the City. MSD has some funds allocated for that area
that could be used for flood proofing and buyout. He thanked Bob Shelton who initially put in the grant application
and Rob Hussey who took it over and did a lot of work to get it completed.
Comprehensive Plan
A Comprehensive Plan Open House
will be held tomorrow night at the Brentwood Community Center at 7:00 p.m. It would be a good opportunity to view the
plan. A couple of the Aldermen had
received comments about the plan and there seems to be some
misunderstandings. A Comprehensive Plan
is an opportunity to look to the future and say if land use has changed, this
is what they want it to be. If you do
not have any of those guidelines in place, the city is at the mercy of whoever
comes in and wants to get control of property. He asked the public to ask questions, get involved and look at
what has taken place.
Grainger Project
Mayor Kelly stated the Ways and
Means Committee has met a number of times in the past six months regarding Fred
Epstein’s new project in Hanley Industrial Court. As part of the Grainger project, Mr. Epstein has agreed to put in
an underwater storm water detention under the parking lot. The Planning and Zoning Commission also
asked him to put a nicer building material on the outside of the building and a
better looking fencing to make an improvement in the area which Mr. Epstein
agreed to. The storm water detention he
is proposing is above and beyond what is required by MSD and the City of
Brentwood. The initial numbers for the
storm water detention was about $60,000 and his request was for $250,000 to do
some of the other improvements as well as the storm water improvements. In meeting with him today and getting the
final numbers, the total cost including the storm water project is about $266,000. The detention area itself is about
$96,000. There are additional costs in
the project of grading, additional retaining walls and additional landscaping
expenses, etc. The Ways and Means
Committee had agreed to fund up to $250,000 once they verified the cost of the
project. The other concern is that Mr.
Epstein would be carrying the interest cost for a period of four to five years
while repaying for the public improvement, which would be an additional
$40,000. After meeting with Mr. Epstein
and looking at the actual numbers for the storm water portion of the project,
he and Mr. Seemayer looked into the possibility of saving some of the interest
cost if the City was to issue a COP.
City Administrator Seemayer
stated that any improvements made by putting the detention in would only be paid
back from the new business that’s going in there, so it wouldn’t be coming out
of any existing City funds. The
Grainger Company is expected to do an appreciable amount of retail sales. That would be the only source of revenue
that would be used to repay the cost of the detention.
Alderman Marshall asked for
clarification whether the number was set at $200,000 or $250,000 when the Ways
and Means Committee met.
City Administrator Seemayer
stated it was set at $250,000.
Alderwoman Jepsen asked if the City
would be foregoing sales tax stream to pay the COP off.
City Administrator Seemayer
stated a portion of it. The sales tax
rate that the City gets is 2.25% in total.
The City would be using 50% of the parks and storm water, and 50% of the
capital improvement sales tax, which is half of a 1% sales tax.
Alderwoman Jepsen stated she is
concerned about improving private property and foregoing sales tax.
City Administrator Seemayer
stated it is not improving Mr. Epstein’s property because there is no detention
that is required for him to put in. If
he does not put it in, it does not affect him from a flooding standpoint. It is a public improvement that is being
placed on private property for public benefit.
Alderwoman Jepsen stated so this
will benefit a number of the businesses in Hanley Industrial Court.
City Administrator Seemayer
responded yes.
Alderman Robertson stated the
storm water improvements would remedy the net increase in floodwater problems
that would be found on that property.
The reason there is no requirement is because it is less than 1
acre. They could put the parking lot in
and make the storm water go faster and flood worse and there would be no
requirement whatsoever. The other
associated things are better looking fencing and so forth to maintain that
area.
Alderman Golfin asked if they
anticipate the cost to include the interest cost which they will be getting at
3.8% and that will be rolled over into the total cost of the project, which
will be offset by the additional revenues the new business is going to bring
in.
Mayor Kelly stated the original
proposal that had been approved was that the owner of the property was going to
fund the entire project and the City was going to repay him through a sales tax
abatement, not to exceed five years. It
would be more of a reimbursement, so he would be carrying the interest
cost. The Mayor is suggesting, in order
to lower the interest cost, that the City take out a COP, pay the owner of the
property the $250,000 for his improvements and the City pay the bonds back
through the same source of revenue, the sales tax.
Alderman Golfin stated the storm
water improvements that are done in the City are required and necessary however
they are able to get them done. This
would certainly benefit the entire Hanley Industrial Court as well as Black
Creek which floods.
City Administrator Seemayer
stated this change could potentially save about $20,000 to $30,000 of interest
cost.
Motion was made by Alderman
Golfin to move forward with the COP.
Alderman Leahy stated as a point
of order, he does not see how they can move forward on anything that has not
been documented to the Board. They have
no resolution or agreement in place that the Board can vote on.
Mayor Kelly stated the Board
would be approving it in concept and all the documentation would come
later. They would have to have a bill
for the COP.
The motion was made by Alderman
Golfin, second by Alderman Marshall to pursue the COP.
Alderwoman Jepsen asked if they
forego that portion of the sales tax that would normally be collected for the
storm water fund would the fund still get a certain amount of money or is that
going to be counted against it?
Mayor Kelly stated it is storm
water money for a storm water project.
Alderman Marshall stated until
they start looking at numbers he could not predict how much is going to be
allotted for the storm water fund. They
have to wait and see what the budget provides.
Mayor Kelly stated this is being
funded through the new revenue being generated by the business there.
Alderwoman Jepsen asked if
funding would continue to be allotted for other projects.
