Crystal Lake Park

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MINUTES

of the City of Crystal Lake Park, Missouri

Regular Meeting of the Board of Alderpersons

July 9, 2007

Mayor Balcer welcomed the residents to the meeting and asked that roll call be taken.

ROLL CALL:

Mayor and Alderpersons:  Present:  Mayor Matt Balcer, and Alderpersons Bonnie Taylor, Jim Gehringer, Jim Leonard and Dennis Nahnsen.

City Officials:  Present:  City Attorney Howard Paperner, City Clerk Lois La Driere, City Treasurer Ann Bradley, Street Commissioner (SC) Jim Cooper; and Police Chief Steve Sood. 

Mayor Balcer asked for a vote to approve the Meeting Agenda for July 9, 2007.  A Motion was so made by Alderperson Leonard, seconded by Alderperson Taylor and unanimously approved.  Mayor Balcer then asked members to approve the June 2007 meeting minutes.  Alderperson Gehringer made a Motion to so approve, which was seconded by Alderperson Nahnsen, and unanimously approved.

Mayor Balcer then introduced the new City Attorney, Howard Paperner, to residents in attendance.  Paperner then outlined his experience and qualifications, following which Mayor Balcer asked for a Motion to approve Paperner’s appointment as City attorney.  A Motion was made by Alderperson Leonard to approve the Mayor Balcer’s appointment of Paperner as the new City Attorney, at a compensation rate of $175.00 per hour, and on an employment term of month to month.  The Motion was seconded by Alderperson Nahnsen and unanimously approved.

Alderperson Gehringer then introduced a letter he had received from a resident who requested it be distributed to Board members to review and have it recorded by the City.  The letter had been sent to neighboring City residents on East Drive.  It included recommendations by the resident which she had hoped would tamper inappropriate rumors in the City and she hoped  it would increase communication with City government.  City Clerk LaDriere so noted the letter and said she would include it in the City’s records.

CITY OFFICIALS:

Financial Report:  City Treasurer Bradley noted that no one from the City’s accounting firm of Hoschild Bloom was present to give a presentation on the audit of the City’s finances and accounts.  However, she indicated that the audit had been performed and distributed copies of the final audit report for review. 

Next on the Agenda was a presentation of the financial report.  City Treasurer Bradley announced that the amount of the City's cash on hand was $120,866.83 and that the amount of investments was $144,123.48.  She added that the City had an additional $70,000 to reinvest.  Alderperson Leonard recommended that the money should immediately be invested in T-Bills or  CD’s, as the City was losing valuable interest on the money in the interim.  A discussion ensued wherein Alderperson Leonard agreed to work with City Treasurer Bradley to reinvest those funds as soon as possible.  City Attorney Paperner asked if the City had a general banking and investment policy.  City Treasurer Bradley said yes and that she would forward that information to Paperner to review

Street Commissioner:  SC Cooper announced that the Bid Proposal submitted at last month’s meeting by Horner & Shifrin had not been signed and, therefore, a formal bid on the street project and maintenance plan had not been completed.  Paperner briefly reviewed the bid proposal and explained that the City would need to pass an ordinance approving Mayor Balcer to sign the bid proposal and various task orders on behalf of the City.  A discussion ensued concerning the extent of the bid proposal and the associated costs.  Alderperson Leonard noted that the City had only $25,000 budgeted for street work in 2007 and that $12,000 of that had already been paid to Horner & Shifrin for their work to date.  Alderperson Nahnsen noted that if the City obtained a bid on the entire project now, rather than just the necessary street repairs alone, that bid would be obsolete in 2008 when the next phase of the project would begin.  Further discussion ensued concerning prioritizing repairs in order to repair residents’ driveways first.  It was agreed that City Attorney Paperner would work with SC Cooper and contact Horner & Shifrin to ask that they oversee the bid process with their asphalt contractors to obtain a bid solely on driveway repairs at this time.

