Alderman Ebersohl arrived just after the first meeting began.
Ordinance, Planning and Zoning
• Main Street C-1 & C-2 Zoning Discussion
Mark the property owner would like to have his property rezoned into C-2 so more tenants would be interested in a new building he is planning there. He stated that of he had more freedoms in the uses of the building getting tenants and financing would be much easier.
The new building would be a two story structure with a total square footage of about 7,500 s.f. located behind Diehl Plaza while facing the back of the current plaza. It would contain retail possibly with some potential for office space. Concerns were brought up about how it would present the entrance to Columbia. Mark stated the facade would be dependent on tenants and projected revenue. Mark also noted that any uses on Main Street in those C-2 areas should be acceptable at the entrance to Main Street. He also noted the Industrial zone right across Route 3 and the C-2 down Ghent Road.
Alderman Agne noted maybe a C-1 with special uses could maybe work, while it was pointed out this would be similar to just making it a C-2 district.
The issues arose that this one parcel does not meet the minimum 5 acres needed to be rezoned into a C-2. The rezoning would have to involve the other C-1 between Main Street and Route 3.
Alderman Row stated that all of the discussion if facades and building placement should not be discussed as the only current issue is whether the C-1 should be C-2.
Mark was instructed to start the process with the city by filling out the required paperwork to re-zone his property. The owners of the other parcels will have to be notified.
• Handbills and Flyers Distribution Discussion
An email had been circulated that caused concern for people distributing shady flyers I guess. There is a two page form that is supposed to be filled out in order to hang things on people’s doors. It was also noted that filling out the form helps with security in the town. Discussion took place regarding if the city should ban flyers all together including campaign literature.
No action was taken on the subject.
• Mixed Use Development District (MDD) Discussion
Alderman Agne brought up as a last point that the council should begin the process of looking to pass some sort of MDD criteria in the case that any developer ever wants to come to Columbia. It would be better to have it on the books and not scramble if a developer decides to start talks with Columbia.
Finance, Claims, Bonds and Interest
• Financial Review (6 months into fiscal year)
This discussion would be better summarized by actually looking at the review that was put together by Al Hudzik and Linda Sharp. If anyone actually wants to see it I am sure a FOIA request would get you an electronic copy. Here are the highlights I took from their spoken summary:
Revenue is down approximately $200,000 as of right now due to a few factors
o State Income tax payments are a few months behind from the state.
o Sales Taxes are also down, as of December 14 we are 11.81% behind where we were last year at this time. The city projected to be down 5% compared to last year when preparing the budget.
Expenditures are under budget for the most part so far but a few large purchases may have been put off over the first six months of the year and if they are made in the last half then they may go over or exceed revenues.
The importance of Census 2010 was emphasized as that directly affects the payments the city receives from the state. It was noted how important it is and the city should begin to stress to its citizens to fill out the paper work when it comes in the mail next year.
• Tax Levy
This was discussed and will be proposed at the next city council meeting. The bulk of the conversation surrounded the police pension fund and how we are not sure what amount is required for that this year as the city has not received the recommendation yet from the fund.
License, Insurance Claims, CEMA and Contracts & Finance, Claims, Bonds and Interest (Joint Meeting)
• Illinois Municipal League Risk Management Association Insurance Renewal Discussion
The only decision to be made would be to decide if the city would enter the min/max program and pay one amount and then hope their claims don’t exceed that amount or they may have to pay the difference until a maximum is reached. If I have the right figures from the conversation the city will pay $189,025 as the min. Our cost could be as much as $252,107 if the claims amount to enough.
If the city would not enter into the min/max program the set amount we would pay no matter what the claims are would be $220,XXX. It is basically trying to save around $31,000 with taking the gamble of possibly having to pay $32,000 over what the “fixed” costs could have been. The program has worked out for the city in the past and they seemed in agreement to go with the min/max gamble again this year.
Hejna asked Hutchinson about how last year he said the city should try to bid out its insurance and see if better rates could be found. Hutchinson said that that will need to be prepared in June or July for next year if the city wishes to bid out the insurance in the future.
Personnel
All of issues below were discussed in executive session.
•Update/Discussion on Collective Bargaining Negotiations and Employee Salaries
I left at this point in the meeting and did not stay to see if the council had a Committee of the Whole Meeting.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Commitee Meetings 11-23-09
Everyone was in attendance for this meeting. Committee of the Whole was scratched from the agenda.
