Crystal Lake Park

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MINUTES

Of  the City of Crystal Lake Park, Missouri

Regular Meeting of the Board of Alderpersons

December 10, 2007

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, Police Chief Steve Sood and Street Commissioner Jim Cooper. 

Mayor Balcer asked for a vote to approve the meeting Agenda for December 10, 2007 as corrected.  A Motion was made by Alderperson Leonard, seconded by Alderperson Gehringer and, after a vote, the Agenda was unanimously approved.

A Motion was then made by Alderperson Leonard to approve the November 2007 meeting minutes as corrected.  Alderperson Taylor seconded the Motion and after a vote, the minutes as corrected were unanimously approved.

City Clerk La Driere noted that a non-resident attending the meeting had indicated she had some questions to pose to the Board.  She said her name was Mary Kreps and was a Regional Manager for Verizon Wireless Services.  She asked if the City would be opposed to placing a cell phone tower in their community.  Mayor Balcer noted that the issue had arisen about five years ago in the City and, after much discussion, the City had declined to do so.  Although the revenues of such a tower would be very lucrative for the City, he said, many residents opposed the tower due to factors such as size and noise level, and other issues which would affect those residents closest to the tower.  He stated however that the City was willing to review any new proposals for a tower and resurrect discussion among City residents regarding the issue.  Kreps said that she would develop a proposal for submission to the City.

Next, two City residents in attendance indicated a desire to fill the vacancy of City Treasurer.  Mayor Balcer asked both, Diane Chand and Ann Wagner, to discuss their credentials.  Although neither had direct experience as a Treasurer or bookkeeper, Chand indicated that her background included working at a bank doing bank reconciliations.  The Board thanked the women and indicated they would move to a closed meeting session at the end of the public meeting to discuss the issue and the candidates’ qualifications.

ORDINANCES:  

Attorney Howard Paperner introduced Bill # 428, an ordinance authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with Aalcan Asphalt Paving & Concrete Company, Inc.  A Motion was made by Alderperson Leonard to read the bill by title only for the first time.  The Motion was seconded by Alderperson Taylor and unanimously approved.  Attorney Paperner read the bill by title only for the first time.

AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CRYSTAL LAKE PARK TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH AALCAN ASPHALT PAVING & CONCRETE COMPANY, INC. 

A Motion was then made by Alderperson Leonard, and seconded by Alderperson Taylor to read Bill #428 by title only for the second time and declaring it adopted as Ordinance #402.  The Alderpersons voted as follows:  Alderperson Gehringer - aye; Alderperson Taylor - aye; Alderperson Leonard - aye; and Alderperson Nahnsen - aye.   Attorney Paperner then read the bill for a second time by title only.

AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CRYSTAL LAKE PARK TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH AALCAN ASPHALT PAVING & CONCRETE COMPANY, INC. 

A Motion was then made by Alderperson Leonard, and seconded by Alderperson Taylor to approve Bill #428, Ordinance #402.   The Alderpersons voted as follows:  Alderperson Gehringer - aye; Alderperson Taylor - aye; Alderperson Leonard - aye; and Alderperson Nahnsen - aye.   Mayor Balcer then declared Bill #428 Ordinances #402 passed. 

Mayor Balcer then distributed a contract and information provided by the City of Frontenac to continue to provided fire, police and ambulance services to the City.  He noted that because of escalating costs to combat fires and provide police enforcement, as well as higher salary costs, the annual contract amount would increase from $100,567 in 2007 to $104,087 in 2008.  A discussion ensued concerning other cities which had provided such services in the past to the City.  Alderperson Leonard said that the City of Frontenac had been providing the City such services for the last 15 years, while the City of Des Peres had done so for approximately two years prior to that, and the City of Town & Country for about ten years prior to that.  After further discussion revealed that the Board members and residents in attendance felt the City of Frontenac provided outstanding services, that Police Chief Tom Becker had attended some Board meetings and that Frontenac’s services were closer to our City meaning faster response times, it was agreed that the City would retain Frontenac’s services in 2008. 

A Motion was made by Alderperson Leonard to read Bill #429 by title only for the first time.  The Motion was seconded by Alderperson Taylor and unanimously approved.  Attorney Paperner read the bill by title only for the first time.

AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CRYSTAL LAKE PARK TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF CRYSTAL LAKE PARK WITH THE CITY OF FRONTENAC TO PROVIDE POLICE SERVICES, FIRE PROTECTION SERVICES, AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES, AND TO ARRANGE FOR THE PROVISION OF EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICES BY THE CITY OF FRONTENAC TO THE CITY OF CRYSTAL LAKE PARK.

