The City Council held a work session and Full Council meeting Monday evening.

During the Full Council session, Americorp VISTA worker Shanna Sorg asked the aldermen for permission to close down the Court Square again this summer for the “Pickin’ on the Square” event. The aldermen agreed. Sorg said the Pickin’ will begin on May 1, 2009 and continue each Friday evening from 6:00 P.M. to about 9:00 P.M. throughout the summer. The last day will be the first weekend in October.

From the work session agenda;

Council reviewed the idea of creating a utility board. Ward II Alderman Sie Merriman Sr. said he had researched the Missouri statutes on the matter and found the utility board to have significant authority. Merriman said according to what he had read, the utility board would require a complete restructuring of the utilities, including water, wastewater and others. Ward III Alderman Mark Tripp said he agreed that the utility board does have significant statutory power, and several other cities have gone that route, however, the City still controlled the spending. Tripp said it would be a big job to change the utility departments now and since Kenny McDowell is doing a tremendous job as public works director, the aldermen decided to hold off now and look at the issue in the future.

The aldermen discussed the structure of the Parks Board, specifically regarding the positions of president and vice-president. Tara Hale has resigned as Park Board President since she has moved out of city limits according to one alderman. Her husband, former Ward I Alderman Brandon Hale resigned at the last Council meeting citing the residency requirement.  The Park Board’s structure is different from the City Council in that three members of the nine member park board may be from the county.  The aldermen wanted to have city residents as Board Officers. The next vote of the officers will be in June and the City Council wants an ordinance in  place by then requiring board officers to be city residents, since city residents pay taxes for the parks.

City Building Inspector Richard Macke suggested the City recoup more funds from engineering and attorney reviews regarding inspections. City Engineer Tim Baer said cities like Perryville charge a set amount per linear foot of space, or water/sewer lines to recoup the costs of an inspection. Although the City now charges  minimal fees, the aldermen said they would check with other cities procedures for recouping  inspection costs.

Macke also discussed the issues surrounding daycare and special use permits in Fredericktown. Council was told the Missouri Statutes require a daycare to have a state license if five or more children are under the care of someone. City Attorney Kim Moore said the City has several options to correct any issues regarding daycare in Fredericktown. Council agreed to send the matter to Planning and Zoning to have them consider other options to keep the businesses in compliance with state and local codes.

The next agenda item in open session dealt with adding an amendment to the Municipal Code for public intoxication and to remove the word “registration” from the wording regarding derelict vehicles. Moore cited one issue with public intoxication saying any such wording would have to include an ordinance violation as well.

The aldermen are considering and discussing offering residents a rebate on the purchases of energy saving appliances. No formal decisions have been made as yet. The Council needs to determine how much the program would cost, cap the costs, and allow the first come to be first served. Once the money for rebates was exhausted, that would be all there is. Only one rebate would be allowed as well according to Tripp. They want to create the program to coincide with the “Show Me Green” sales tax holidays on Energy Star appliance purchases. The tax holiday will begin April 19, 2009  and run through April 25th.

http://dor.mo.gov/tax/business/sales/taxholiday/green/faq.htm#q1

The City will be taking advantage of a tire reclamation program offered by the Department of Natural Resources. This years the city will use prisoner labor for the loading of the tires. No specific dates were discussed, however, Council did vote to continue on with the project.

Gary Harrison of Sargent Construction was added to the work session agenda. Harrison said he has had electrical monitoring devices installed at the business and has found the city’s electric has been causing damage to equipment at the company. Harrison cited phones, computers, lighting and servers being damaged. Harrison said the problems began in 2007 and escalated throughout 2008 and 2009. He said the company has lost thousands of dollars in damaged equipment. Harrison blames the damage on high voltage “bad electricity” coming into the company’s building. He said he has had two different electrical engineers offer their opinions on  the cause of the problems. Harrison said he has made several calls to the city regarding the problems. He said he would like to work with the city to recoup the costs of damaged equipment  caused by, what he claims, the electrical problems. Harrison had numerous electrical reports indicating problems and offered the Council a look at  them. Electrical Department Manager Don Wasson said he has been out to the building and inspected some  of the electrical connections. Council made no further comment.

 At Full Council;

The aldermen heard an update on the finances of the City. Greg Shinn, CPA went over the balances in various accounts pointing out why certain entries were made as they were. City Administrator Jim Dismuke had a word of praise for the budget work Shinn is doing with the city.

Mayor Danny Kemp reported the bathrooms at the Rockwall Park are ready and open. Kemp recognized  the volunteer and community efforts that went into the work on the bathrooms. He also reminded everyone of the TimeLine Event this weekend at Jaycee and Wanda Priest Parks. He also said there will be a square dance on Friday, March 27 at the park.

Kemp continued by letting the public know the Boy Scouts are in need of support in order to send the kids to camp.

Kemp also mentioned that a candlelight vigil will be held beginning at 4 P.M. on Saturday, March 28, 2009 in remembrance of Pamela Miller and the victims of domestic violence. The vigil will be held at Memorial Park by the pool. Volunteers and fundraisers are needed.

The City has agreed by motion and vote to adopt a program to double the jobs in Fredericktown by the year 2020.

Council adopted the revised and amended budget for 2008-2009.

The aldermen passed an ordinance creating a Honoring Street Naming Policy and procedure for naming a street in town after a  group, business or organization and any individual who has passed away at least one year previous to the application. One nay vote on the motion was heard from Alderwoman Karen Wright. The first person to be so memorialized is John Paul Skaggs. A fee of $100 was also set by separate motion and vote for the application of any memorial request.

Council voted to accept the consulting services of BWR out of Kansas City, Missouri for projects at the Fredericktown Regional Airport.

The City of Fredericktown encountered a situation where the City’s bucket truck would not reach high enough to change some lights at Memorial Park. They called Black River Electric for assistance. BREC was recognized for their assistance.

Ward III Alderman Mark Tripp said this would be his last Full Council meeting since he decided not to run again. Tripp offered his compliments and words of appreciation to the other members of the council, his constituents, the employees of Fredericktown and the community in general. Tripp said he may well run for mayor in 2010.

Closed session followed.