Refuse Collection & Recycling
• Refuse & Recycling Contract Presentation/Discussion
Tim Schiebe (sp) was in attendance to give a presentation on the contract the city has with Reliable Sanitation.
Tim noted he has expanded recycling with some of his commercial clients in Columbia, notably The Falls, Tiny’s, & West Park Bowl. Tim noted that not all commercial trash in Columbia is his responsibility as a few other companies handle some businesses. Alderman Row asked if it was possible for the city to mandate only one trash company for the city and all businesses in it. Tim said that would be a franchise agreement and regardless he would continue to expand recycling with the businesses he services.
The mayor asked if there were any grants for expanding recycling, Tim said there were and that either the trash company or the city could apply for them, Hutchinson then directed Tim to possibly check with Paul Ellis as he would help with applying for grants such as that.
The total tonnage of recycled material per Tim’s records was up 3% from ’08 to ’09 and trash tonnage was down.
Tim proposed in his contract approximately a 3% increase a year as part of a 3 year contract. Alderman Stumpf threw the idea of having maybe the city also increasing their fee charged to citizens as well just as an idea. The suggestion was briefly discussed and Stumpf noted that Tim’s 3%/year increase is a good deal. Al Hudzik noted that the performance bond should be increased. Al Hudzik was instructed to finalize the contract but the increase was ok’d by the council.
The city will now give recycling bins and lids to all new residences.
Alderman Hejna noted that the leaf and limb contract will be up for renewal soon.
Tim mentioned he had the contact info of a number of companies he would pass along that provide leaf and limb service. Tim also noted that Blalock on Skyline drive will continue to allow Reliable to turn their trucks around in his driveway. He no longer wants a new culvert under his driveway.
Streets Sidewalks, Drainage, and Public Utilities
• Old Town Project – Davenport Callis Driveway Issue Discussion
The Callis(sp) family would like the following things to be done to their property as part of this project.
• Remove two trees that will probably die due to the construction.
• Replacement of conduit under their driveway that was removed.
• A retaining wall along the back of the sidewalk so their yard does not slope as much as it will. They would also like the retaining walls originally in the plan reworked around their driveway.
• For the grading of their driveway to extend farther back into their property so the grade is not as steep.
• Have their downspout drain out to the area between the sidewalk and the curb like the rest have been done in the project.
Alderman Row noted that while he believes that Ron Williams is correct and the city is following the plans if it were his yard he would want it fixed. Hutchinson also noted that it should be fixed but some costs have to be figured out before decisions get made. The council also discussed that any retaining walls should be on the Callis property so it would not interfere with any future work in the right of way.
Ordinance, Planning and Zoning
• Main Street – C-1 & C-2 Zoning Discussion
Alderman Agne was just beginning the discussion on whether a piece of property at the north end of town on Main Street should be changed to C-2 or remain C-1 possibly with special uses attached.
Brad asked if the planning commission should talk the subject over. Agne noted this was just beginning the discussion.
Fred asked if it was fair for this owner to be the only C-1 on Main Street while the rest are C-2?
Agne noted he was merely starting the conversation on the subject and asked that the council spend some time thinking the subject over.
Click on this link for a pdf illustrating the area in question.
Licence, Insurance Claims, CEMA and Contracts
•Rejis Service Agreement Discussion
It is my understanding that this is the company that provides computer support to the city.
There will be no fee increase on this contract this year. Al Hudzik has worked on cutting hours back over the last few months so the city did not go over on support hours in the current contract. He will continue to monitor the hours all departments use so as to not exceed the hours in the next contract. Al mentioned that Rejis responds quickly to issues.
Personnel
All of issues below were discussed in executive session.
•Update/Discussion on Collective Bargaining (including review of changes to FOP agreement)
Refuse Collection & Recycling
• Refuse & Recycling Contract Presentation/Discussion
Tim Schiebe (sp) was in attendance to give a presentation on the contract the city has with Reliable Sanitation.
