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Archived Meeting Agendas

 

Every effort is made to ensure that the Agendas and Minutes provided on this and subsequent pages is timely and correct; however, users should keep in mind that this information is provided only as a public convenience. In any case where legal reliance on information is required, the official records of the City of Ballwin should be consulted.

The Board of Aldermen meet on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 7 p.m. in the Board Room of the Ballwin Government Center, 1 Government Ctr. Schedule and place subject to change. Meetings are open to the public. All citizens are urged to attend.

Board of Aldermen Meeting

Meeting Agenda

Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jones at 7:00 p.m.

 

PRESENT

ABSENT

Mayor Robert E. Jones

  

Alderman Kay Easter

  

Alderman Press McDowell

  

Alderman Kenneth W. Buermann

  

Alderman Jane Suozzi

  

Alderman James Robinson

  

Alderman Bruce Anderson

  

Alderman Charles Gatton

  

Alderman Ray Lembke

  

City Administrator Robert Kuntz

  

City Attorney Lionel Lucchesi

  

The Pledge of Allegiance was given.

The Minutes of the November 25, 2002 Operating Budget Workshop were submitted for approval. A motion was made by Alderman Anderson and seconded by Alderman Easter to approve the Minutes. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed.

The Minutes of the November 25, 2002 Board of Aldermen meeting were submitted for approval. A motion was made by Alderman Easter and seconded by Alderman Buermann to approve the Minutes. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

None.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

None.

LEGISLATION

BILL # 3201 - AN ORDINANCE APPROVING AND ADOPTING A BUDGET OF ANTICIPATED CASH REVENUE AND CASH DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE GENERAL REVENUE FUND OF THE CITY OF BALLWIN, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING JANUARY 1, 2003, AND ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2003. PROVIDING FOR EXPENDITURES IN ACCORDANCE WITH SAID BUDGET AND MAKING APPROPRIATIONS THEREOF.

A motion was made by Alderman Easter and seconded by Alderman Buermann for a first reading of Bill No. 3201. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. Bill No. 3201 was read for the first time.

City Administrator Kuntz gave a brief overview of the 2003 Operating Budget. The proposed expenditures are $12,667,684. This is $1,000 higher than the 2002 budget. Projected revenues are $11,933,826 compared to $11,747,702 in 2002. The difference of approximately $700,000 will be made up from available fund reserves. The Board has directed staff to give a report to them on the City’s financial condition, since so much is dependent upon sales tax. A work session will be held in April to review the progress.

Mayor Jones said that revenue forecasting is the way of the future for local governments to budget in the new economy. Forecasting more than one year in advance should be considered.

A motion was made by Alderman Robinson and seconded by Alderman Lembke for a second reading of Bill No. 3201. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. Bill No. 3201 was read for the second time.

A roll call was taken for passage and approval of Bill No. 3201 with the following results: Ayes – Robinson, McDowell, Anderson, Buermann, Easter, Lembke, Suozzi, Gatton. Nays – None. Whereupon Mayor Jones declared Bill No. 3201 approved and it became Ordinance No. 02-58.

BILL # 3202 - AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE VACATION OF A PORTION OF THE RIGHT OF WAY FOR MULBERRY STREET IN THE CITY OF BALLWIN.

A motion was made by Alderman Anderson and seconded by Alderman Suozzi for a first reading of Bill No. 3202. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. Bill No. 3202 was read for the first time.

A motion was made by Alderman Suozzi and seconded by Alderman Easter for a second reading of Bill No. 3202. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. Bill No. 3202 was read for the second time.

A roll call was taken for passage and approval of Bill No. 3202 with the following results: Ayes – Suozzi, Anderson, Easter, Lembke, Robinson, Buermann, McDowell, Gatton. Nays – None. Whereupon Mayor Jones declared Bill No. 3202 approved and it became Ordinance No. 02-59.

BILL # 3203 - AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 24 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF BALLWIN, AND IN PARTICULAR SECTION 24-49 ENTITLED "APPLICATION FEE" AND SECTION 24-50 ENTITLED "CASH BOND OR PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT BOND REQUIRED IN THE CITY OF BALLWIN.

A motion was made by Alderman Suozzi and seconded by Alderman Buermann for a first reading of Bill No. 3203. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. Bill No. 3203 was read for the first time.

A motion was made by Alderman Buermann and seconded by Alderman Gatton for a second reading of Bill No. 3203. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. Bill No. 3203 was read for the second time.

A roll call was taken for passage and approval of Bill No. 3203 with the following results: Ayes – Buermann, Easter, Robinson, Lembke, Anderson, Gatton, McDowell, Suozzi. Nays – None. Whereupon Mayor Jones declared Bill No. 3203 approved and it became Ordinance No. 02-60.

City Administrator Kuntz said that this is the season when there will be very few excavations. This ordinance addresses only excavations that are in connection with public rights-of-way. This does not involve anything on private property. Inspections are required by the City to insure that the infrastructure is not damaged or is properly repaired.

