MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING
City Hall September
20, 2004
Council Chambers 7:00
p.m.
The Mayor led with the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Present: Mayor Kelly,
Alderwoman Jepsen, Alderman Marshall, Alderman Leahy, Alderman Golfin, Alderman
Kramer, Alderman Robertson, Alderman Wynn, Alderman Cross.
City
Attorney Murphy, City Clerk/Administrator Seemayer, Zoning Administration Wolf,
Director of Economic Development Shelton and City Treasurer Reynders.
Absent: Executive
Secretary Williams.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
THE AGENDA OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2004
Mayor Kelly requested a
presentation for the Brentwood Golf Tournament be added to the agenda after
Proclamations.
Motion was made by Alderman
Golfin, second by Alderman Wynn to amend the Agenda of the Regular Board of
Aldermen Meeting of September 20, 2004 by adding a presentation for the
Brentwood Golf Tournament after Proclamations.
Roll call: Alderwoman Jepsen,
yes; Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes; Alderman Golfin, yes;
Alderman Kramer, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman Wynn, yes; Alderman
Cross, yes.
Motion was made by Alderman
Kramer, second by Alderman Robertson to approve and adopt the Agenda of the
Regular Board of Aldermen Meeting of September 20, 2004 as amended. Roll call:
Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes;
Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Kramer, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman
Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF
THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING OF AUGUST 16, 2004
Motion was made by Alderman
Golfin, second by Alderman Marshall to approve and adopt the Minutes of the
Regular Board of Aldermen Meeting of August 16, 2004 as presented. Roll call:
Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes;
Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Kramer, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman
Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
Proclamations – Constitution Week and Bible Week
Motion was made by Alderman
Marshall, second by Alderman Cross to accept the Proclamations for Constitution
Week and Bible Week by acclamation.
There were no objections.
Presentation Golf Tournament
Mayor Kelly stated that he is
very happy to be making a presentation from the Golf Tournament this year. The recipients of the Golf Tournament were
the Brentwood Congregational Early Childhood Center, St. Mary Magdalen Athletic
Association and Brentwood Foundation.
Betty Edelman - Brentwood
Foundation came before the Board and stated that the Foundation has been in
effect for four years. Dr. Cleary, the
past Superintendent for Brentwood Schools started it. They raise money to be used for teacher grants in the Brentwood
School District. Teachers who have innovative
programs that perhaps do not fit into the school district’s budget. They also give grants to students who would
like to attend a summer enrichment program.
In the past four years they have awarded approximately $20,000. They appreciate the funds from the golf
tournament every year, which helps them quite a bit.
2003 Financial Report
Michael Williams – Partner -
Hochschild, Bloom & Co., CPA Firm came before the Board and stated he would
be going over the 2003 Financial Report.
Mr. Williams stated that there were some changes this year compared to
prior years. The report comprises of a
Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, which means
that the City goes through the extra effort of providing additional information
in its report to comply with the GFOA Certificate of Achievement
Requirements. He briefly went over the
key points of the report. He stated
that there are no qualifications, which is called an unqualified report or a
clean opinion on the statements.
Alderwoman Jepsen asked if the
report is going to be available in the library.
City Administrator Seemayer
stated yes.
Alderwoman Jepsen asked why were
the TIF obligations shown in the report.
Alderman Marshall stated that one
of the partners of the Hochschild, Bloom & Co. stated that because of GASB
they have to show that in the financial report now.
Mr. Williams stated that similar
to what other cities have found they research it and talked to GFOA and
GASB. You have to put those liabilities
in there because they are debts in the name of the City. All that becomes a city activity as opposed
to something else.
Alderwoman Jepsen stated while it
looks like the City is so in the red it is really that those are not
obligations of the City.
Mr. Williams stated they are not
obligations of the City. They are
special debts that are to be paid off from the special revenue. All the cities that have TIF debt are in
similar positions. They have negative
net asset balances.
Alderman Leahy stated as an operating
budget for the City of Brentwood they are running deep into the reserves to the
point that he is curious what Hochschild, Bloom & Co. would recommend as a
sufficient enough reserves for the City to look to maintain, so they don’t end
up in a fiscal problem.
Mr. Williams stated the old rule
used to be there was no guidance on that.