Tim noted he has expanded recycling with some of his commercial clients in Columbia, notably The Falls, Tiny’s, & West Park Bowl. Tim noted that not all commercial trash in Columbia is his responsibility as a few other companies handle some businesses. Alderman Row asked if it was possible for the city to mandate only one trash company for the city and all businesses in it. Tim said that would be a franchise agreement and regardless he would continue to expand recycling with the businesses he services.
The mayor asked if there were any grants for expanding recycling, Tim said there were and that either the trash company or the city could apply for them, Hutchinson then directed Tim to possibly check with Paul Ellis as he would help with applying for grants such as that.
The total tonnage of recycled material per Tim’s records was up 3% from ’08 to ’09 and trash tonnage was down.
Tim proposed in his contract approximately a 3% increase a year as part of a 3 year contract. Alderman Stumpf threw the idea of having maybe the city also increasing their fee charged to citizens as well just as an idea. The suggestion was briefly discussed and Stumpf noted that Tim’s 3%/year increase is a good deal. Al Hudzik noted that the performance bond should be increased. Al Hudzik was instructed to finalize the contract but the increase was ok’d by the council.
The city will now give recycling bins and lids to all new residences.
Alderman Hejna noted that the leaf and limb contract will be up for renewal soon.
Tim mentioned he had the contact info of a number of companies he would pass along that provide leaf and limb service. Tim also noted that Blalock on Skyline drive will continue to allow Reliable to turn their trucks around in his driveway. He no longer wants a new culvert under his driveway.
Streets Sidewalks, Drainage, and Public Utilities
• Old Town Project – Davenport Callis Driveway Issue Discussion
The Callis(sp) family would like the following things to be done to their property as part of this project.
• Remove two trees that will probably die due to the construction.
• Replacement of conduit under their driveway that was removed.
• A retaining wall along the back of the sidewalk so their yard does not slope as much as it will. They would also like the retaining walls originally in the plan reworked around their driveway.
• For the grading of their driveway to extend farther back into their property so the grade is not as steep.
• Have their downspout drain out to the area between the sidewalk and the curb like the rest have been done in the project.
Alderman Row noted that while he believes that Ron Williams is correct and the city is following the plans if it were his yard he would want it fixed. Hutchinson also noted that it should be fixed but some costs have to be figured out before decisions get made. The council also discussed that any retaining walls should be on the Callis property so it would not interfere with any future work in the right of way.
Ordinance, Planning and Zoning
• Main Street – C-1 & C-2 Zoning Discussion
Alderman Agne was just beginning the discussion on whether a piece of property at the north end of town on Main Street should be changed to C-2 or remain C-1 possibly with special uses attached.
Brad asked if the planning commission should talk the subject over. Agne noted this was just beginning the discussion.
Fred asked if it was fair for this owner to be the only C-1 on Main Street while the rest are C-2?
Agne noted he was merely starting the conversation on the subject and asked that the council spend some time thinking the subject over.
Click on this link for a pdf illustrating the area in question.
Licence, Insurance Claims, CEMA and Contracts
•Rejis Service Agreement Discussion
It is my understanding that this is the company that provides computer support to the city.
There will be no fee increase on this contract this year. Al Hudzik has worked on cutting hours back over the last few months so the city did not go over on support hours in the current contract. He will continue to monitor the hours all departments use so as to not exceed the hours in the next contract. Al mentioned that Rejis responds quickly to issues.
Personnel
All of issues below were discussed in executive session.
•Update/Discussion on Collective Bargaining (including review of changes to FOP agreement)
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Holiday House Tour
This is an event sponsored by the Columbia Friends of the Library each year. Its this coming Sunday December 6th from 1pm-5pm.
Tickets can be purchased at the Library for $12 ahead of time and $15 the day of the event at any of the following locations which are also the starting points for the house tour. Hope everyone will attend.
- Elements Off Main, 107 W. Gundlach
- Agnes Ross, 113 W. Gundlach
- Bon Vivant, 123 S. Main Street
Tickets can be purchased at the Library for $12 ahead of time and $15 the day of the event at any of the following locations which are also the starting points for the house tour. Hope everyone will attend.
