Overland City Council Meeting September 10th, 2007
The Overland City Council met at the Community Center for a regularly scheduled meeting on September 10th, 2007.
During resident comments we were reminded that the Mayor will be participating in the Mayor's Challenge Cup Race During the 4th Annual "Mingle at the Mills" event on September 28th, 2007 from (entire event: 4:00PM until 10:00 PM). "Mingle at the Mills" is a NASCAR Speedpark and Northwest Chamber of Commerce family friendly, outdoor event that includes a host of charity races, fun activities, music, contests and more. The Mayor's Cup is one of the charity races where the Mayor's of Overland, Woodson Terrace, St. John, St. Ann, Vinita Park, Charlack, Edmundson, Bridgeton, Florissant and Hazelwood all participate. All of the Mayor's have tickets to sell for the race. The number sold determines each Mayor's starting position and a portion of the money raised goes to the Northwest Chamber's High School Scholarship Fund. If you would like to support Mayor Schneider as well as the scholarship fund, City Hall may still have $1.00 tickets you can purchase. Please contact Overland City Hall at 428-4321 to check if any are left before you head over there.
As Mike Oakes pointed out during resident comments, there are still some sound system problems at the meeting. We tried repositioning the camera in an effort to get clearer audio but, as you can hear for yourself (further down) it is still a problem. Hopefully, the Council will find a solution to this issue before the next Council meeting at the center.
At this meeting a representative of Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) made a presentation covering a 3.7 billion dollar capital improvements program to eliminate as many of the sewage overflows in our area as possible.. I had the opportunity to speak to him briefly at the meeting and hope to have more detailed information on this in the near future.
At this meeting, Mayor Schneider named Councilperson O'Connell (Ward 2) to replace him as the Council representative on the Overland Planning and Zoning Commission. The Mayor also offered Les Dills as an appointment to fill his vacant seat in Ward 4. This lead to an lengthy discussion where several on the Council asked that the appointment be tabled and that it be added to Monday, September 17th's Workshop meeting agenda so that members could have an opportunity to talk to Mr. Dills. A motion was made to table, but that motion failed 3-3 with Councilpersons May, Cumanale, and Conlon voting to table, Councilpersons O'Connell, Owensby and Jones opposing, and Councilperson Keller abstaining.
Discussion continued with Councilperson Jones expressing concerns about not wanting to see an extended vacancy on the Council as we saw last year with Ward 3. Councilperson May made an excellent point that the Council (including Councilpersons O'Connell and Schneider) opposed appointments made by former Mayor Purzner last year because they were not given an opportunity to speak to the appointees about their experience, views and goals. Councilperson May made it clear that it would be hypocritical at best for the Council to have opposed Mayor Purzner only to face a similar lack of Council involvement now and not handle the issue in the same manor. Mayor Schneider seemed to agree with this point and discussed the issue with the Council further, ultimately deciding to hold off on the appointment until the September 24th meeting to allow the Council, as well as interested residents of Ward 4 to consider the appointment at the September 17th Workshop.
I appreciate Mayor Schneider's handling of this situation. Whether you agree with him on all issues or not it is clear that he is a definite improvement over our recent past. We have now had two Council meetings without egregious violations of State statutes, shouting matches, inaction, etc. That is already 100% better than the previous administration. Now if some in the audience would follow the Mayor's lead when it comes to civility and listening to other points of view that would really be progress.
Normal business was also handled professionally at this meeting (yet more improvement). A few new business licenses were approved, bids for slurry seal, asphalt and concrete were reviewed, an ordinance to enter into a contract to purchase 1000 tons of road salt from Chesterfield for the winter passed and even the bills were approved unanimously without issue.
Below is the video of the meeting in it's entirety. There continues to be sound problems at the Community Center. Moving the camera appears to have helped to a degree but the issue is far from resolved:
During resident comments we were reminded that the Mayor will be participating in the Mayor's Challenge Cup Race During the 4th Annual "Mingle at the Mills" event on September 28th, 2007 from (entire event: 4:00PM until 10:00 PM). "Mingle at the Mills" is a NASCAR Speedpark and Northwest Chamber of Commerce family friendly, outdoor event that includes a host of charity races, fun activities, music, contests and more. The Mayor's Cup is one of the charity races where the Mayor's of Overland, Woodson Terrace, St. John, St. Ann, Vinita Park, Charlack, Edmundson, Bridgeton, Florissant and Hazelwood all participate. All of the Mayor's have tickets to sell for the race. The number sold determines each Mayor's starting position and a portion of the money raised goes to the Northwest Chamber's High School Scholarship Fund. If you would like to support Mayor Schneider as well as the scholarship fund, City Hall may still have $1.00 tickets you can purchase. Please contact Overland City Hall at 428-4321 to check if any are left before you head over there.
