Fredericktown Board of Aldermen meets
Photo by Victoria Kemper
The Board of Aldermen had several visitors, Monday night, at its regularly scheduled meeting.
The Board of Aldermen for the City of Fredericktown met for several meetings, Monday.
First was a special session to discuss the 2023-2024 budget. John Boyd, CPA, with Boyd and Associates brought a preliminary budget for the board to review.
As the document currently stands, the city will have a balanced budget, meaning it plans to spend no more than it makes.
One topic brought up for discussion by Alderman Eddie Shankle was Proposition P funds and their usage.
“Was the Prop P not for pay for like the police and fire, or am I wrong,” Shankle asked.
Boyd clarified the funds can be used for things such as wages, capital improvements and equipment needs.
Shankle furthered his inquiry by asking if the police raises could be pulled out of the general fund and instead be paid for out of the Prop P fund.
“The only thing is, we’ve been putting back reserves of that Prop P to pay for the fire building and then the police building and stuff like that,” Boyd said. “So over the past several years, we haven’t touched it primarily for that reason.”
Boyd said, funds were pulled out of Prop P to help pay for an additional school resource officer (SRO), but the school has since taken over that responsibility. He said, right now the only thing the fund is being used for is the building payment on the police building which was purchased and payments for the new fire station construction.
“I’m projecting, at the end of next fiscal year, that we’ll still have about $600,000 in the Prop P, so there could be some room to do something like that,” Boyd said.
Mayor Travis Parker requested clarification for Prop P and how the city is legally allowed to use the funds. Parker said he is not sure if the city can solely use the fund for the raises or if a portion would still need to come out of the general fund.
“When it was voted for, it was presented to the public, because I was there and every time we walked in the meeting it was presented to the public as we are building a building for the officers and the fire department and equipment, wages or maintaining employees was on the list, but it was at the bottom of the list,” Alderman Paul Brown said. “Do I believe that the people would have voted it in if that was the main reason, I don’t think so. Like I’ve said for the last six years, I’m not going to vote for pulling anything out of there until we get these buildings done, and we get stuff taken care of that we told them we were going to do. We already got the SRO and now we’ve got the fire building underway, and hopefully the police building underway soon. I know and I’m aware that sooner or later down the road these funds will be used for payroll. It’s obvious to keep up but initially they need to be used to pay for these buildings.”
Parker said there will come a day when the city is not using the vast majority for payments and that is when it can be looked at to help with competitive wages.
A member of the public asked how much money Prop P earns. Boyd said, it brings in roughly $35,0000 to $40,000 per month.
“Talking about using it for wages and talking about not being able to completely supplement, I think that is something Mary (City Attorney Boner) would certainly want to be involved with,” Boyd said. “I remember back when this first passed. There was something with ballot language versus presentation to the general public, so I would want to make sure that we’re following what the ballot language says. I think it would be smart to get Mary involved in that discussion.”
Boyd said he will make some corrections and send the final draft to the board. Final vote on the budget will be made during the Sept. 25 meeting.
Before adjournment, community member Collin Follis asked about the ammunition budget of $10,000 and whether or not an inventory is kept.
Parker said, Police Chief Eric Hovis would be the person to make that request to and that he (Parker) has been told a record is kept.
“One thing to remember is the ammo budget is half this year because of the taser budget cost,” Parker said. “The tasers (contract) was a five year, $5,000 per year commitment so we cut the ammo budget in half to make way for the tasers.”
Follis questioned how much ammunition has been left over from the previous years when the budget was $10,000 per year. He said, if there is no idea as to what the inventory is, how would the city know if it needed that much ammunition or not.
“I know that all the officers qualify on every type of firearm annually,” Parker said. “We go through a lot of ammunition and I will say this from a public safety standpoint if, God forbid, one of our officers needs to pull the trigger, the city is going to be very protected because we have ample training and ample training time.
Parker said, after he was elected, he talked to Hovis and asked him why the ammunition and range time was so important. Hovis said, it is because every officer qualifies annually and keeps the city covered for the worst case scenario.
“I’m just going to be honest, $5,000 a year for that is money well spent in my opinion,” Parker said.
Next, a public hearing was held regarding the setting of the proposed tax rate of $0.8675 per $100 assessed valuation for the 2023 fiscal period. The amounts would be split with 0.7393% in the general revenue fund, and 0.1282% in the park fund.
There were no public questions, and the board passed an ordinance establishing the rates during regular session business.
During work session business, several events were approved. First the JROTC Booster Club requested the use of Rotary Park, Oct. 20, for a Halloween Monster Mash Dash mile fun run/walk. All funds raised during the event will go to supporting the JROTC Raider Team and its goal to attend Nationals. The board approved the request.
Next, the Madison County Chamber of Commerce requested the closure of the court square and four main streets for the annual Freakytown event, Oct. 28. The event, which has become a favorite among community youth and businesses, would run the same as previous years and would not have a rainout date. The board approved the request.
A request from residents of the 100 block of Marshall Street to hold a block party, Sept. 24, from noon until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m., with street closures was also approved by the board.
A request for a temporary liquor license from St. Micheal Church for its annual picnic, Oct. 5, was also approved with Alderman Rick Polete, Alderman Bill Long, Alderman Kevin Jones, Alderman Brown, and Alderman Shankle voting “yes” and Alderman Jim Miller voting “no.”
City Administrator James Settle brought up a discussion regarding parking issues at the ball fields. He said, a stripe has been painted down the middle to help, but the only real solution would be to pave and stripe the lot. The aldermen directed him to put some numbers together to see what it would cost.
The last order of business during work session business was the paying of payment No. 3 to Brockmiller Construction, Inc. for the Fire Station Project in the amount of $154,630.17.
During regular session business, an ordinance annexing land located at the northwest corner of MO 72 and US 67 was passed. This property will be the location of the new Love’s Travel Stop.
In his mayor’s report, Mayor Parker thanked the Madison County Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Revitalization Committee for its organization of the recent “A Historic Day at the Square.”
“It was really a great event and was really well organized,” Parker said. “Just talking with different people in the community, they just thought it was really special. Even my kids, even though it didn’t have rides, said it was one of the most fun they’ve had. So thank you to the chamber, the revitalization committee, and all the volunteers. It was fantastic, and I’m already looking forward to next year.”
The next meeting of the City of Fredericktown’s Board of Aldermen will immediately follow the 5:30 p.m. work session, Sept. 25 at city hall.
Cutline:
The Board of Aldermen had several visitors, Monday night, at its regularly scheduled meeting.