- Elements Off Main, 107 W. Gundlach
- Agnes Ross, 113 W. Gundlach
- Bon Vivant, 123 S. Main Street
Historic Local Schools
Good article about great things happening in Columbia.
http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/monroe/
Good to see Columbia saving parts of their past.
http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/monroe/
Good to see Columbia saving parts of their past.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Change of Pace
I haven't been posting too much lately for a number of reasons. Mainly work related reasons. I have been spending some time reading heavily on the STAR bonds that may come back up for vote in January-February '10. With the opposition that took place to public money funding a development in Columbia I would have thought more outcry would be coming from Colombians given these bonds will be taking your money through state sales taxes to possibly fund the same projects people here were against.
My reason for this post is an article posted yesterday on the Suburban Journals website titled "Who runs our towns? Questions about how governments are managed" discussing city managers. While I think the article gives good points to both sides of the issue and I would encourage everyone to read it in full it was a quote near the bottom of the article by Robert A. Cropf, chairman of the St. Louis University Public Policy Studies Department that made me pause for a second.
If your a supporter of the mayor don't take this the wrong way. I think overall our elected officials do a great job here in Columbia. I thought the quote by Cropf had to be mentioned as Columbia's elected officials have a history of wanting or not wanting a city administrator/manager and our mayor is in fact in the insurance industry. The comment by Cropf was simply just to ironic to not point out here.
My reason for this post is an article posted yesterday on the Suburban Journals website titled "Who runs our towns? Questions about how governments are managed" discussing city managers. While I think the article gives good points to both sides of the issue and I would encourage everyone to read it in full it was a quote near the bottom of the article by Robert A. Cropf, chairman of the St. Louis University Public Policy Studies Department that made me pause for a second.
"It guarantees a professional runs city government," he said.
Cropf said having a trained pro insulates residents and businesses from poor decisions by elected officials with no experience. A management background and a institutional knowledge goes a long way, he said.
"The mayor could be the insurance salesman down the block but not know anything about running a city. You need a professional to step in there and run the day-to-day operations of a city," Cropf said.
If your a supporter of the mayor don't take this the wrong way. I think overall our elected officials do a great job here in Columbia. I thought the quote by Cropf had to be mentioned as Columbia's elected officials have a history of wanting or not wanting a city administrator/manager and our mayor is in fact in the insurance industry. The comment by Cropf was simply just to ironic to not point out here.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Commitee Meetings 10-12-09
The mayor was not in attendance as he is out of town on vacation; Alderman Ebersohl is serving as mayor pro-tem while Hutchinson is away. Alderman Stumpf arrived at about 7:12pm. Alderman Oberkfell was not in attendance as there was a death in his family.
Refuse Collection & Recycling
• Refuse & Recycling Contract Presentation/Discussion
Tim Schiebe (sp) was in attendance to give a presentation on the contract the city has with Reliable Sanitation. He proposes that the city not use the CPI to determine the increases in his contract anymore. He noted that Columbia had no increases in sanitation costs last year and throughout all of the high fuel prices he held his pricing to the city.
Tim proposed that the new contract Reliable would have with the city would include a $0.29 increase (2.7%) for his costs and a $0.05 increase in the landfill costs. This would bring the current $10.71 amount up to $11.05. He then proposed instead of using the CPI as is used now the contract would simply increase each year by 3%.
The discussion then moved on to improving the recycling program in Columbia. The council would like to see more businesses recycle and to see an increase in resident recycling. Some council members find the recycling bin to be too small. They discussed with Tim the idea of a second 65 gallon can for recycling or maybe a larger bin for recycling. Nothing was decided on.
Tim then said that at the end of Skyline Drive his driver used to turn around in a driveway at the end of the street. That owner has decided recently that Reliable cannot use his driveway anymore and the trash trucks have to back down Skyline Drive. The owner told the driver that if Reliable fixes the culvert under his driveway then they could use it to turn around again. Time proposed that Reliable could buy all of the material and maybe the city could install it for the owner. He did not have many firm details in regards to an agreement with the owner so he will discuss it with them and then come back to the council for more direction.
Streets Sidewalks, Drainage, and Public Utilities
• Old Town Project – Davenport (404 E. Cherry) Driveway Issue Discussion
It was decided that the city will have the contractor working in Old Town replace his driveway all the way to the garage with 6” concrete and rebar to make the grade in his driveway a continuous 5.6% from the street to the garage. The council was obviously swayed by Mr. Davenport taking time out of his schedule to make a presentation at the Oct. 5 city council meeting. At the previous committee meeting the council was split in support of repairing the driveway. The wording in the easement that said something to the effect that things would be put back the same way as before changed the mind of some alderman. The driveway will run around $5,300 to replace at this time.
