CITY OF FLORISSANT

WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES

March 28th, 2012

              The City Council met on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 7:00 pm for a work session in the Council Chambers at 955 rue St. Francois, Florissant, Missouri. Council members in attendance included:  Lee, English, Stinnett, Grib, Eagan, McKay, Schmidt., Hernandez.  Schildroth was absent.  Also in attendance were Mayor Schneider and City Clerk Karen Goodwin.   Council President Keith English stated that a quorum was present and the meeting was brought to order at 7:00 pm.

Council President English allowed a few minutes before the meeting began for the Council to ask questions and continue to get their iPads set up.

Council President English stated that they were going to go over the first 8 articles of the Charter page by page to see if anyone had any questions for the rest of the council on potential changes or corrections. 

• Council Woman McKay asked about deleting monetary number that was set in 1963 when the charter was formed for the Mayor’s pay and just have it set by ordinance the same as the Council pay.
• Councilman Schmidt asked about possible additional qualifications for the Mayor. 
• Council discussed the process of getting answers from the administration with regard to work orders that are sent through.

• The Council discussed including some compensation for a Mayor Pro-tem if it becomes necessary for them to take on the role of the Mayor until the next election. The Council President stated that he would check with the City Attorney to see if that could be done by ordinance instead of a Charter change. 

 Council President English stated that since the staff and the Mayor are present, the Council would go on to the other items on the agenda and come back to the discussion of the Charter.

Liquor- single serve

Councilman Eagan stated that he has done some research on the prohibition of the sale of single serve beer in the original package under 40oz.  He would like to continue to monitor it the sales and feels that the playing field needs to be leveled.  Councilman Lee stated that he would propose eliminating it for all convenience stores as well as convenience store gas stations.   Councilman Eagan stated that he is concerned with the definition of single serve.  Councilman Grib stated that he doesn't understand not allowing the sale of 24 oz and allowing the sale of  40 oz.   

Animal Permits

Councilman Stinnett stated that there are regulations for dogs and cats.  Do we need to license the exceptions with the inclusion of signatures of approval from the neighbors and possibly proof of immunization?

Councilman Stinnett asked about breeding operations in section 205.450.  According to this section a $25 permit is required.  Greg Koester stated that in his 33 years with the city no permits have been issued for a kennel. 

Mayor Schneider asked the City Clerk to check with other cities on how they handle animals other than dogs. 

Councilman Stinnett stated that the city is not being consistent as to how many animals are approved.  Lou Jearls explained that the number of animals is dependent on the size of the property and proximity from other properties. 

FLERT Bus

Lou Jearls stated that they met with the Mayor earlier this year and recommended that the trips out of the city be discontinued so that more residents could be provided service. 

Karen Schmidt stated that more residents are receiving service because the bus is in service more when they do not go out of Florissant. 

Councilman Eagan asked how many trips were they doing before and how many since the out of town trips were discontinued.  Greg Koester described the in town buses and out of town buses.   

Karen Schmidt, the scheduling clerk for the Health Department, described the different trips that the busses take. 

Councilwoman McKay stated that she feels that the FLERT bus was set up for trips in Florissant; with the price of gas it makes more sense to keep the bus in the city. 

Councilman Grib stated that the problem is not keeping the bus in Florissant but the fact that the administration did not tell the council this was happening and the Council started to get calls from he residents. 

Councilman Stinnett agreed with Councilman Grib.   He stated that the Council should know what the rider ship is and the council needs more information regarding the program. 

Councilman Hernandez asked how many busses are used.  Mrs. Schmidt answered that there are 2 busses.  The capacity is 13 and 15 riders, these are the busses that are used for transport in the City of Florissant. 

Council asked for a copy of the monthly reports.  Lou Jearls stated that there is a tally in the annual report, 

Councilman Hernandez asked about the annual cost of providing this service. 

Councilman Lee asked about the policy that makes an exception for the Veterans home.  He feels that if the policy is in Florissant then they should stay in Florissant

Council discussed out of town trips and cost of trips.

Council would like to discuss the charge for the trips at $100 each, stating that this fee may need to be raised to be more realistic. 

Councilman Stinnett asked if a study could be done to see how many people need transportation outside the city limits and see if it is significant then the city could negotiate with call a ride or other programs.   

Quarterly Budget review

Mayor read a memo from the Finance director. 

Councilman Lee asked a question about the 2012 estimated revenues.  He is asking why the revenues were bumped for court. 

Councilman Lee stated that the Council is unhappy with the format of the budget.  He has looked at the format of other Cities budgets.  He feels that the budgets are easier to understand.  He encouraged the administration to look at the format and see if there is a way to make it more understandable.

Councilman Stinnett stated that he agrees that the budget is difficult to understand and decipher. 

Councilman Grib stated that there needs to be more detail in the budget. 

Councilwoman McKay agrees and has pointed out issues in the past that have been ignored.  She has submitted examples over the years and nothing happens. 

Councilman Eagan stated that he hopes that in the upcoming year that the city can compensate the employees a bit more. 

Councilwoman McKay agrees that the employees need more compensation but the council has to be careful to make sure the funds are available. 

Councilman Lee encouraged the administration to look at possibly offering a retirement incentive to those who are close or past time of retirement.  He feels that the savings could help all of the employees in the long run.   

Councilman Hernandez agrees that the city needs to do more for the employees.    He was very disappointed that the Council did not vote to give the $400 adjustment to the employees. 

Councilman English stated that he applauds the administration for the quick response on issues in his ward. 

Council President English stated that they would now return to the review of the Charter.

• Council returned to page 6 discussion of including some type of compensation for the Mayor Pro-tem if it was necessary.   Can this be done by ordinance and not a charter change? 

• Requirements for the finance director. 

Council discussed increasing the limit of purchases on pg 27  limit from 500 to 1000 and to build it in that it can be done by ordinance. 

Council discussed and agreed to schedule a work session on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. 

There being no further business to discuss Councilman Stinnett moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 pm, seconded by Eagan, motion carried. 

                                                                                                  __________________________

                                                                                                  Karen Goodwin, MMC/MRCC

                                                                                                  City Clerk