BILL # 3204 - AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 3, SECTION 3-78 AND ARTICLE XIV OF ORDINANCE 557, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BALLWIN, DEALING WITH PROVISIONS RELATING TO ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESSES.

A motion was made by Alderman Buermann and seconded by Alderman Suozzi for a first reading of Bill No. 3204. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. Bill No. 3204 was read for the first time.

Mayor Jones said this matter was on the agenda of the Planning and Zoning Commission on December 2. It was considered as an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance and received a unanimous recommendation.

Alderman Gatton asked about the prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages in the original package. He asked if beer would have to be served in glasses instead of bottles. City Attorney Lucchesi said that beer by-the-drink is a separate license and does not come under the package liquor license. Mr. Lucchesi said that package liquor is not an individual item or a single container; it’s a six pack or a case. Alderman Gatton said that his understanding of this Special Use Exception will limit the sale of beer in bottles at any location providing live entertainment. He asked that this item be clarified.

Alderman Gatton asked if the language in this S.U.E. has been tested or modeled after another City’s law. City Attorney Lucchesi said it is loosely modeled after the City of St. Louis law, but it has not to his knowledge been tested in court. This language avoids the speech issue of the former language.

Alderman Buermann said in section "c", it states "nor shall any alcoholic beverage be removed from the premises". In the re-wording, beer should not be excluded.

Mayor Jones stated that beer in a single bottle or can is not considered package liquor.

It was agreed by the consensus that this legislation, Bill # 3204, be held over to the next meeting pending a revision of the language that deals with the issue of package liquor.

Alderman Easter asked about the amount of parking spaces for businesses with live entertainment. City Attorney Lucchesi said that this S.U.E. requires considerably more than is required of a business without this S.U.E. If the lot was large and they wanted to run shuttles, they could do that, but the requirement is that all parking be at the same lot. They could not shuttle from another location.

Alderman McDowell said he has a problem with legislation that says if there is going to be live entertainment, that there has to be twice the parking spaces available to patrons. He thinks this penalizes the business. City Attorney Lucchesi said the purpose is to restrict the business to areas that can handle the large number of patrons. There are some areas that cannot handle this volume of parking.

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR FUNDING UNDER THE ST. LOUIS COUNTY RECYCLING AND REDUCTION GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE CONTINUATION OF THE BALLWIN CURBSIDE RECYCLING PROGRAM.

A motion was made by Alderman Suozzi and seconded by Alderman Buermann to approve the Resolution authorizing the City Administrator to submit an application for funding. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the Resolution was declared passed.

CONSENT ITEMS

None.

MAYOR’S REPORT

Arts Commission Appointment:

A motion was made

Meeting Cancellation:

Special Use Exception Transfer – Olde Towne Plaza:

Alderman Buermann asked if final acceptance has been received from MSD for the retention area in the back. City Administrator Kuntz said the MSD approval was a condition for the street acceptance, but this is for the front yard parking for the Plaza. These are two separate issues. The transfer will not affect the streets.

Authorization for the City to accept financial responsibility for water usage in the landscaped medians is also requested by motion.

A motion was made

A motion was made

CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

Sign Upgrade:

City Administrator Kuntz said that even if the sign will be the same size, the issue is the increased size of the support structure. Assistant City Administrator Aiken said that the drawing doesn’t clearly indicate how big the sign will be or the exact location. It appears that the overall height will be taller than the current sign and taller than allowed by code. The maximum height is 6 feet. The overall structure appears to be larger than the existing sign, but the lack of complete dimensions on the application make determining the size and height difficult.

City Administrator Kuntz said Mr. Baumann has said this will be the same sign, in the same location with the same dimensions. If that’s all it was, it would be a normal administrative approval. With the architectural enhancement that creates the support wing walls, it goes beyond administration authority to grant this request.

Mr. Baumann said the sign will be the same size as the existing sign. This will be a new sign and will not be a reworking of the existing sign. It will be in the exact same location where it has been for 37 years. He said the total height of the sign would be approximately 8 feet. The height of the current sign is 7½ feet.

Mayor Jones said that once the entire sign is removed, it is no longer a legal non-conforming sign. Since this sign will be completely removed, it will lose its legal non-conforming status. Alderman McDowell said that the earlier discussion was to allow a sign at the same location with similar characteristics. That is not what is being proposed at this time. The overall height and width of the sign will be even more non-conforming than the present sign.

Mayor Jones said he does not want the Board to approve a sign that is once again non-conforming. Alderman Easter said she has no intention of approving anything other than what was originally discussed. Alderman Suozzi said the city has no paperwork to substantiate the claim that the street dedication provided for a Seven Trails Apartments sign anywhere. Mr. Baumann said he is prepared to take this issue to court to prove that he does have the right. The City allowed the sign to remain in the center island from 1978 when it was dedicated through the time that the street was changed, therefore, Seven Trails had a right to that location and to the sign. Since the sign has been relegated to the new location, he is asking that he be allowed to modify the structure that holds the sign.

