Mayor Kemp votes to break tie
By Robert Vanderbrugen/Democrat News
Apr 16, 2008 - 15:07:20 CDT
The Fredericktown City Council met Monday evening, April 14. The newly elected members; Mayor Danny Kemp, Ward II Alderman Sie Merriman Sr., Ward III Alderman Karen Wright, City Marshal John Wright and returning members; Alderman Ward I Paul Fritch, and City Collector Erica Settle took their oath of office and respective roles on the council about 45 minutes into the meeting, after a resolution accepting the voting results was passed. Ward II Alderman Rick Polete was accepted as Board President. As board president, Polete fills in at council meetings in the absence of the mayor.
During the meeting an ordinance was presented authorizing the City to enter into an agreement with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Division of State Parks and the State Historic Preservation office relative to the Fredericktown Courtsquare Historic District Nomination Project. The ordinance generated a lot of discussion beginning with Ward I Alderman Brandon Hale. He said he had read all 47 pages of the document and had some issues with it. Hale said he thought a public meeting should be held (as the agreement calls for sometime at the beginning of the process) before the vote on the ordinance. The schedule attached to the agreement shows a tentative month for the first informational meeting as being in June. Hale was concerned about entering into the agreement without the downtown businesses being notified first and offered an “opt out” option. He pointed out the possibility the entire area might want to opt out. The project would create a historic district in downtown Fredericktown which would provide eligible building owners opportunities for federal grants and tax benefits for remodeling or new construction if they allow their building(s) to be part of the district. Economic Developer James Dismuke said the agreement in no way obligates any property owner in the district one way or the other. Dismuke said if the property owner chooses to participate, they still maintain all their rights as the property owners. By approving the district, the City is hoping to increase tourism and thereby increase local sales in the downtown area and garner the tax receipts from those sales. Total cost for the application, in kind work including Historic Foundation donations is $10,300. Ward I Alderman Sie Merriman Sr. voted nay, Ward I Alderman Paul Fritch voted nay and Ward I Alderman Brandon Hale voted nay. Ward II Alderman Rick Polete vote yes, Ward III Alderman Karen Wright voted yes, and Ward III Alderman Mark Tripp voted yes. Mayor Danny Kemp broke the tie with a yes vote. The application/project process was passed.
A second related ordinance and agreement between Ruth Keenoy and the City relative to professional services related to the Historic District Court Square Project also passed with the same tie between the aldermen. Mayor Kemp also voted yes to break that tie as well.
In other actions;
Jennifer Ballew asked the council if they would provide help this year in watering the large flower planters located in front of downtown Fredericktown businesses. The City said they had no objections to providing the water as they have done in previous years, but had some difficulty offering people or prisoners on work detail to water the planters. Ballew said the Garden Club has very limited membership and can not provide enough help to maintain the daily watering for the planters. She said if help was not going to be available, the club wouldn’t plant any flowers in the planters this year. City employees said they try to schedule some time to get the planters watered on a daily basis for the summer months.
Katie Lawler and Gary Copeland were recommended by Mayor Karen Yates (before leaving office) to be appointed to the ad-hoc committee for disabled access. The aldermen accepted her recommendations. Lauren Boland had accepted a position at the Perryville Sheltered Workshop creating a vacancy on the committee.
Yates highlighted some of the improvements the City has achieved in budget and finances during the mayor’s report. She pointed out the cooperation of the employees was an important part of the success the city has seen. She said the city has reduced their long term debt by nearly $1 million since 2005 and increased assets. She said services the city provides has increased dramatically too. She said the City is doing a lot better now then before, but still has a long way to go. She said she would like the city to keep going in the direction it is going in.
An update on the sale of the Fredericktown electric utility to Black River Electric (BREC) has the process at the stage where the city is negotiating with MoPEP (Missouri Public Energy Pool) to be released from the contract regarding the long-term obligations toward electric generating plants with the pool. Once they are released, a public vote would be held regarding the franchise agreement with BREC.
