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The meeting was called to order by Mayor Young at 6:36 p.m. in the Board room at the Donald “Red” Loehr Police and Court Center at 300 Park Drive.  The meeting was open to the public and notice was posted in the 24-hour lobby of Ballwin Police Department, the Government Center, the Golf Clubhouse and The Pointe on the Friday preceding the meeting.  Those in attendance were Mayor Young, Aldermen Pogue, Terbrock, Buermann, Suozzi, Robinson, Fleming, Gatton and Lembke.  Also in attendance were City Administrator Kuntz, Assistant City Administrator Aiken, Finance Officer Loehr, Director of Parks and Recreation Bruer, Public Works Director Kramer, Director of Public Works Kramer, Police Captain Saulters, City Attorney Lucchesi, and Laura Radcliff and Jeff York, representatives from A.G. Edwards.

City Administrator Kuntz introduced Laura Radcliff and Jeff York from A. G. Edwards, to give an overview from an outside perspective of the financial conditions of the City of Ballwin as it has trended since their last analysis.

Ms. Radcliff said that the City of Ballwin relationship with A.G. Edwards goes back to about 1992.  She said that Ballwin has a large reliance on sales tax.  This has been a stable, but not a growing revenue stream.  Olde Towne is a good indicator of this.  This development opened during an economic slump, the economy is now better, but the sales tax revenue is still not at the level that was hoped.  Reserves are lower than they should be for a AA2 City, which is a very high bond rating.  This rating could not have been achieved for the first time, given today’s financial situation. 

Jeff York said that it’s a challenge when reserves get to the level that Ballwin is at to maintain this rating over the long term.  Most of the cities that have as much dependence on sales tax have reserves upwards of 40%, 50%, 60% of their annual operating budget.  Ballwin’s reserved are less than 30%.  It’s a good level but getting too low. 

Ms. Radcliff said that Manchester Road is a problem, competition is growing via Chesterfield Valley, Gravois Bluffs, and potentially Manchester Highlands.  Each of these could take revenues and entire businesses away from the Manchester Road corridor.  She said the bottom line is that diversification will be the key to Ballwin’s financial health. 

Ms. Radcliff said that to get more revenues, higher sales taxes could be imposed, but that would put Ballwin in an extremely high sales tax rate relative to the rest of St. Louis County.  The increase in collection of sales tax has been modest, there’s limited land available for new development in Ballwin, and the sales tax rate is high.  It the rate was increased, it would become one of the highest in the region.  Sales taxes can be stable but also volatile.  This is a passive revenue source and very little can be done to control how much is collected. 

Mr. York said that the more diversity a city has in the revenue streams tends to lend itself to higher rating categories.  With sales taxes, you can project as much as possible, but you never know from year to year what’s going to come in.  With diversification, there are other revenue streams that may be able to offset this.  He said that if property taxes or utility taxes are raised, this will generate additional revenue.  Utility taxes probably won’t generate as much money as a property tax, but it would be a start to offset some of the potential problems. 

Alderman Lembke asked if a AA1 rating is better than a AA2 rating.  Mr. York said AA2 is just below a AA1.  He said it’s better to be a AA1.  Ms. Radcliff said that this is an indicator of stronger financial health. 

Ms. Radcliff said that the Capital Budget has revenue streams that are tied to capital, so when looking at the overall budget, we need to be clear that the Capital Budget is separate.  She said this discussion is regarding the Operating Budget.  The capital reserves are not counted toward the fund balance.  This is not considered an operating fund balance at all.  She said Ballwin has been stable, but it is important to diversify and look for other sources of revenue.  The City of Ballwin is too sales tax dependent.  She said that Ballwin is not the only city with this problem.  It’s a common problem throughout St. Louis County because the economy and the demographics are changing, and it won’t get any better.  The dependence will be come more and more difficult for the city to deal with over time, particularly if you want to maintain the kind of services that have been provided to the residents throughout the years.

Alderman Robinson asked when was the last time a municipality in St. Louis County went from a situation where they did not have a property tax to instituting a property tax.  Ms. Radcliff said that she does not know.  City Administrator Kuntz said that the closest example is the City of Creve Coeur two years ago when administratively, they re-imposed a utility tax rate that had been rolled back.  That was upheld on a challenge.  Ms. Radcliff said that the initiative to implement a property tax in Kirkwood and Crestwood failed.  She said that in the early 1990s or late 1980s, Kansas City implemented a tax and rolled back another type of tax.  This would be something that would generate more revenue than what is rolled back.  She said this is a political strategy. 