As Mike Oakes pointed out during resident comments, there are still some sound system problems at the meeting. We tried repositioning the camera in an effort to get clearer audio but, as you can hear for yourself (further down) it is still a problem. Hopefully, the Council will find a solution to this issue before the next Council meeting at the center.
At this meeting a representative of Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) made a presentation covering a 3.7 billion dollar capital improvements program to eliminate as many of the sewage overflows in our area as possible.. I had the opportunity to speak to him briefly at the meeting and hope to have more detailed information on this in the near future.
At this meeting, Mayor Schneider named Councilperson O'Connell (Ward 2) to replace him as the Council representative on the Overland Planning and Zoning Commission. The Mayor also offered Les Dills as an appointment to fill his vacant seat in Ward 4. This lead to an lengthy discussion where several on the Council asked that the appointment be tabled and that it be added to Monday, September 17th's Workshop meeting agenda so that members could have an opportunity to talk to Mr. Dills. A motion was made to table, but that motion failed 3-3 with Councilpersons May, Cumanale, and Conlon voting to table, Councilpersons O'Connell, Owensby and Jones opposing, and Councilperson Keller abstaining.
Discussion continued with Councilperson Jones expressing concerns about not wanting to see an extended vacancy on the Council as we saw last year with Ward 3. Councilperson May made an excellent point that the Council (including Councilpersons O'Connell and Schneider) opposed appointments made by former Mayor Purzner last year because they were not given an opportunity to speak to the appointees about their experience, views and goals. Councilperson May made it clear that it would be hypocritical at best for the Council to have opposed Mayor Purzner only to face a similar lack of Council involvement now and not handle the issue in the same manor. Mayor Schneider seemed to agree with this point and discussed the issue with the Council further, ultimately deciding to hold off on the appointment until the September 24th meeting to allow the Council, as well as interested residents of Ward 4 to consider the appointment at the September 17th Workshop.
I appreciate Mayor Schneider's handling of this situation. Whether you agree with him on all issues or not it is clear that he is a definite improvement over our recent past. We have now had two Council meetings without egregious violations of State statutes, shouting matches, inaction, etc. That is already 100% better than the previous administration. Now if some in the audience would follow the Mayor's lead when it comes to civility and listening to other points of view that would really be progress.
Normal business was also handled professionally at this meeting (yet more improvement). A few new business licenses were approved, bids for slurry seal, asphalt and concrete were reviewed, an ordinance to enter into a contract to purchase 1000 tons of road salt from Chesterfield for the winter passed and even the bills were approved unanimously without issue.
Below is the video of the meeting in it's entirety. There continues to be sound problems at the Community Center. Moving the camera appears to have helped to a degree but the issue is far from resolved:
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September 10th Overland
City Council Meeting
( 1 hour, 43 minutes )
you might not be able to see the video below.
September 10th Overland
City Council Meeting
( 1 hour, 43 minutes )
The Public Works report became rather interesting when acting Director Chuck Boone apologized for not being able to acomplish as much as he had hoped to because of all the catchup work his department is doing due to the inaction of the previous administration. One such project was sidewalk work on Poe Ave. in Ward 4. Councilperson Conlon asked about this, expressing concern because this has apparently been an ongoing issue for 3-4 years and it involves handicapped access issues. Councilpersons Conlon (Ward 2) and O'Connell (Ward 2) suggested that Public Works consider contracting some of the work, like this particular project, to help the department catch up. Mr. Boone expressed concern about the increased costs of using a contractor and further explained that this sidewalk project is difficult and would require extensive engineering and surveying. While I can understand the likelihood of projects being more expensive due to using outside firms, when it comes to this sidewalk project, to the best of my knowledge Overland Public Works employees no engineers or surveyors so the most difficult part of that project would have to be contracted out regardless.