City Administrator Michael O’Gara is asking for help continuing the process of gathering information for the sale of the electric utility to BREC. An ad-hoc committee was recommended by Yates and listed the following members: Mark Tripp, Rick Polete, Sie Merriman Sr., Ken Pierce, Phil Page, Tom Steska, John Singleton and Danny Kemp. The council made a motion to accept the recommendations and the motion passed. The committee does not have any decision making authority, but can make suggestions. Revisions to the committee are also an option the aldermen pointed out. O’Gara reported his attendance at various meetings including Southeast Missouri Regional Planning, the disabled access committee, Missouri Public Utilities Alliance, and the Economic Business Research meeting in Dexter sponsored by Southeast Missouri University. He also toured three local businesses in Fredericktown including Cap America, Versa Tech and Kids Corner.
Finance Director Chris Wienecke provided her report to the council. The audit is still due from the accountants according to Yates.
The aldermen were given an orientation by City Attorney Kim Moore. Moore covered such topics as the aldermen’s authority as one body for the City, not as individuals, what they are responsible for, the open meetings law, and Robert’s Rules of Order.
O’Gara presented a slide show to the aldermen providing a summary of recent topics the City is working on or with. He highlighted sales tax revenues as an important part of the growth and financial support of the City. He also showed the approximate percentages of funding the city receives through sales tax (68%) property taxes (17%) and personal property tax (5%). O’Gara also talked about the status of Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerns they organizations have within Fredericktown and what issues have been resolved and which are still pending. He said DNR does not have any violations against Fredericktown, and the one notice of violation about rain waters entering the waste water system from the EPA has a plan of action being instituted.
O’Gara also highlighted some positive aspects of Fredericktown including the Highway 67 Project, the Highway 72 Project, the land available the city owns for development, the new chamber director position; to help increase tourism in Fredericktown, the work the chamber is doing helping businesses in downtown Fredericktown and the work Jim Dismuke is doing helping industrial development.
The aldermen agreed to the sale of three Siemens type single phase substation step-voltage regulators.
A motion was made and passed to pay the bills.
In remarks;
Polete complimented outgoing Ward III alderman Fay Shrum and Mayor Yates for their service citing the significant progress the City has made in the last two years with their help. He also welcomed the mayor and new council members as did other aldermen. He also said it was good to have a second alderman in Ward II again.
Tripp said, he reiterates what Polete said and added “the mayor (Yates) did a fantastic job.”
Water Department Manager Junior Shell acknowledge the help his department received from the public works employees in repairing a water main that was hit. His employees were out of town at the time.
Closed session followed for one potential litigation matter and one personnel matter.
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During the meeting an ordinance was presented authorizing the City to enter into an agreement with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Division of State Parks and the State Historic Preservation office relative to the Fredericktown Courtsquare Historic District Nomination Project. The ordinance generated a lot of discussion beginning with Ward I Alderman Brandon Hale. He said he had read all 47 pages of the document and had some issues with it. Hale said he thought a public meeting should be held (as the agreement calls for sometime at the beginning of the process) before the vote on the ordinance. The schedule attached to the agreement shows a tentative month for the first informational meeting as being in June. Hale was concerned about entering into the agreement without the downtown businesses being notified first and offered an “opt out” option. He pointed out the possibility the entire area might want to opt out. The project would create a historic district in downtown Fredericktown which would provide eligible building owners opportunities for federal grants and tax benefits for remodeling or new construction if they allow their building(s) to be part of the district. Economic Developer James Dismuke said the agreement in no way obligates any property owner in the district one way or the other. Dismuke said if the property owner chooses to participate, they still maintain all their rights as the property owners. By approving the district, the City is hoping to increase tourism and thereby increase local sales in the downtown area and garner the tax receipts from those sales. Total cost for the application, in kind work including Historic Foundation donations is $10,300. Ward I Alderman Sie Merriman Sr. voted nay, Ward I Alderman Paul Fritch voted nay and Ward I Alderman Brandon Hale voted nay. Ward II Alderman Rick Polete vote yes, Ward III Alderman Karen Wright voted yes, and Ward III Alderman Mark Tripp voted yes. Mayor Danny Kemp broke the tie with a yes vote. The application/project process was passed.
A second related ordinance and agreement between Ruth Keenoy and the City relative to professional services related to the Historic District Court Square Project also passed with the same tie between the aldermen. Mayor Kemp also voted yes to break that tie as well.