Alderman Robinson said that this meeting should present revenue alternatives.  He said that if the utility tax and property tax is all that is feasible, then the Board has already evaluated these options.  Ms. Radcliff said that if the Board wanted to completely change the nature and character of some part of the City, like what was done with Olde Towne, it could be discussed to determine if there is apart of the city that is appropriate for industrial development or office development.  That would be a much larger strategic conversation.  She said that in terms of the quicker fixes, the menu doesn’t offer many selections. 

Alderman Gatton said that office and industrial developments doesn’t offer much either, since Ballwin is based almost exclusively on sales tax.  These types of developments don’t generate sales tax. 

Alderman Buermann said there is a public transportation sales tax available also which could be earmarked for streets.  Mayor Young said that when he looks at Chesterfield and Town & Country, they are trying to spend their money as fast as they get it, and they still have too much.  He said that both Mayors have said that they do whatever they want because they have enough money and it keeps coming in. 

Ms. Radcliff said that the 84% reserves in Manchester is money that was set aside to operate the new police station that was never built.  City Administrator Kuntz said that many cities do not have separate capital and operating budgets.  He said that several cities are dipping into their reserves to balance their budgets.  Mayor Young said that Town & Country and Chesterfield are doing this, but they said they have enough money coming in so they don’t have to worry at this point.

Alderman Gatton said that in Kirkwood, after the tax levy failed, there was an austerity budget put in place.  He asked for clarification of this.  Ms. Radcliff said that there were significant personnel cuts at the Kirkwood City Hall.  Alderman Gatton said that if a revenue enhancement is requested and fails, what will happen then?  Ms. Radcliff said that the Kirkwood Library has cut service hours. 

Mayor Young said that the utility tax could be raised from 5% to 7%, a ¼ cent sales tax could be implemented, or property tax.  He asked if it would require voter approval to raise the utility tax from 5% to 7%.  City Attorney Lucchesi said voter approval would not be required for the utility tax.  The property tax would be a problem because the amount that was collected in 1985 would have to be spread over the new base of annexation areas, which will not give the amount of money that is needed.  An increase in the utility tax could be effective immediately. 

Alderman Pogue said that he would not feel comfortable raising the utility tax without taking it to the voters.  City Administrator Kuntz said that it was a conscious act to roll one tax back in exchange for another.  This obligation has been fulfilled.  The most honorable way would be to let the people say what they want done.  Alderman Suozzi said that the utility tax at the State level may get reduced. 

Alderman Lembke said he is not in favor of increasing the utility tax. 

Finance Officer Loehr said that in 2006, the estimated revenue on the telephone franchise fee is $350,000.  If this is rolled back to 3%, the estimated revenue will be about $210,000, with a $140,000 loss. 

Alderman Robinson asked how a municipal merger could affect the revenue stream.  Ms. Radcliff said she has not evaluated this.  He asked how would becoming a pool city affect the revenue stream.  Ms. Radcliff said that pool areas are frozen.  City Administrator Kuntz said that a merger would create a new political subdivision and would have to be approved by the Boundary Commission and a majority of the voters in both affected communities.  Everything would be pooled.  Both neighbors east and west of Ballwin are point of sale.  All would have to give up point of sale to become pool. 

Finance Officer Loehr said that from 2002 – 2004, 54% of the sales tax came from point of sale, and 46% came from pool.  As of 2005, we are down to 52% and went up to 48% with pool. 

Mayor Young said that at some time in the future, it will all be pool for the entire county.  Fenton and Chesterfield are pushing to become pool.  Chesterfield wants a different split so that they get more for the pool to increase their revenues by $500,000.  With larger population, pool is the best way to go. 

Alderman Robinson disagreed.  He said the only people who want Ballwin to loose the point of sale are cities like Chesterfield because they are sharing their money with us and they are upset that we aren’t sharing our money with them.  He said that negotiations and discussions with other Mayors should be made known to this Board so that complete information can be considered for the financial future of Ballwin. 

Alderman Fleming asked for more information about the public transportation sales tax.  If the streets are of the most serious concern to residents, would this tax fix this problem?  Alderman Buermann said that he doesn’t have enough information at this time.  Alderman Fleming said that this should be added to the list of alternatives for increased revenue.  In the Public Opinion Surveys, people are constantly saying that the street repairs should be addressed. 