Recently the GFOA has issued some guidance relating to the amount of
reserves that you should keep. The GFOA
being the nationwide Government Financial Officers Association. They have some rules of how much potentially
you could keep in fund balance. The
situation could be different depending on the type of fund, revenues and what
you expect in the future.
Mayor Kelly stated that is a very
good point with respect to the reserves.
The Board needs to look at those reserves every year and remember that
they need to try to bring the reserves up in any way that they can. The City should have at least 25% of the
annual budget in reserves.
Mayor Kelly thanked Susan Zimmer,
Finance Officer for her hard work on a daily basis, helping to put this report
together and tracking the funds.
Bids – Surplus Property Sale
City Administrator Seemayer
stated the City opened bids on August 31st to dispose of some
surplus property. The surplus property
included three 1998 Ford Crown Victoria Vehicles and a 1979 Ford F-600 Bucket
Truck. The high bids are as
follows: Vehicle #1 $3,727, Vehicle #2
$3,414, Vehicle #3 $2,827. The high bid
for the 1979 Ford F-600 was $2,576.
Public Hearing – 7:25 p.m. – Amendment Chapter 25 – Continued
Mayor Kelly announced the
continued public hearing for amending Chapter 25 with respect to the brick
ordinance would now be heard at 7:25 p.m.
There were no comments from the
audience.
The public hearing would be
continued to the next meeting.
HEARING OF ANY MATTER OF PUBLIC INTEREST UPON REQUEST OF
ANY PERSON PRESENT
Barb Hughes – 2001 Urban came
before the Board and stated she had a booth at Brentwood Days and handed out
lots of information including contact information for members of the Board of
Aldermen. The word is spreading and
people are starting to get pretty excited about the prospect of a dog
park. She spoke to Alderman Cross about
getting on the agenda for the Public Works Committee. She would appreciate some publicity from the City to try to get
people a little more aware. The dog
park is one of the functions of a parks department that can be profitable. They do not have to spend that many tax
dollars because the funds could be raised to buy the fence, etc.
Gale Goodnow came before the
Board and stated she lived at 9165 Wrenwood for ten years and now she is a
Glendale resident. She spoke on
behalf of citizens for a dog park and distributed a list of the top ten reasons
why it is important for Brentwood to build a dog park.
Barb Dorries – 2610 Helen came
before the Board and stated she is directing all her comments to the storm
water problems on Helen Avenue. They
have had several meetings and a study has been done. She wants to make sure they have everybody on board supporting
the problems, so they can get some sort of corrections made.
Rick Bauer – 2850 Lawndell came
before the Board and asked if Bill No. 5253 regarding tree preservation will be
voted on this evening.
Mayor Kelly stated no. Alderman Marshall will request it be put on
hold for review by the Public Works Committee.
Mr. Bauer stated if a local tree
company is going to remove a tree would they be required to have an arborist on
staff.
Alderman Marshall stated that the
Planning and Zoning Commission asked him to put a residential portion into the
bill, which he did. He brought it back
and it was not supported by the Planning and Zoning Commission and they did not
vote on it. He then took the residential
portion out of it. As it stands the
only place that a resident is affected is any tree equal to 20 inches or
greater needs to be taken down by a certified tree removal company with proof
of insurance and the appropriate paperwork.
The idea is to prevent people from taking down trees that are too
big. That company would not have to
have an arborist on staff. If a
commercial company or a developer comes in and wants to tear down a house and
put up trees, he is requesting a tree inventory from that company in respect to
the trees that are on the premises to define which is a viable tree. It goes into the penalty for taking down any
of the trees.
Mr. Bauer stated that he would
like to see some clarification of the first paragraph on page 3. For example, as a property owner if he
wanted to add an addition on the back of his house and there was a tree of 20
inches or greater and he met the requirements as far as setbacks and code, and
the tree happens to be in the way and took the tree down then he could possibly
be held liable to his neighbor.
Alderman Marshall stated if there
is money in the preservation fund that neighbor could petition the fund. It will in no way affect the property owner
that is removing the tree.
Staurt Clark – came before the
Board and thanked everyone for the support to the parks in Brentwood. He and his children have spent numerous
hours in the parks. He fully supports
parks and trails. As he read the papers
last week he came across an article about the City of Brentwood supporting and
spreading mulch at Mt. Calvary Church.