Mayor Kelly said yes.
Alderman Golfin stated the storm
water funds that are now being generated would be divided between parks and
storm water. There will be more parks
and storm water funds generated from the new business and this will provide for
that, so it is not going to be an offset to the existing storm water fund.
Roll call to pursue with the
COP: Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman
Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, no; Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Robertson,
yes; Alderman Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
Executive Session/Personnel Matter
Mayor Kelly announced an
executive session/personnel matter would be held following the regular meeting.
Veterans Day Celebration
Veterans Day Celebration will be
held on Friday, November 11th at 6:00 p.m. Mayor Kelly thanked Kevin McCarthy and Earl Brown for their help
in putting everything together.
Public Safety Committee
– No report
Public Works Committee
– No report
City Engineer – No
report
Ways and Means Committee
– No report
City Attorney – No
report
City Clerk/Administrator
Special Use Permit – Optimist Club – Christmas
Trees Lot
City Administrator Seemayer
stated the Optimist Club is requesting a Special Use Permit to sell Christmas
Trees on their lot between December 1 and December 25. This will be their 48th year.
Motion was made by Alderman
Leahy, second by Alderman Wynn to approve the Special Use Permit for the Optimist
Club. Roll call: Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman Marshall,
yes; Alderman Leahy, yes; Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes;
Alderman Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
Director of Economic
Development – No report
Excise Commissioner
– No report
Library – No Report
Municipal League
Legislative Priorities
Mayor Kelly stated a legislative
affairs breakfast was held this past Saturday where the St. Louis County
Municipal League presented their legislative priorities. The top priorities were the cell phone tax,
a new public safety sales tax of up to ½ cent, their position and suggested
changes to the condemnation and eminent domain issue, controls on fire
districts putting additional zoning requirements on municipalities, etc.
Waste Management Commission
Update
Alderman Golfin stated the Waste
Management Commission would not be meeting for the rest of the year. They hope to have a meeting early next
year. The City is in receipt of a grant
that is going to fund some more recycle boxes which are available now at no
cost.
They hope to do an incentive
awards program where they will be awarding dinner and lunch for two. The City has achieved about 36% recycle this
year. It is 36% diversion, which means
it includes the yard waste. They are
going to set a goal of achieving 50% next year. Barbara Hughes suggested they
do a program on BTV-10.
Mr. McCarthy stated in response
to Alderman Golfin’s comments regarding recycling, he has already spoken with
Ms. Hughes and has a copy of a pre-produced program. If they have the copyright available they will have that program
on the air shortly.
Communication – No
further report
Insurance Committee
– No report
Historical Society
– No report
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Tree Lighting Ceremony
Alderman Wynn stated last year on
the Friday before Thanksgiving they had the first annual tree lighting ceremony
on Lawn Avenue. This year they are
doing something a little bit different.
City Administrator Seemayer
stated the trees on Lawn Avenue would be lit again this year with holiday
lights. They will also have a live tree
outside of the Brentwood Recreation Center.
They will light both areas simultaneously. A ceremony will be held on Friday, November 18th at
the Recreation Center with carolers and light refreshments at 6:00 p.m. Families can bring a family ornament to be
placed on the tree outside the Recreation Center.
Update on Path and Bridge
City Administrator Seemayer
stated they are purchasing an easement from K & S Construction for $10.00
and they are getting one from a resident.
The surveyors are drawing up the title work for those two
easements. They were told it would take
a maximum of 30 days. The easements
should be executed by the end of November then the contractor will have his
notice to proceed.
Alderman Robertson asked about
the proposed Ad Hoc Committee to study expansion of the trail and parks system
and how that might be organized.
Mayor Kelly stated he was at a
meeting last Friday where the Great Rivers Greenway did a presentation and
talked about some of the things that they are doing, one of which is the
project that is coming up in Brentwood.
If the City could get a group together that would keep talking to them
about doing additional things in the City of Brentwood that would be
great. Mayor Kelly asked Alderman
Robertson if he would like to head that committee.
Alderman Robertson stated
yes.
Boy Scouts of America
Alderman Leahy announced the Boy
Scouts of America would be having their annual Scouting for Food Drive on
Saturdays, November 12th and 19th. The intention is to collect can goods for
the pantries in the St. Louis area to help feed the hungry during the holiday
season and throughout the year. They
normally collect close to 2 million cans a year. Brentwood has always been a good collection point for the
area. The fire department has agreed to
be one of the collection points in the St. Louis County area. The Scouts will deliver the bags on November
12th and be back on Saturday, November 19th to pick them up.
Recess
The meeting was recessed at 7:45
p.m. for an executive session/personnel matter.
Executive Session
Motion was made by Alderman
Marshall, second by Alderman Wynn to enter into executive session on a
personnel matter at 7:55 p.m. Roll
call: Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman
Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes; Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Robertson,
yes; Alderman Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
The Mayor, the Board, Chris
Seemayer, Chief Knight, Asst. Chief Disbennett, City Attorney Albrecht, and
Attorney Chris Hesse were present.
After discussion on a personnel
matter, motion was made by Alderman Marshall, second by Alderman Wynn to
terminate the employment of Officer Michael Johnson. Roll call: Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman Marshall,
yes; Alderman Leahy, yes; Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes;
Alderman Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by Alderman
Cross, second by Alderman Leahy to adjourn the meeting at 8:17 p.m. All in
favor none opposed.
Pat Kelly, Mayor
Attest:
Chris Seemayer, City Clerk
