January Bonne Terre Board meeting
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The Bonne Terre Board of Alderpersons breezed through its agenda, Monday evening, January 13, at Bonne Terre City Hall.
A question was raised about the maximum number of adult residents that could live in one of the Parkview Apartments. City Administrator, Shawn Kay, responded that he wasn’t sure, not having a contract in front of him, but he thought the number was four. He then asked, “Is there a problem with one of the apartments that has too many people in it?” The questioner, Margie Candelaria, said that at one time, “We had one that had five, two dogs, and two cats.” But since that time, one of the residents has moved into a home.
Questions were then raised about the leases for the apartments. Kay explained that leases last for a year and then convert to month-to-month. Those moving to the Parkview complex would be signing a lease reflecting the price increase to $800 a month. Those already under an existing contract or paying month-to-month had a $50 increase in October and will have another $50 increase in April. When Candelaria asked about the rent if an occupant changed apartments, Kay again explained that to move into a different apartment would entail signing a new contract, which would reflect the $800 monthly rent. Resident, Steven Wirth, brought up the point that snow from road clearing had been pushed next to the apartment dumpsters, making access to them impossible. Administrator Kay said that the problem would be investigated and corrected.
Alderman Ray Stotler complimented the city workers on their performance during the recent winter weather, “I do want to commend the city workers and the city administrator for the job of cleaning streets. They did an excellent job for the conditions we have. And I just want to commend them for that. And the fire department for the ones who spent the night at the firehouse to be ready. It was awesome.”
Fire Chief, David Pratte, said, “We got some food and made some food upstairs. It was great. It could have easily gone bad. We did a little maintenance on the truck, a little training. Spent the time wisely.”
In the city administrator’s report, Shawn Kay reported, “I sent you a text message the other day regarding the public works department getting out and plowing snow and doing the things that they do. Mr. Farkas worked his tail off to make sure that the sidewalks around City Hall were clear, shoveled those, and cleaned off all the ice. The fire department spent countless hours in the fire station during the ice and during the snow on Friday. I went over and talked to them. They even offered me breakfast and lunch, if I wanted to stick around. The police department, let’s be honest, was out dealing with some bad situations and bad conditions because
when you coop people up, then you tend to have more issues with families that don’t like one another. So, I commend them.”
Kay continued, “And Ray, I really appreciate you saying nice things about me, but other than phone calls to the department’s heads and saying, hey, is there anything I can do to support you or to call Guthrie Salt and order salt? I can’t really say that I had a big part in that.”
Moving on to the reports of current projects, Kay addressed the Board, “The TAP grant for downtown, we are still waiting for MODOT. I haven’t gotten any comments from them. We don’t think anything is wrong, we just have multiple departments that have to sign off on that before we can move forward.”
Regarding the service line inventory, Kay said, “I’m still waiting for the next phase of that which would be the excavation to verify the service lines. Obviously, we wouldn’t be doing any of that right now.” He addressed the TAP project for South Division. “DNR has approved the engineering bid, the DBE goals and all those things are in place. Engineering has started on the project. I actually saw, right before the winter storm, our engineering firm had surveyors out there to get a better handle on where the waterlines were, to make sure that they had everything correct in the plan.”
The city is still waiting to hear from the EPA on the soccer field. However, Kay added, “Now is not the time we want them over there.”
Parks director, Ken Farkas, was questioned as to the condition of the bridge at the city lake. He said, “The wood needs to be replaced on it. And we’re going to keep going through that process of replacing the wood on that bridge and getting something more secure to it.” He suggested that concrete would last a long time. “The bridge itself, the structure is sound. It’s just the wood on top. It’s the decking. We could keep replacing the wood if you guys want. But again, I’d rather just fix it once and not have to worry about it ever again.” No action was taken on his suggestion.
Mayor Schonhardt asked the Board to reconsider their vote from December, awarding website reconstruction to CS Design. The mayor said, “I would like the council to reconsider that vote and restart the bid process and see if we can get some other bids that may be either more financially reasonable or provide us more of what we want for it. The Board voted to set aside the vote and reopen the bidding process.
In other business, the Board approved a request to donate a police department vehicle to the City of Marble Hill and to sell another police department vehicle, a Crown Victoria, to the same buyer for $2,000. Motions were approved.
Chief Crump addressed the Board on the request to approve the sale of surplus vehicles. “Four of them are Police Department vehicles, a 2013 Dodge Charger
and 2014 Dodge Charger. Both of these have engine issues. We think they both have blown engines, so rather than put any money into them, we would like to declare them surplus to get rid of.” The department also has two Humvees that the chief decided were no longer needed. Administrator Kay explained, “In December you voted to allow us to purchase two new vehicles for Public Works. I would like to get rid of a 2004 pickup truck that looks pretty rough and a 2008 Chevrolet Colorado.” The Colorado has 340,000 miles on it. Kay continued, “If it would please the council, we would like to move forward with the surplus of these vehicles. Probably would do them all through GovDeals as soon as the police department makes me aware they have all of theirs ready to go.” The Board approved the action.
Chief Crump and the Board discussed a request to enter into a contract for policy and procedures services. Lexibol was the company the chief recommended, which will keep Bonne Terre Police Department policies and procedures in line with all changes to state laws and guidelines. To enter into the agreement, an ordinance will be needed. City attorney, Shawn Pegram, will be contacted for the ordinance.
The Board then voted to go into closed session.
The next Bonne Terre Board of Alderpersons meeting will be February 10, at 6 p.m., at City Hall.