The article just did not sit right with him. He has spent numerous hours at Mt. Calvary playing with his kids
and he fully supports what was done by the City of Brentwood to spread mulch
there. He is not a member at Mt.
Calvary but they have been more than open to let he and teams play there. The position that City Administrator
Seemayer was put in seemed to be ridiculous.
As a citizen in Ward 1 he expressed his support for the parks and the
parks and recreation department in Brentwood.
Alderwoman Jepsen stated that the
direction of the article was that a church that is not doing anything for the
people downhill from it which is causing their homes to flood is now receiving
money from parks and recreation and the storm water fund where the money is to
be split. The storm water fund is
grossly under funded and the parks department is getting all the money. Property that is flooding these people’s
homes is getting the money that they feel should be going to fix the problem.
Greg Reynders – 2007 Parkridge
came before the Board and commented relative to the newspaper article. The City should reciprocate in using its
labor to help those businesses and residents.
Businesses, whether private or public, should not be of concern
especially where they are allowing the city to use their property. It builds
great comradery with not only the businesses but also the citizens. It should not take a vote of the Board. It should be left to the discretion of the
City Administrator to run the business at hand. If a resident or business owner ask police department to look
after their home or business because they are out of town, are they going to be
told no, that they can afford a lock or to put a better lock on the door. He would hope that is not the position of
the Board. Alderwoman Jepson was quoted
in the article as saying “for people who suffer flooding to look out of their windows
and see people from the very department that’s taking all the money, working at
the church is a huge slap in the face”.
He reminded Alderwoman Jepsen and the Board that no one department takes
money from another. The Board sets the
budget and they determine who gets the money.
Jerry Meers – 9006 W. Swan Circle
and member of Mt. Calvary Church came before the Board and stated that he
counted the number of gates in the area.
There were at least eight properties that had gates opening up to that
private entity and places that have access to that property. He was very offended by that article.
Alderwoman Jepsen stated that she
responded to phone calls from people in her ward who were very upset about what
they were seeing. She has delivered a
letter to Mr. Seemayer asking him what are the criteria. Who decides? What part of every department’s
budget is open for this? If they are
going to do it for some, they need to do it for all. Her feeling is until they are all living the same base existence,
in particular in relationship to storm water, they need to sit on their pennies. When they have extra tax money let them be
magnanimous and give every department a little bit.
Mr. Meers asked if people’s
basements are flooding on account of the church.
Alderwoman Jepsen responded there
is an enormous amount of runoff from the property that comes in window
wells. Residents downhill have tried to
build some berms to channel the water out of their yards. If it does not come in the window wells it
overloads the storm sewers and comes up through their drains.
Alderman Marshall stated that he
has talked to many residents at the festival over the weekend. As far as Mt. Calvary is concerned the
water is being diverted by natural flow.
They have not funneled any water to any one particular area. If they were to fix that and it did not work
are they liable.
Mayor Kelly stated that he has
met with the church as recently as two weeks ago and they are reviewing a
proposal that the City had made to them in July to try to correct the
problem. At this meeting Alderman Cross
of Ward 1 attended and their concern is that they have not changed anything on
their property in 40 years. Their
concern with the proposal that the City made was, and this came from their
attorneys, that if they did something and it did not work then they could be
held liable. To build a retention
center that would solve the problem is a few hundred thousand dollars and they
do not have that kind of money. His
proposal was this could be a City project and the City could accept some of the
responsibility or liability. They are
taking the proposal back to their board.
Through the effort of Alderman
Cross working with MSD they have done a preliminary design and cost estimate to
build a storm water sewer to relieve that runoff from Mt. Calvary and also the
additional runoff going down Parkside to the bottom of the hill. In their continuing study of the White
Avenue sewer this will help that sewer project as well as relieving the
concerns that the Parkside residents have from this runoff. Their initial estimate for the project is
about $500,000. The City is trying to
schedule a meeting with them to see how soon they can move forward on the
project. MSD has some funding sources
they are looking at to try to correct those problems. They have a point system they use and this received a very high
number, which means it would receive a high priority because of the number of
residents that it affects.