Other suggestions were made on how to address the workload. Councilperson O'Connell's suggestion that Public Works put out some "RFPs" (Requests for Proposals) as a way of getting an idea of how much contracting some of the workload would cost. Councilperson Conlon asked if Saturday overtime for the Public Works employees was a possibility to help with this as well.
Councilperson Conlon asked about the progress with the boarded up buildings at Woodson and Midland. Mr. Boone explained that the process had been started and they still needed an extensive title search, to check for leans on the property, build a case with photos and other evidence, and seek a condemnation hearing. While I understand the difficulty of such an undertaking (as several years ago a similar process dragged on for years on Spencer Ave), I am confused by this answer. Mr. Boone stated at a meeting months ago that prior to his "unscheduled vacation" under Mayor Puzner he had met with the owners, be in the building along with St. Louis County inspectors and others and that the process to resolve this issue was well underway. I'm surprised that all of this evidence was not gathered at that time. I wish Mr. Boone would commit to some sort of time table on resolving this issue as Woodson and Midland are major thoroughfares though Overland and the deplorable condition of this particular property really makes our community look bad in my opinion.
Later in the meeting Councilperson O'Connell asked if Public Works had moved forward with hiring a grant writer. Mr. Boone stated one was hired. Councilperson Conlon asked how the department would be determine priorities with grants and which ones they would apply for. I would suggest that you view the meeting video below to see if you can decipher the answers. Personally I found it odd that the Council was asking a department head how this would be handled rather than directing how they wanted it handled.
The Chief reminded the public about the upcoming Overland Police Community Golf tournament on September 21st. He pointed out that the money raised went toward the City D.A.R.E. program. The Chief also mentioned that the BBQ dinner at the Golf course will be catered by Miss Piggies Smoke House (located at 11612 Page Ave.) and will cost $15.00 a person. You can attend the BBQ without participating in the Golf tournament so if the only drivers you know are in on the end of cordless drills (I know I always though a pitching wedge was the white thing on the mound in baseball) you can still come out and support D.A.R.E. and have a good time in the process.
The Chief also reported that the Overland Police had received a $31,512.00 grant to be applied to several local law enforcement responsibilities including sobriety checkpoints, speed enforcement, general DWI enforcement, etc. The Chief also informed us that the department's DWI enforcement numbers for this year (73 arrests so far) had already exceeded last years total of 70. Nice work OPD!
Overall the meeting went well, Council members, as well as the majority of the people in attendance were civil and once again city business was acomplished. There were some bumps and kinks and we still have much room for improvement, but things in Overland are definitely looking better than before.
A word of warning:. Considering the number of issues that were already planned for the September 17th, Workshop meeting, including the recently proposed pension changes, and the number of issues, including the filling the vacant Ward 4 seat have were added to it at this meeting, that workshop could be a record breaker in length. If your planning on attending, you might want to pack some water, a few snacks and a blanket. I will attempt to record this workshop but without a functional sound system in the Council Chambers its has been all but impossible to record meeting in that room so far. Considering the length, my external microphone can't last though it all so if you want to be sure to see it for yourself, I suggest you attend.
Other suggestions were made on how to address the workload. Councilperson O'Connell's suggestion that Public Works put out some "RFPs" (Requests for Proposals) as a way of getting an idea of how much contracting some of the workload would cost. Councilperson Conlon asked if Saturday overtime for the Public Works employees was a possibility to help with this as well.
Councilperson Conlon asked about the progress with the boarded up buildings at Woodson and Midland. Mr. Boone explained that the process had been started and they still needed an extensive title search, to check for leans on the property, build a case with photos and other evidence, and seek a condemnation hearing. While I understand the difficulty of such an undertaking (as several years ago a similar process dragged on for years on Spencer Ave), I am confused by this answer. Mr. Boone stated at a meeting months ago that prior to his "unscheduled vacation" under Mayor Puzner he had met with the owners, be in the building along with St. Louis County inspectors and others and that the process to resolve this issue was well underway. I'm surprised that all of this evidence was not gathered at that time. I wish Mr. Boone would commit to some sort of time table on resolving this issue as Woodson and Midland are major thoroughfares though Overland and the deplorable condition of this particular property really makes our community look bad in my opinion.