Ms. Radcliff said that since there are no capital expenditures in the operating budget, this would neither supplement nor offset anything in the operating budget.  City Administrator Kuntz said some cities don’t have separate capital and operating budgets because they haven’t taken the tax initiatives to create the trail.  Ballwin was very aggressive in going to the voters for each of the eligible ½ cent taxes and showing a pattern of how the money was allocated as opposed to mixing it in one pot. 

Ms. Radcliff said that once you adopt a capital improvement sales tax, you are required to spend it on capital improvements, and it cannot be in the operating budget.  City Administrator Kuntz said that even if it was lumped together, subject to audit, you would have to account for those proceeds. 

Alderman Gatton said that part of Ballwin is considered point of sale.  Anything annexed would be pool.  If a merger with another city were to occur, that would make the entire merged entity pool.  City Administrator said this is his understanding because it would be a new entity.  At this time, there isn’t a track record of experience because this hasn’t happened.  Alderman Gatton asked if this would be beneficial.  City Administrator Kuntz said that if we merged with a city of 20,000, there would be 20,000 times the county-wide base to go into the pool.  If we merged with a city of 10,000, that’s a city that is 1/3 of Ballwin’s size.  If we are getting $2.5 million from pool, 1/3 of that is what we could pick up and the rest would be offset by expenditures, and some elimination of duplication.  Without doing a detailed analysis, this doesn’t appear to be a windfall.  You will be getting almost even dollars.  The commercial holes would not be replaced, but they will be going to pool areas generating sales that we will still get a portion of because of the population.  Some will be lost because of the point of sale.  From that standpoint, you might be more aggressively inclined towards pool. 

Alderman Gatton asked would Ballwin benefit by merging with another city and would losing the point of sale be a plus or minus?  Alderman Robinson asked why would a strong city merge with a weak city?  He said for Ballwin to receive the best benefits, we would have to merge with a strong city.  He asked why would the citizens in the strong city vote to merge with the weak city?  The strong city would have to take on the expenses of the weak city.  He said the political reality is that our voters are not going to approve this.  He said that a merger will be a waste of time.  He said the expert, Ms. Radcliff has made three suggestions.  Ms. Radcliff said that out of the three suggestions, only two are best, which is the property tax or utility tax.  Alderman Robinson said that in order to utilize the utility tax, voter approval will be difficult.  He said he does not agree with raising the property tax.  City Attorney Lucchesi said that there are only two options, raise taxes or cut expenses. 

Alderman Buermann asked for a projection of a merger for a clearer understanding.  Alderman Gatton said that there have not been any discussions with other cities about a merger, but he would like to better understand the process.  He said it appears that Ballwin would end up with less money if we did a merger. 

Alderman Gatton asked what triggers a city’s re-rating.  Mr. York said that all of the rating agencies review the city’s finances and rating.  Ballwin is on a cycle to eventually be looked at for evaluation.  If you do nothing, the city is likely to be downgraded.  He said that if Ballwin doesn’t do anything to diversify, the city is likely to be downgraded. 

Mayor Young asked if this Board decided to raise the utility tax from 5% to 7%, which would immediately give additional revenues, would this demonstrate that we are moving in a more positive way so that they may not want to lower Ballwin’s ratings?  Mr. York said that the rating agencies want to see that there is a plan, whatever the Board decides.  Preferably they would like to see as much money coming in as quickly as possible.  The biggest issue is that for typically sales tax dependencies, there is a much higher level of reserves requirement than in a very diverse city.  Over the long term, reserves should be higher than where they are at this time. 

Mayor Young asked how much should be in reserves for the City to look better?  Mr. York said that there were no exact numbers to answer this.  Manchester has a higher reserve because it’s not very big.  Chesterfield has a lot of economic development along with the money, which makes it a AA1 city.  Mr. York said that between 30% - 45% in reserves would be typical for a city the size of Ballwin with its debt profile, and lack of diversity in revenue. 

Ms. Radcliff said that if a rating agency was looking at a city that is solely sales tax vs. solely utility tax, vs. solely property tax, and the agency rated an obligation with any of those discrete revenue streams, the property tax/revenue stream would absolutely be the highest rated revenue stream.  Ms. Radcliff said that she supports a property tax because having worked in municipal government, with a few exceptions, she doesn’t believe that there are too many that have more money than they need.