Alderman Wynn suggested to the
Board that they should never go to an employee with a compliant. They should go to their boss and then that
person can solve the problem. The
employee does not have what it takes to stop or start something. Before someone ever goes to the newspaper
everyone on the Board should have a chance to discuss the issue. It should be the last resort to put the City
in the newspaper with a negative attitude.
Separate from the Board voting together, they have no power
individually. They are a committee of
the whole.
Rick Bauer – 2850 Lawndell came
before the Board and stated that there is a point that is being overlooked
which is perception. Perception is
reality whether you like it or not. It
is fine to help the church but the perception is that the City does not really
care what happens to those people.
Alderman Leahy stated that Alderwoman
Jepsen referred earlier to a letter that was sent to Mr. Seemayer basically
requesting what the proper procedure and criteria is for the City to be
involved in doing a project for somebody.
Is that letter going to be turned over to one of the committees to be
looked at and evaluated or are there procedures in place.
Mayor Kelly stated that Mr.
Seemayer just received that letter today.
Alderwoman Jepsen requested a written response to the letter. The position of the City in the past has been
that in instances where someone calls up and asks for some assistance whether
it be Mt. Calvary, St. Mary Magdalen, Brentwood Congregation or whatever the
organization, if the City Administrator feels that it is an appropriate thing
to do and within the realm of the City to help that organization it has been
left up to the discretion of the City Administrator to do that. At this time unless the Board of Aldermen
directs Mr. Seemayer to do something different his feeling is that it would be
very hard to legislate good will. It is
one of the things that have built the community. It would be very difficult to say that every time someone calls
up and asks for something you are going to have a committee meeting to have
that approved.
Alderman Leahy stated that he is
not opposed to allowing the City Administrator discretion in a good neighbor
policy.
Kevin Keaugh – 2853 Manderly came
before the Board and stated he would like to congratulate everybody on the
great Brentwood Days. The idea of
parking on one side of the street was greatly appreciated being a resident of
that area. He thanked everyone for
everything they did.
INTRODUCTIONS, READINGS, AND PASSAGE OF BILLS AND
RESOLUTIONS
Bill No. 5253 on hold
Motion was made by Alderman
Marshall, second by Alderman Golfin to place Bill No. 5253 on hold. Roll call:
Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes;
Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Kramer, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman
Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
1st and 2nd Readings of
Bills No. 5251 and 5252
Motion was made by Alderman
Cross, second by Alderman Wynn to give Bills No. 5251 and 5252 first and second
readings. Roll call: Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman Marshall,
yes; Alderman Leahy, yes; Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Kramer, yes; Alderman
Robertson, yes; Alderman Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
Bill No. 5251 – Professional Service Agreement
City Attorney Murphy gave Bill
No. 5251, AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF BRENTWOOD, MISSOURI
TO ENTER INTO A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH WOOLPERT LLP WITH RESPECT
TO THE BRENTWOOD COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE; PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF
THIS ORDINANCE; AND, PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF ALL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES,
its first and second readings.
Alderman Kramer read a synopsis
of Bill No. 5251: This Bill would
approve a contract with Woolpert LLP for the purpose of updating the
comprehensive plan. The contract amount
is $90,900 and the process should take eighteen months.
Alderman Marshall asked what
happens to the Comprehensive Plan Committee after the comprehensive plan update
is finished.
Mayor Kelly stated their job is
to go through the comprehensive plan process.
Once the plan is presented to the Board of Aldermen it dissolves.
Alderman Leahy stated that in
this year’s budget the Ways and Means Committee and the Board approved a
$50,000 expenditure for the comprehensive plan. With this contract you are looking at $90,900. The City would be allocating another $40,900
into the budget and making a cumulative $90,900 over two years.
Mayor Kelly stated that one of
the things that have taken this process longer is finding the funds to do
it. They had budgeted $50,000. Once the Committee had solicited bids, the
firms came in with their numbers, which was higher than what they had
anticipated. In order to do the proper
plan this is what they think they need.
The plan now is to use the $50,000 to start the process. As part of next year’s budget they will
allocate the additional funds.