Later in the meeting Councilperson O'Connell asked if Public Works had moved forward with hiring a grant writer. Mr. Boone stated one was hired. Councilperson Conlon asked how the department would be determine priorities with grants and which ones they would apply for. I would suggest that you view the meeting video below to see if you can decipher the answers. Personally I found it odd that the Council was asking a department head how this would be handled rather than directing how they wanted it handled.
The Chief reminded the public about the upcoming Overland Police Community Golf tournament on September 21st. He pointed out that the money raised went toward the City D.A.R.E. program. The Chief also mentioned that the BBQ dinner at the Golf course will be catered by Miss Piggies Smoke House (located at 11612 Page Ave.) and will cost $15.00 a person. You can attend the BBQ without participating in the Golf tournament so if the only drivers you know are in on the end of cordless drills (I know I always though a pitching wedge was the white thing on the mound in baseball) you can still come out and support D.A.R.E. and have a good time in the process.
The Chief also reported that the Overland Police had received a $31,512.00 grant to be applied to several local law enforcement responsibilities including sobriety checkpoints, speed enforcement, general DWI enforcement, etc. The Chief also informed us that the department's DWI enforcement numbers for this year (73 arrests so far) had already exceeded last years total of 70. Nice work OPD!
Overall the meeting went well, Council members, as well as the majority of the people in attendance were civil and once again city business was acomplished. There were some bumps and kinks and we still have much room for improvement, but things in Overland are definitely looking better than before.
A word of warning:. Considering the number of issues that were already planned for the September 17th, Workshop meeting, including the recently proposed pension changes, and the number of issues, including the filling the vacant Ward 4 seat have were added to it at this meeting, that workshop could be a record breaker in length. If your planning on attending, you might want to pack some water, a few snacks and a blanket. I will attempt to record this workshop but without a functional sound system in the Council Chambers its has been all but impossible to record meeting in that room so far. Considering the length, my external microphone can't last though it all so if you want to be sure to see it for yourself, I suggest you attend.
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Labels: Appointments, City Council, Council meeting, MSD, Public Works
posted by Overland Sailor @ 9:00 PM 
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One interesting note:
Suzyjax over at the new and improved OVCC Blog alerted everyone to a new article by Phil Sutlin of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about Campaign finance issues in the recent Overland special election for Mayor that's worth a read.
There's a short article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch about the Ward 4 vacancy on the Overland City Council which can be found here
it seems to me that we spend more time diggin up legal issues pertaining to elections, donations and who they come from etc.
it seems of more importance is the existing laws or ordances that govern our city life...like why don't the police issue warning or tickets to the folks who continue to park over curbs on grass and in front lawns insread of driveways, what about the unlicensed vehicles sitting in driveways, what about residence that continue to pile junk in their yards? like brush, old wood stacked up and rotting away, trash in general, and what about some folks who put their trash out at the curb in plastic bags and not a can with a lid like the ordance says..these issue i see every day and week in ward two on the same street that the alderman from ward two lives in..in fact most occurs on her street where she lives...
yes it's about time that they do something about the board up on woodson and midland..that's been like thatover 5 years now? yes five years cause i drive by it everyday..
revitalize downtown overland will never happen! why? because when i was a kid in the early fifties i hung around there a lot..remember woolworths, ludwigs toy store, P N hirsh clothing store, Mason's furniture store, krogers, A&P food store, western auto, paul turners record shop, the old theater what is now a parking lot next to baumans funeral home and many more i could mention!
downtown overland started dying when town & country mall was built at page and woodson..remember that? then along came northwest plaza! which in effect drew business away from overland and now due to progress of time northwest is dying due to the new mills center..
i have seen since 1950 the slow decline of overland due to the times, economics, and now the constant complaining of who's gonna be on the council, who's gonna do what and so forth..everybody points but nobody does anything.
it is quite evident that no one up there in city hall has a straight head about anything and the corruption is so thick you can't cut it with a knife..
example..we gotta spend all our money on he great ashby road deal , that no one can use for anything , but our residents must suffer by paying for our trash serices because of a prior administration desire to shift monies from the utility tax to general fund to may for the great white elephant, when in fact monies could be used for the residents in trash services, the legion pool for the kids that i went to faithfully when i was growing up here, and maybe a basket ball court as well as the ball diamonds if they still exists over there.
what about broken and decayed sidewalks i see in overland in ward 2? what about all the vacant buildings in overland along lackland, woodson road, page and so forth..this is a case of blight setting in and progressing more rapid as the years go by..