Mr. York said that a property tax lends itself to the most stable option and given the growth that Ballwin is seeing on its assessments, that will project out the best and most stable revenues.  Anything else, short of raising utility taxes a lot, sales taxes a lot, are going to present insufficient money to cover what could potentially be long term instability. 

Mayor Young said that a sales tax would make the rate higher than the surrounding communities.  This will force people to go to other places to shop because they don’t want to spend that much more in sales tax.  Ms. Radcliff said that there are national chain retailers who will not locate in a city with too high of a sales tax. 

Alderman Fleming said that the city is basically healthy, except for the streets.  Going to a property tax is the most drastic solution.  He said if he went to the doctor and said he’s not feeling well, and the doctor said to stop by the hospital and they will open him up to see what’s going on, this would be too drastic.  He said he does not like utilizing the most drastic solution first.  The City is healthy except for the streets, so perhaps there are other solutions available before taking the most drastic approach.

Alderman Suozzi said that she disagrees that the city is healthy because the expenses are getting closer and closer to the revenues.  She said there is not enough money in the reserves. 

Alderman Gatton said that services have been reduced and are likely to reduce services further.  We can’t go into the reserves and the budget has to be balanced based on what is available.  This is becoming more difficult.  He said there are more issues than just repairing the streets.  Transferring the payment for recycling to the residents is a good example of cutting costs. 

Alderman Gatton said that the results of the previous Public Opinion Surveys have been that the residents want to live in a high service city with low tax or no tax. 

Mayor Young said asked if the Board wants to do anything with any of the three suggestions that were made by Ms. Radcliff and Mr. York?  It appears that the order of consideration is 1) utility tax increased to 7% would be a quick fix, which would bring in about $790,000 per year; 2) property tax reinstating the 27¢ tax that was in effect in 1987 would generate about $1.25 million; 3) sales tax.  Aldermen Buermann and Fleming said that this is not the priority order for consideration in their view.  Alderman Fleming suggested that the public transportation tax be considered. 

Alderman Buermann asked, if we have a property tax increase, under the current guidelines, can a higher rate be collected than in 1987, which was around $200,000.  City Attorney Lucchesi said this will not be possible without a vote of the people.  Alderman Robinson said that Aldermen Fleming and Terbrock have stated that they will not support a property tax without first investigating other avenues for generating revenue.  Alderman Buermann agreed.  Alderman Robinson said the Board is wasting time talking about a property tax. 

Alderman Buermann asked if any calculations have been made to bring all of the streets in Ballwin up to a “B” rating?  City Administrator Kuntz said it will take years.  Alderman Buermann said that some “B” rated street are in terrible condition.  Director of Public Works Kramer said that while work is being done on one street, the other streets are deteriorating every year by age.  The pavement expert determined that the Ballwin score for streets is 74 and not to ever expect to ever get to 80. 

Alderman Suozzi said that she has been on the Board for 10 years.  The budget has been cut over and over again that there’s nothing left to cut unless employees are laid off and vacant positions are not filled.  She said she doesn’t see streets getting better unless there are more funds.  She said she wouldn’t have a problem with a real estate tax being split between operating and capital.  The operating reserve problem is not going to be solved by a utility tax because this tax is on the chopping block at the State level.  Everyone will be irritated because they now have to pay 7% and risk not getting what we want out of it because of the State. 

Mayor Young said that if we would be successful getting a property tax approved, we can’t take all of the money and divide it into two pieces without putting something into reserves.  It has to be a 3-way divide and not just capital and operating.  Alderman Lembke pointed out that dividing the funds 3 ways will not solve the problem because dividing $400,000 into four wards will only allow $100,000 in each ward.  This will not be enough for street repairs.  He said that unless several million dollars each year is spent on street repairs, we are wasting our time and money.  If we don’t do anything, the city will be in big trouble.  He said the solution is not just the utility tax, or the property tax, or sales tax.  He said Ballwin needs all three.  We buried our heads in the sand long enough and now a decision has to be made.  He said we either have to make the residents happier by lower expectations and tell them that this is as good of a street as they are going to get so that they can adjust to this, or we have to do something now to make more money available in the future.  He said that at this time, the streets are as good as they are going to get without a significant amount of money to put into street repairs.  People are going to ask why their streets still have potholes after they voted for the property tax and utility tax.  City Administrator Kuntz said that a bond issue will eat up 10% in issuance and interest costs. 