Don Biemdiek stated that the
Committee initially thought they could get this job done for a lot less
money. They thought they knew a lot but
the more they worked together they discovered that they need a professional. They took a lot of time interviewing people,
etc. and he is pleased to say that they have found an excellent resource that
has knowledge, depth and skill that the committee does not possess. 1/3 of the cost is allocated to public
participation. One of the things they
have discovered is that people have many ideas but they do not necessarily come
and tell their elected representatives about those ideas. They churn amongst themselves. This public participation process will
involve a survey where people will be asked to respond. He encouraged the Board to encourage their
constituents to take an active part in participating in the process.
Alderman Golfin stated that he
and Alderman Wynn attended the Missouri Municipal League meeting recently. One of the sessions he attended was presented
by some very good planners from Kansas City.
The emphasis was that you need to have a good comprehensive plan and
that the plan is guidance for the Planning and Zoning Commission and for the
city as to how future developments will go.
He is glad to see that the City is doing a real review for the
comprehensive plan.
Alderman Robertson thanked
Chairman Biemdiek and the volunteers on the Committee who put time and
expertise into the process. They will
need public comments. When they use the
word development there will be development of some kind. Either they will develop or rot in
place. They need to direct the
development whether in residential or commercial areas.
Alderman Kramer stated there was
a question that came up a while back about something in the City Charter that
precluded an existing board from binding a future board which is why they
couldn’t issue more than a one year contract.
In this case how are they getting around that?
Mayor Kelly stated that in
practically municipalities enter into more than one year contracts all the time
in order to operate. Technically they
cannot. For example, no trash
contractor would have entered into a contract of year at a time.
Motion was made by Alderman
Leahy, second by Alderman Wynn to approve and adopt Bill No. 5251. Roll call:
Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes;
Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Kramer, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman
Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
The Mayor thereupon declared Bill
No. 5251 duly passed and signed same into approval thereof. Said Bill was given Ordinance No. 3951.
Bill No. 5252 – TIF Bonds
City Attorney Murphy gave Bill
No. 5252, AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF THE TAX INCREMENT REFUNDING
AND IMPROVEMENT REVENUE BONDS (8300 EAGER ROAD PROJECT – PHASE 1) SERIES 2004
AND TAX INCREMENT REVENUE NOTES (8300 EAGER ROAD PROJECT – PHASE 2) SERIES A
AND B OF THE CITY OF BRENTWOOD, MISSOURI, APPROVING CERTAIN DOCUMENTS RELATING
THERETO AND AUTHORIZING CERTAIN OTHER ACTIONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE EXECUTION
AND DELIVERY OF THE BONDS, its first and second readings.
Mark Grimm – Gilmore & Bell –
Bond Counsel on the project came before the Board and stated that there are a
couple of minor revisions to the trust indenture. Mr. Grimm distributed the revised pages to the trust
indenture. When bond issues are sold
the selling takes place in the few days before final action by the governing
body. In this case that occurred last
Thursday before the Board packets went out.
In the interest of getting the documents out for the packets he
discovered that he had a couple of blanks in the trust indenture. This bond issue is intended to refinance
the outstanding TIF notes relating to the Hanley and Eager Redevelopment project. By doing the refinancing the interest rate
is reduced 1.4%, from 6.5% to 5.1%, which results in an approximate savings to
the City over the life of the bond issue net present value savings of $600,000. What is extraordinary about this financing
is the bonds are callable in three years, which is a phenomenally short call
provision on a bond. If there is an
opportunity to refinance that at a lower savings or if phase 2 develops and
refinancing is done to facilitate that project it is a great provision in the
documents to give the City the most flexibility possible with respect to the
development of that project.
Alderman Golfin stated Mr. Grimm
mentioned the bonds being callable in three years. Is that for refinancing if desirable? Is that at three years or any time after three years?
Mr. Grimm stated both, at and
anytime after for any reason.
Alderwoman Jepsen stated that on
a lot of loans people anticipate a certain return on their money and there are
prepayment penalties. Is the City into
anything like that?
Mr. Grimm stated the notes that
are being refinanced were purchased by Great Southern Bank as part of the
overall financing for the initial construction of the project. These documents are very clear that there is
a three-year call protection and that these bonds can be redeemed November 1,
2007 at par without premium. Those
documents were also equally clear that there was a no call protection that they
could be prepaid at anytime without penalty.