as long as we have that group of folks up there in city hall and the council, things will not change, only get worst..and you can see it happen...has anyone noticed how rapid the veterans of overland are sell and movin out somewhere else? look around you and notice the deteration of the area because the folks in city hall want to save the ashby road and let everything else fall apart.
until everyone spends less time complaining about this law and that law and and who gave what and why and get down to what is really imporant here..run the city with some people who care and get back on track.
since the dody administration started all this poor city mangement and now it contiues.
and further more a state audit will definitely show a lot of misshandling of funds and so forth.
a lot of folks who will read this will chew me up and spit me out, but so be it, look around , check out the things i mention and think about it.. after almost 60 years i have seen a gradual decay of the city and the folks who run it..
city hall needs new blood in it and so does the council.
thank you and may god bless to all.
I look up statutes, ordinances, etc when there is a question as to whether something is legal or not. When it comes to donations and the like, I wasn't the one who found and provided that information to the public, however I am glad they did.
As for the grass parking, I don't believe that is a police matter. Though I could be mistaken, I believe that is an issue that would be addressed by the codes department. Now, a few years ago, when I asked, I was told that the codes department doesn't go out looking for violations, they simply respond to citizen complaints. Though it seems that this approach may have changed recently the best approach would likely be to contact Public Works and complain about these parking issues. Also, the other issues you mentioned including trash in yards and the like are all code enforcement issues that you should consider calling Public Works about (though generally, talking to your neighbor about an issue first is the approach I prefer).
I don't remember any of those places. I've only lived here since 1998. However, I used to live and work in a community that had a thriving Main Street business district until the malls came. After that it all but died. That was until the early 1990s when the local Chamber of Commerce started aggressively working on it. They held weekly events and promotions for several years and slowly but surely the town turned around again. Feel free to check out Red Bank, N.J., and how the Eastern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce turned it around again.
Now, if you want to claim corruption, feel free, but we deal in facts here. How about providing some? Also, the claim that the Utility Tax money was raised for trash has been made many times before. But no one has backed it up with any documentation or facts thus far. While I would not be surprised to learn that this is what politicians were telling people at the time, it is not in the ordinance or the original ballot language. There is a lesson to be learned there. Don't count on what politicians tell you unless they give it to you in writing.
Ff we were to move all the Utility tax money to trash service (assuming that would fully fund the service) what departments and services would you suggest we cut to accomplish this? The fact is that revenues have been stagnant for a long time in Overland but the City's expenses (like all of our expenses) continue to rise. So, where would you suggest we either raise new funds or cut services in order to come up with the 1.2 million or so needed for trash service?
If we were to sell Wild Acres, that sale price wouldn't quite provide money for one year of trash service. Than what? While I have issues with the City not acting on the roof repairs since they budgeted in August 2006, and now again in 2007, I am not willing to give up on that property just yet. If we continue down the road of inaction and allow the property to continue to deteriorate than we might as well sell it. However, the insurance money that should be coming in for the property from when the furnace went out and the pipes burst should go a long way towards repairs that will stop the deterioration and allow us to start seriously marketing the property for a public/private partnership. Why is it some refuse to even consider options for this property?
(sigh) The State Audit again. The fact is that a State Audit does NOTHING that our current Audit process does not. It simply makes sure that money authorized to be spent by the Council and the Mayor came from the right accounts and went to the right places. That's it. A State Audit does NOT examine the politics of the decisions made by the Council and Mayor. Why would we want to pay twice as much for the same Audit?
Could provide specific examples of the corruption you claim exists and back those examples up with facts? If you or others would do that than we could take the issue(s) to legal authorities. However, without anything beyond unsubstantiated opinion I cannot justify spending that extra money when our budget is as tight as it is already and nothing would be accomplished.
Chew you up and spit you out? That is not my style. I welcome you here. However, when you make statements like they are fact, but provide no evidence to back those statements up, expect that I will challenge you on it. When you say things that are simply not true, expect to be challenged on those as well. However, as long as your posts do not include private information or personal attacks they will remain here.
have question?
ritenour has had homecoming parades for many many years, who pays all the expenses for the officers, firemen and paramedics who guide this parade thru it's course?
i ask in regards to the recent commentaries about the campaign parade before the election. it sure didn't come thru my area!!
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