Alderman Lembke asked how do we get the people to understand and look farther than 1 or 2 years from now.  Alderman Robinson said that this Board has to come to a consensus and where is the Mayor going to lead the Board and the City. 

Mayor Young said the he agrees with Alderman Suozzi regarding the utilities and it is a quick fix.  A 2% increase in a utility bill is not a major cost.  The residents have said not to raise property taxes and some say don’t raise any taxes. 

Alderman Suozzi said that there is a common misconception that people think they are paying property tax to the City of Ballwin, but they are not.  Alderman Gatton said that Ballwin is a high service city with a low tax mentality.  The Board still has that mentality to some degree, and until the Board is unanimous that either we can’t stay high service at low revenue, or drop the service or increase the revenue.  He said he is not yet hearing that consensus from the Board.  Until there is a consensus on the Board, we are wasting our time.  People don’t want to spend more money, but they want high service.  He said that either the service has to drop, or minds will have to change.  He said he has not revealed where he stands on this issue and is not going to because he has political opposition in the audience at this meeting, which will become a campaign issue.  He said that talking about this during the political campaign season is a ridiculous thing to do. 

Mayor Young said that candidates should be honest with the people and find out what the people want.  Alderman Gatton said the people have said that they don’t want any taxes.  He said that people were asked what services should be cut if the city can’t afford to pay for it.  They were willing to cut something that doesn’t hurt them.  They said to raise the business license tax. 

Alderman Gatton said that even if we generated from property taxes $1.2 million, it would take 30 years to fix the street, not even touching some of the arterials that are in major need of work, such as Kehrs Mill.  He said a 30¢ property tax isn’t going to be enough to fix the streets or even keep us where we’re at.

Mayor Young asked would the Board support increasing the utility tax from 5% to 7%?  Alderman Robinson said that before he commits one way or the other, he wants to know Mayor Young’s position for leadership guidance.  Mayor Young said he is willing to raise the utility tax to 7%. 

Alderman Suozzi asked if just the utility tax is raised and nothing else, will that cause opposition from the residents later for the real estate tax? 

Alderman Buermann said that he is not going to be able to state his position on these issues at this meeting.  He said he does not have the necessary data to make this decision at this time.  It will be many years before all of the streets in Ballwin are up to good standards.  He asked should 50% more be put into operating? 

Mayor Young said that this situation has been discussed for years, and in every discussion, the Board wants to evaluate a different direction.  Alderman Buermann asked where did the $287,000 go for the elimination of the calendar and passing the recycling bill to the residents.  Alderman Gatton said it balanced the budget.  Until this Board is unanimous, we have no business going to the residents and asking for additional money.  He said he is not willing to ask the residents for more money unless the residents can be told where it will be spent.  That has not been discussed by this Board. 

Alderman Terbrock said he is not willing to ask for tax money because it has been stated that this won’t fix the problem.  He said this is a total waste of time to discuss this because it’s not going to solve the problem. 

Mayor Young said that a consensus has not been agreed upon as to what can be cut from the operating budget.  Alderman Lembke agreed.  Alderman Gatton said that the Board has already cut everything except the personnel, and salaries were frozen.  When you keep cutting all of the expenditures on the operating side except personnel, in a year or two, we will be cutting personnel.  After that, where do we go? 

City Attorney Lucchesi said that you can’t sit around and say you don’t have enough money.  You’ll never have enough money.

Alderman Robinson said the political reality on this Board is that people are going to be voted in or voted out on the street question.  Alderman Suozzi disagreed.  Alderman Robinson said that it costs a lot of money to live at Ballwin’s high standards.  He said we will cut each other off at the knees if we don’t come up with one solid game plan.  He suggested that senior Alderman Buermann meet with the newest Aldermen and evaluate more cuts or raise taxes.  He said we should make sure we don’t have excess expenditures and be able to tell the residents exactly what the new tax money will be used for. 

Alderman Buermann asked how can the Board talk about building a new City Hall when we are talking about the need for street repair.  The operating budget is intertwined with the capital budget. 

Alderman Gatton said that if it is the will of the Board that the residents be asked for more money, we have to tell them how the money will be spent.  This has not been clearly decided.  He said there isn’t a strategy or a game plan in place. 

Alderman Lembke suggested waiting until the Strategic Planning Committee finishes at the end of this year and they can present their vision for the city over the next 10 years.  Alderman Buermann disagreed.  Mayor Young asked why spend $¼ million or more on a building that’s already falling apart.  This building has excellent Manchester Road frontage that could be just right for business. 