Alderman Leahy directed his comments
to Mr. Grimm. He stated in Mr. Grimm’s
counseling for the City this is private sale of the bonds versus a public sale
of the bonds. He is looking for the due
diligence of making sure that as they make these transactions they have done
the best homework of negotiating to get the decent rate. What is the difference between making it
public versus private for the City?
Mr. Grimm stated certain types of
bond issues are sold at a true competitive sale. The City will pick a date in the future and advertise that it
intends to sell those bonds. The low
bidder will purchase the bonds. That is
done most commonly on general obligation bonds of the City. Those are bonds approved by the voters and
payable from the full faith in credit from an unlimited property tax levy to
repay the debt. Because of the very
specific nature of the bond issues and the peculiarity of the transaction do
not lend themselves to a true competitive sale. He would put in that category TIF obligations. He is aware of no city in the state that has
done a true competitive sale of a TIF obligation. A general obligation bond for Brentwood is the same as a general
obligation bond for any other city.
Everybody knows what the revenue stream is payable from property
taxes. TIF obligations are payable from
revenues of the project, so it requires a lot more diligence on the part of the
investment banking firm to make sure that those obligations are suitable for
their clients to fulfill their obligations on the securities laws. Those obligations are typically sold through
a negotiated underwriting where the city enters into an agreement with a single
investment-banking firm to purchase the bonds and resell those bonds to its
customers. In the St. Louis area there
are a couple of firms that have done a lot more of these types of obligations
than other firms. Stifel, Nicolaus
& Company who has underwritten all of the city’s TIF does more TIF
obligations. They have done more TIF
transactions than any other investment-banking firm in the state. Certainly they are very well experienced at
doing these types of transactions.
They understand the market and how to get good interest rates for the
municipalities.
Alderman Leahy stated that the
bills in front of them basically states that the City is authorizing by the
sale of this a cost of $365,000, which will come out of the TIF payments. They are looking at $900,000. You take away the incurred cost and that is
how you get the $640,000 of actual savings on the TIF project to get the City
to where this makes it a reasonable course of action. The public private conception is that as Board members they are
doing due diligence to make sure that they are watching what they are doing as
City officials and keeping things in an open form for where they are at. He appreciates the counsel that Mr. Grimm
and his firm gives the City to make sure they stay attentive to areas that they
could see savings for the City and expenses.
Alderman Kramer stated that
Article 2, page 10, references the amounts of money that are numerated
there. Some months ago the City
extended an additional amount of money.
Is that included in this amount?
Mayor Kelly responded yes.
Alderman Kramer read a synopsis
of Bill No. 5252: This Bill would allow
the $8 million in TIF notes issued for the Meridian Project to be sold publicly
as TIF bonds. The interest rate would
be reduced from 6.5% to 5.1% and the expected life of the TIF bonds would be
eleven years. TIF notes are normally
“refunded” as TIF bonds once the project has demonstrated to the financial
markets that it is stable. When TIF
notes are “refunded” as TIF bonds the interest rate is reduced and the expected
like of the TIF is shortened.
Motion was made by Alderman
Leahy, second by Alderman Robertson to approve and adopt Bill No. 5252. Roll call:
Alderwoman Jepsen, yes; Alderman Marshall, yes; Alderman Leahy, yes;
Alderman Golfin, yes; Alderman Kramer, yes; Alderman Robertson, yes; Alderman
Wynn, yes; Alderman Cross, yes.
The Mayor thereupon declared Bill
No. 5252 duly passed and signed same into approval thereof. Said Bill was given Ordinance No. 3952.
ACCOUNTS AGAINST THE CITY
Motion was made by Alderman
Marshall, second by Alderman Wynn to approve the revised warrant list dated
9/20/04. All in favor none
opposed.
Alderman Leahy stated the CDG
Engineering expense states legal service.
He asked for clarification on that expense.
City Administrator Seemayer
stated that it should be listed as engineering service, not legal. It is the work they have been doing on the
study of the Helen Avenue storm water project.
Alderwoman Jepsen asked about the
$8,991.00 listed under park as transportation for summer programs for
Laidlaw. Is that covered by the fees
collected through the Parks and Recreation Department?