A motion was made

City Calendar:

Alderman Easter was in favor of not publishing the city calendar for 2004. She said this is not one of the better calendars that she receives in the mail. It does not show the City meetings on the date squares; instead the meetings are at another location on the page.

Alderman Gatton said he believes the calendar is worth publishing again. He likes the Ward map that is included in the calendar. The "Horizon" does not contain a ward map. The saving of $22,500 is a small band-aid on a larger problem.

Alderman McDowell suggested deferring this issue until a later date. Alderman Lembke suggested asking the residents for their opinion in the "Horizon". Alderman Anderson suggested discussing the issue at the April work session. City Administrator Kuntz said this is an item that could be included in the next Public Opinion Survey in 2003.

Police Fees:

Police Chief Biederman said that additional fee changes will be suggested at a later date. City Administrator Kuntz said that Mayor Jones suggested increasing the maximum municipal fines from $500 to $1,000 as is provided for in state statute. It would be a discretionary ceiling for fines. He will speak with Judge Wagner before bringing this to Board attention.

City Attorney Lucchesi said that none of these fee increases will have to be voted upon.

Mayor Jones said he urges caution regarding the increases for false alarms. These are always going to be Ballwin residents, and he does not want to discourage businesses from having alarms. Alderman Robinson said that the cost of having 2 police officers respond to false alarms, doing a walk-through, and waiting for the owner to arrive to properly lock and re-arm the alarm system will be a lot more than $100.

Alderman Easter said that the objective is to put money in the budget or try to consider ways to improve the budget situation. Staff and the Board have been very aggressive with the Operating Budget for 2003 and will continue to do this all year. $22,500 has been discussed to come out of the budget expenditures for the calendar and now $6,700 can go back in the budget for additional revenues. Everyone has to be on the same wave length and be consistent if the City’s financial situation is going to improve. The Board should realize that here is $22,500 for a calendar that can be taken out of the budget, and $6,700 that can be put back in the budget. If everyone keeps that in mind, then she approves of the fee increases. If the Board is not going to keep in mind that each time something like this comes up, which seems like little bits of money, it all adds up together to improve the City’s finances. Each department is looking for suggestions to bring for Board approval. If the Board looks at each suggestion as just pennies, nothing is going to improve. Every time the departments present something that will help the budget, the Board should not look upon it as pennies. It all adds up together to help the financial situation.

A motion was made

Aquatic Changes:

A motion was made

CITY ATTORNEY’S REPORT

City Attorney Lucchesi reported that the litigation against AIG has been filed.

ALDERMANIC COMMENTS

A motion was made by Alderman Easter and seconded by Alderman Buermann to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 8:13 p.m.
MC

 

by Alderman Lembke and seconded by Alderman Robinson to accept the changes in the construction project. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. City Administrator Kuntz said that changes have been incurred since the start of construction of the North Point Family Aquatic Center. There were unexpected excavation issues that couldn’t be predicted. It is suggested that the additional pavilion that was approved as an alternate be deleted at this time. The site will still be served with conduits for water and electricity so if the pavilion is built in the future, it will not be necessary to damage the parking lot or other improvements. The additional pavilion could be too much on that site. by Alderman Easter and seconded by Alderman Lembke to draft legislation for the police fee increases. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. City Administrator Kuntz said that several adjustments in police-related fees are recommended to bring these charges in line with the actual costs which are incurred. Legislative action is required to implement these changes. City Administrator Kuntz said that it was suggested at the last Board meeting that the printing and distribution be discontinued for the 2004 city calendar. This will result in a budget savings of $22,500 in 2003. by Alderman McDowell and seconded by Alderman Robinson to deny the application to upgrade of the Seven Trails Apartments West sign as proposed. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. City Administrator Kuntz said that the manager of Seven Trails Apartments West, Herb Baumann, is present to appeal the staff rejection of a proposed sign upgrade. The issue is the expanded sign area and support structure for this pre-existing, non-conforming sign located by Manchester Road. The sign appears to be bigger and the support structure is more elaborate. Since this is a pre-existing non-conforming sign and an increase in the size of the non-conforming sign is requested, it is beyond administrative authority. Mr. Baumann is presenting his case directly to the Board for guidance. City Attorney Lucchesi said that this should be referred to the Board of Adjustment. by Alderman Lembke and seconded by Alderman McDowell to accept maintenance responsibility for watering the landscaping in the roadway islands adjoining Olde Towne Plaza. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. by Alderman Gatton and seconded by Alderman Suozzi to approve the Special Use Exception transfer for front yard parking. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. Mayor Jones said that a special use exception for front yard parking was granted to Regency Realty for the Olde Towne Plaza. The property has been sold to DLC and transfer approval has been requested. Mayor Jones said that the December 23 Board of Aldermen meeting is cancelled. The next meeting will be January 13, 2003. by Alderman Robinson and seconded by Alderman Burmann to appoint Tom McCarthy to fill the vacancy on the Ballwin Arts Commission. A voice vote was taken with a unanimous affirmative result and the motion was declared passed. Mayor Jones said that Tom McCarthy has expressed interest in filling this position. He recommended this appointment be approved by the Board.