In other actions;
Jennifer Ballew asked the council if they would provide help this year in watering the large flower planters located in front of downtown Fredericktown businesses. The City said they had no objections to providing the water as they have done in previous years, but had some difficulty offering people or prisoners on work detail to water the planters. Ballew said the Garden Club has very limited membership and can not provide enough help to maintain the daily watering for the planters. She said if help was not going to be available, the club wouldn’t plant any flowers in the planters this year. City employees said they try to schedule some time to get the planters watered on a daily basis for the summer months.
Katie Lawler and Gary Copeland were recommended by Mayor Karen Yates (before leaving office) to be appointed to the ad-hoc committee for disabled access. The aldermen accepted her recommendations. Lauren Boland had accepted a position at the Perryville Sheltered Workshop creating a vacancy on the committee.
Yates highlighted some of the improvements the City has achieved in budget and finances during the mayor’s report. She pointed out the cooperation of the employees was an important part of the success the city has seen. She said the city has reduced their long term debt by nearly $1 million since 2005 and increased assets. She said services the city provides has increased dramatically too. She said the City is doing a lot better now then before, but still has a long way to go. She said she would like the city to keep going in the direction it is going in.
An update on the sale of the Fredericktown electric utility to Black River Electric (BREC) has the process at the stage where the city is negotiating with MoPEP (Missouri Public Energy Pool) to be released from the contract regarding the long-term obligations toward electric generating plants with the pool. Once they are released, a public vote would be held regarding the franchise agreement with BREC.
City Administrator Michael O’Gara is asking for help continuing the process of gathering information for the sale of the electric utility to BREC. An ad-hoc committee was recommended by Yates and listed the following members: Mark Tripp, Rick Polete, Sie Merriman Sr., Ken Pierce, Phil Page, Tom Steska, John Singleton and Danny Kemp. The council made a motion to accept the recommendations and the motion passed. The committee does not have any decision making authority, but can make suggestions. Revisions to the committee are also an option the aldermen pointed out. O’Gara reported his attendance at various meetings including Southeast Missouri Regional Planning, the disabled access committee, Missouri Public Utilities Alliance, and the Economic Business Research meeting in Dexter sponsored by Southeast Missouri University. He also toured three local businesses in Fredericktown including Cap America, Versa Tech and Kids Corner.
Finance Director Chris Wienecke provided her report to the council. The audit is still due from the accountants according to Yates.
The aldermen were given an orientation by City Attorney Kim Moore. Moore covered such topics as the aldermen’s authority as one body for the City, not as individuals, what they are responsible for, the open meetings law, and Robert’s Rules of Order.
O’Gara presented a slide show to the aldermen providing a summary of recent topics the City is working on or with. He highlighted sales tax revenues as an important part of the growth and financial support of the City. He also showed the approximate percentages of funding the city receives through sales tax (68%) property taxes (17%) and personal property tax (5%). O’Gara also talked about the status of Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerns they organizations have within Fredericktown and what issues have been resolved and which are still pending. He said DNR does not have any violations against Fredericktown, and the one notice of violation about rain waters entering the waste water system from the EPA has a plan of action being instituted.
O’Gara also highlighted some positive aspects of Fredericktown including the Highway 67 Project, the Highway 72 Project, the land available the city owns for development, the new chamber director position; to help increase tourism in Fredericktown, the work the chamber is doing helping businesses in downtown Fredericktown and the work Jim Dismuke is doing helping industrial development.
The aldermen agreed to the sale of three Siemens type single phase substation step-voltage regulators.
A motion was made and passed to pay the bills.
In remarks;
Polete complimented outgoing Ward III alderman Fay Shrum and Mayor Yates for their service citing the significant progress the City has made in the last two years with their help. He also welcomed the mayor and new council members as did other aldermen. He also said it was good to have a second alderman in Ward II again.
Tripp said, he reiterates what Polete said and added “the mayor (Yates) did a fantastic job.”
Water Department Manager Junior Shell acknowledge the help his department received from the public works employees in repairing a water main that was hit. His employees were out of town at the time.
Closed session followed for one potential litigation matter and one personnel matter.