Police Chief:  Police Chief Sood gave a report on police issues in the City.  He noted that some recent issues included a domestic violence case and failed suicide attempt in the City, both of which had resulted in the Frontenac police being called.  In addition, he said that vandals had broken into two cars and stolen CD’s and stereo equipment.  In both cases Frontenac police had been notified.  He discovered later, however, that four more residents’ cars had also been broken into but those incidents had not been reported to police.  He reminded residents that they should lock their car doors and homes to prevent intruders.  He said that Frontenac police had also agreed to increase patrols in the City.  In addition, he said he was working with Frontenac police to develop a Neighborhood Watch program in the City.  He also said he would include information on the recent incidents in the next City newsletter to alert residents and recommend that they lock their doors. 

NEW BUSINESS: 

Issues with City Trees:  Alderperson Taylor said that she had requested this issue be included in the meeting Agenda because a number of trees in the City were extremely old and in need of being removed.  She noted that she had received a call from a concerned resident who had inquired if the City had a program to deal with the removal of older trees.  Paperner asked if the trees were located on City or private property, and when told private property, advised that those trees were a private obligation not a municipal one, according to the statues.  He noted that the City could cite a resident for not removing a tree that could impose a potential hazard to City streets or property.  Mayor Balcer asked Paperner if the City of Frontenac would enforce this.  Paperner responded that he would need to review a copy of the City’s contract with the City of Frontenac to ascertain who was responsible for enforcing same.  Alderperson Taylor then said that she had noticed that a couple of trees in the City’s park were in need of being removed as they could potentially present a hazard.  Mayor Balcer suggested she contact the City’s Park Commissioner to make him aware of the issue.

City Wards:  Alderperson Leonard stated that the City was divided into two wards, each containing two zones.  He stated that one of the zones, District D, was not currently represented on the Board and recommended that the City change to four wards to encourage residents in that district to seek aldermanic office.  A discussion ensued concerning the legal and other issues involved with the change, and it was agreed that Alderperson Leonard would instead attempt to solicit a resident from District D to seek his seat when his term expires. 

Interim BC Compensation:  Alderperson Gehringher stated that the Planning & Zoning Commission had asked one of the two applicants for City Building Commissioner to work as interim BC until a new BC is formally hired by the City.  He noted that there were a number of requests by residents for plan reviews which needed to be performed.  He then distributed a proposal from the interim BC, John Littlefield, outlining his proposed fees to the City on an annual basis for plan review, attending meetings, etc.  Alderperson Leonard noted that the fee proposal was $6000.00 per year and said in the past, the City had only paid about $1000.00 to $1700 in 2005 and 2006 for such services which had been performed by an architect resident, former Mayor Robb Lappe.  A discussion ensued concerning the fee proposal and what duties should be performed by the new BC in a way that would remain cost effective for the City.  A Motion was then made by Alderperson Gehringer and seconded by Alderperson Taylor that the City hire an interim BC, John Littlefield, at a compensation rate of $140.00 per hour per “plan review” and on a month to month employment basis.  The Motion was unanimously approved. 

Alderperson Taylor then asked why no one from the P&Z attends the meetings of the Board of Alderpersons.  She said that it was important that the Board receive regular updates concerning the workings of the Commission.  She said that she had asked Chairman David Evans in the past to attend Board meetings but thus far, he had not done so.  Mayor Balcer noted that Evans was not required to do so.  City Clerk LaDriere said that since Alderperson Gehringer attends both meetings monthly, perhaps he could provide a regular update on the activities of the Commission. 

VOTE TO CLOSE THE MEETING:  There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.  

 NEXT MEETING:

Mayor Balcer then announced that the next meeting of the Board was scheduled for Monday, August 13,  2007. 

MINUTES RECORDED BY:______________________________________________

                                                City Clerk, Lois La Driere 

MINUTES APPROVED BY:______________________________________________

                                                Matt Balcer, Mayor