Alderman Gatton said he doesn’t want to be talking about a new City Hall at the same time discussion about reducing head count is on the table, or how much money should be put into streets. 

Alderman Fleming said that since he has been on this Board, he has constantly questioned “Consent Items” and whether or not they are useful.  Most of the time they are.  At the last budget meeting, a 4% pay raise was approved for the employees.  He said he asked what would 3% do.  The answer was it would save $100,000.  He said no one wanted to talk about that.  He asked about a car that was described as a supplement, and everyone accused him of breaking employee morale by not going along with every expenditure.  He said that until he can tell the residents that he has looked at all of the expenditures and that the money is being spent carefully and in a responsible manner, he doesn’t want to suggest any kind of tax initiative without being able to specifically tell the residents, here’s what we need the money for.  He asked, what do we need to spend the money on other than streets?  Alderman Suozzi said that the revenue is not keeping up with the expenses.  Alderman Fleming said that when the bond issues have been tied to a specific purpose, people have been willing to support them.  Every property tax initiative that was mentioned tonight has failed. 

Alderman Lembke said that if he left the impression that he made Alderman Fleming feel uncomfortable about bringing questions to the Board about the “Consent Items”, he apologized.  He said he agrees with Alderman Fleming and encouraged him to continue doing this.  Alderman Lembke asked that when Alderman Fleming does this, that he approach staff for justification to try to get his questions answered before the meeting.  If the answers are not obtained before the meeting, then he can express his concerns and ask why is this needed.  Alderman Lembke said he does not approve of questioning all of the “Consent Items” during the Board meeting without having communicated with staff prior to the meeting to get questions answered, blindsides staff and the Board and this is very unfair to staff.  Alderman Fleming said that he has tried to do this in a tactful way, and that sometimes he has asked questions before the Board meeting.  He said to discuss in a public meeting lets the people know that this has been checked out and this is why it is justified.  If it is not discussed in the public meeting, people just see a line item and think that the Board just casually spent $20,000.  It sends the message to the people that we are being careful with their money. 

Alderman Lembke said that perhaps the “Consent Items” section of the agenda should be eliminated and have discussion of each item.  He suggested having a brain-storming session regarding in what other areas could expenditure cuts be made or revenue increased.  He said that brain-storming means that no one could say “no, that’s not going to work”. 

Alderman Fleming said he thinks that at some point in time, the Golf Course will not be there, and that it will be redeveloped.  That will affect the financial position.  Mayor Young said it will cost $½ million to install a new irrigation system for the Golf Course.  He asked where is that money going to come from?  He suggested letting the Parks & Rec Committee bring recommendations on this back to the Board. 

Alderman Robinson said that Mayor Young is the only person who can guide the Board on which direction to pursue.  Mayor Young said that he wants the Parks & Rec Committee to meet before the February 27 Board meeting.  He also directed the Finance & Administration Committee to meet before the February 27 Board meeting, and bring a recommendation to the Board at that meeting.  If the committee doesn’t have anything at that point, they can at least inform the Board of the discussions that were held. 

Alderman Lembke said that the Arts Commission will meet on Tuesday or Thursday night, the third week of the month at 7:00 p.m.

Alderman Pogue said that he has received information that Target is not going to Wildwood, but will be moving to Eureka. 

Mayor Young said that a meeting was held with the architect for the Town & Country development at Hwy. 141 and Clayton Road.  There will be some modifications to Clayton Road.  There are changes being made before presentation to the Board.  He said the residents will like what they are thinking about and that there is change going on at that location. 

City Administrator Kuntz said that he received a letter from the League of Women Voters asking if the City of Ballwin would be interested in hosting a candidate forum.  They are looking for a place and time and they will take care of the rest of the details. 

Mayor Young suggested that on February 13, at 6:30 p.m., the Finance & Administration Committee will meet.  The Parks & Rec Committee will meet prior to the Board meeting on February 27, and the Public Health & Safety Committee will meet immediately after the Board of Aldermen meeting at approximately 8:00 p.m.  The Board unanimously agreed.

A motion was made by Alderman Buermann and seconded by Alderman Gatton to adjourn.  A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the meeting was adjourned at 9:12 p.m.

Walter S. Young, Mayor

Attest:

Robert A. Kuntz, City Administrator