A Motion was made by Alderperson Leonard, and seconded by Alderperson Taylor to read Bill #429 by title only for the second time, and declaring it adopted as Ordinance #403.  The Alderpersons voted as follows:  Alderperson Gehringer - aye; Alderperson Taylor - aye; Alderperson Leonard - aye; and Alderperson Nahnsen - aye.   Attorney Paperner then read the bill for a second time by title only.

AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CRYSTAL LAKE PARK TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF CRYSTAL LAKE PARK WITH THE CITY OF FRONTENAC TO PROVIDE POLICE SERVICES, FIRE PROTECTION SERVICES, AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES, AND TO ARRANGE FOR THE PROVISION OF EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICES BY THE CITY OF FRONTENAC TO THE CITY OF CRYSTAL LAKE PARK.

Following the reading of the bill it was noted that the contract with Frontenac was for one year only, not five years as stated in the ordinance.  The ordinance was amended to reflect the one year term of the contract.

A Motion was then made by Alderperson Leonard, and seconded by Alderperson Taylor to approve Bill #429, Ordinance #403 as amended.   The Alderpersons voted as follows:  Alderperson Gehringer - aye; Alderperson Taylor - aye; Alderperson Leonard - aye; and Alderperson Nahnsen - aye.   Mayor Balcer then declared Bill #429 Ordinances #403 passed. 

CITY OFFICIALS:

Financial Report:  There being no City Treasurer, no report was forthcoming.

Street Commissioner:   Street Commissioner (SC) Cooper reported that Aalcan Asphalt Paving & Concrete Company, Inc. (Aalcan) had indicated it was ready to begin repair work on residents’ driveways immediately, weather permitting.  Mayor Balcer asked Cooper if there would be any problem performing the work due to the cold weather.  Cooper replied that the company would probably do the work on days when the temperature was above freezing.  Alderperson Leonard asked Cooper if residents’ had been notified yet that the work was about to begin, to which Cooper replied that he had done so.  Cooper then said that another issue had arisen at resident Peggy Moser’s home.  During the prior street project the contractor had paved over her water main.  She now wants to install a lawn sprinkler system on her property, but the installers cannot access the water main necessary to the project.  Cooper said that contractor Aalcan said they could make the necessary repairs at a cost of $300.  The Board agreed that the City should pay for the repairs and Attorney Paperner asked Cooper to obtain a work order from Aalcan.  A Motion was then made by Alderperson Nahnsen and seconded by Alderperson Taylor to obtain a work change order in the amount of $300 from Aalcan to repair the water main at 11954 Country Club Drive.  The Motion was unanimously approved.

Police Chief Sood:  Police Chief Sood indicated no major situations had occurred in the City as of his last report.  Alderperson Leonard noted that a large truck had been parked on Oak Drive at South Drive, potentially hampering police and emergency crews.  He said he had asked the contractor repeatedly to move the truck, but that it remained for five days.  Sood said that he frequently patrolled the streets and warned contractors who park large trucks on the smaller streets.  He said that typically if they don’t comply, he asks Frontenac police to ticket the trucks.  Sood then said that in a couple of weeks he would be moving to Japan for six months, to assist his company.  After discussion, it was decided that during that time residents would be referred to the Mayor or City Clerk if issues arose and that Sood would continue as Police Chief upon his return.

City Clerk:  City Clerk LaDriere reported that she had mailed election notice postcards to City residents indicating which aldermanic and mayoral positions would be open for voting in the April 8, 2008 election, as well as the City Treasurer position opening.  La Driere also said that she had obtained a performance bond and mailed it, along with a signed contract with the County of St. Louis, in order to begin the sewer lateral line program.  In addition, she said Attorney Paperner had provided her with the names of some companies who could install rubber mulch at the City’s playground.  She asked Cooper if he could contact the companies to obtain bids for same and Cooper agreed to do so.

Attorney Paperner then reported that a settlement had been reached concerning the tax cases involving service providers Verizon and U.S. Cellular.  He noted that $3000.00 had already been paid under protest and that another $4787.00 would be forthcoming.  He said that the total tax revenue the City would ultimately receive from all service provider companies would be about $15,000.00 to $20,000.00. 

Next, Alderperson Gehringer said that due to evening classes, he would be unable to represent the Board at Planning & Zoning Commission meetings from January through April, 2008.  After discussion, it was noted that City Clerk La Driere attended both meetings and could provide those reports in the interim.  Alderpersons Taylor and Leonard also agreed to attend meetings when available.

A Motion was then made and seconded to close the public session of the meeting and to open the closed session to discuss personnel issues within the City.  The Motion was approved and the public session of the meeting adjourned.

NEXT MEETING:  It was announced that the next meeting of the Board was scheduled for Monday, January 14, 2007. 

MINUTES RECORDED BY:______________________________________________

                                                City Clerk, Lois La Driere

ATTEST:_______________________________________________________________

               Mayor/Presiding Officer