City Administrator Seemayer
stated that is correct. It is for the
various programs they use through the summer to transport either adults on
trips or children at day camp to various activities. Everybody is charged fees to cover whatever type of program it
is.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES AND DEPARTMENT HEADS:
Mayor’s Report
Brentwood Days
Mayor Kelly expressed
appreciation to the City employees and staff that put Brentwood Days
celebration together. The City has
been very fortunate for a number of years to have good weather and great
turnout. One of the processes started
last year was trying to solicit corporate donors to help offset some of the
cost for Brentwood Days. Last year the
City raised about $9,000 from donations.
This year they increased that to about $12,500. The City appreciates their support because
it helps the City to put on a good festival and make it something that families
can come out and enjoy and not have to spend a fortune doing it.
Housing
Mayor Kelly stated that one of
the biggest issues facing Brentwood in the future is the housing. How do they transition into modern
housing? It is important as they move
through that process they look at trends and other communities around Brentwood
and further away from Brentwood as well.
One of the things that is staggering is the amount of money that is
leaving St. Louis County. High-income
wage earners are leaving St. Louis County and moving further out. One of the big indicators is how many new
home applications or permits are being put in by communities further out like
St. Charles, O’Fallon, Wentzville and so forth. People in our communities are moving out there because they can
get a lot more for their money and get the type of homes they want. Brentwood as a community needs to see how
they can attract those people as well.
That is why the comprehensive plan is so important to look at some of
those things and decide what direction the municipality wants to go.
Public Safety Committee – No report
Public Works Committee
– No further report
City Engineer – No
report
Parks – No report
Zoning Administrator
– No report
Ways and Means Committee
– No report
Planning and Zoning
– No report
City Attorney – No
report
City Clerk/Administrator
City Administrator Seemayer
stated that they will be getting a memo that had been discussed previously at
the Board meeting pertaining to a past personnel lawsuit and the history of
that.
Director of Economic Development
Director of Economic Development
Shelton stated that the Comprehensive Plan Committee would hold a meeting
Wednesday, October 20th in the Council Chamber.
Mayor Kelly stated that he
received a letter of resignation from Art Oppenhiem, former Mayor and long time
Brentwood resident. He and his wife are
moving out of Brentwood. He appreciates
everything Mr. Oppenhiem has done for the community, not only in the present
being part of the Comprehensive Plan Committee but everything he has done in
the past.
Excise Commissioner
– No report
Library – No report
Municipal League
Mayor Kelly stated that he was
asked to serve on the MML Legislative Committee, which they will look at issues
in St. Louis County and making recommendations to any state legislation changes
needed in St. Louis County.
Alderman Golfin stated he and
Alderman Wynn have submitted a short report on the summary of the MML
meeting. Copies of the handouts are
available for viewing if anyone is interested.
Waste Management Commission – No
further report
Storm Water Management - No further report
Communication – No
report
Insurance Committee - No report
Historical Society
– No report
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Alderman Marshall stated that he
talked with several people at the festival and a lot of people were upset
because the churches that the City helps are serving residents that live in
Brentwood. It is a good thing that they
have cooperation between the schools, churches and community.
Alderman Cross stated that she
had several phone calls, emails and people talking to her at Brentwood Days. They are happy with the fact that the City
does things like that to help out. She
does not think it is so complicated that it needs to have a lot of guidelines
and rules. It has worked out fine so
far and she would like to see the City continue in the direction it has been
going.
NEW BUSINESS
Ward 3 meeting will be held on
Tuesday, September 28, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.
Mayor Kelly stated that they are
very excited that the Brentwood Promenade is fully leased again. Heritage Furniture will be occupying the
Sports Authority facility. They have
applied for their demolition permit and are proceeding to do work on that
building. Thomasville Furniture will be
moving in to the former Gateway Computer space.
The DCM Project has gotten some
leases on some of the office space in the first building. They are also excited that they have a
letter of intent for the first floor of the third building, which is right next
to the Sports Authority facility for a Chili’s Restaurant. If they do not move forward they have a
backup contract from Red Robin Restaurant.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by Alderman
Kramer, second by Alderwoman Jepsen to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m. All in favor none opposed.
ss/Pat Kelly
Pat Kelly, Mayor
Attest:
ss/Chris Seemayer
Chris Seemayer, City Clerk