Seems to me the council is doing the right thing, but the city should maybe proactively look for other areas of possible issue in the Old Town project.
• Breidecker Street Discussion
The council discussed leaving Breidecker open once the road work is completed. No action was taken and they will continue to think about this possibility and discuss it more in the future.
Committee of the Whole
•Meadow Ridge West Condo Association Agreement Request Discussion
The agreement is almost complete. There will be no street improvements by the city and the city will not be responsible for their upkeep in any way. The condo association will pay for all of the legal fees accumulated before the city signs off on the agreement. The agreement had one item that caused concern for the council. It stated that there is to be no parking on the street. There was also a provision for no cars parked after midnight if I remember correctly. These provisions seemed redundant and didn’t make much sense to much of the council. The council was concerned that maybe the residents were not aware of these provisions.
•Other Items to Be Discussed
Alderman Row brought up the idea that the city should have a policy in place for returning soldiers to have a small processional down main street if they so desired one.
There had been a citizen requesting a while back that she wanted to organize a parade for some returning soldiers. She gave a presentation at an earlier committee meeting and was told of some requirements including the need for an insurance certificate.
Alderman Niemietz asked who would be responsible for organizing the processional. Alderman Row said it didn’t have to be large or even shut down the street; it could be as simple as a fire truck and maybe two cop cars providing an escort down Main Street. Alderman Stumpf mentioned that Waterloo does it for soccer teams and you basically call and a cop meets the group at one end of town and leads or follows them to the other and that’s it.
They decided that a policy would need to be in place for contacting Chief Edwards or the fire department to organize a processional. This policy would be for sports teams as well as returning soldiers.
Personnel
All of issues below were discussed in executive session.
•Discussion on employment and compensation of a specific city employee (City Hall Office)
•Collective Bargaining
Refuse Collection & Recycling
• Refuse & Recycling Contract Presentation/Discussion
Tim Schiebe (sp) was in attendance to give a presentation on the contract the city has with Reliable Sanitation. He proposes that the city not use the CPI to determine the increases in his contract anymore. He noted that Columbia had no increases in sanitation costs last year and throughout all of the high fuel prices he held his pricing to the city.
Tim proposed that the new contract Reliable would have with the city would include a $0.29 increase (2.7%) for his costs and a $0.05 increase in the landfill costs. This would bring the current $10.71 amount up to $11.05. He then proposed instead of using the CPI as is used now the contract would simply increase each year by 3%.
The discussion then moved on to improving the recycling program in Columbia. The council would like to see more businesses recycle and to see an increase in resident recycling. Some council members find the recycling bin to be too small. They discussed with Tim the idea of a second 65 gallon can for recycling or maybe a larger bin for recycling. Nothing was decided on.
Tim then said that at the end of Skyline Drive his driver used to turn around in a driveway at the end of the street. That owner has decided recently that Reliable cannot use his driveway anymore and the trash trucks have to back down Skyline Drive. The owner told the driver that if Reliable fixes the culvert under his driveway then they could use it to turn around again. Time proposed that Reliable could buy all of the material and maybe the city could install it for the owner. He did not have many firm details in regards to an agreement with the owner so he will discuss it with them and then come back to the council for more direction.
Streets Sidewalks, Drainage, and Public Utilities
• Old Town Project – Davenport (404 E. Cherry) Driveway Issue Discussion
It was decided that the city will have the contractor working in Old Town replace his driveway all the way to the garage with 6” concrete and rebar to make the grade in his driveway a continuous 5.6% from the street to the garage. The council was obviously swayed by Mr. Davenport taking time out of his schedule to make a presentation at the Oct. 5 city council meeting. At the previous committee meeting the council was split in support of repairing the driveway. The wording in the easement that said something to the effect that things would be put back the same way as before changed the mind of some alderman. The driveway will run around $5,300 to replace at this time.
Seems to me the council is doing the right thing, but the city should maybe proactively look for other areas of possible issue in the Old Town project.
• Breidecker Street Discussion
The council discussed leaving Breidecker open once the road work is completed. No action was taken and they will continue to think about this possibility and discuss it more in the future.
Committee of the Whole
•Meadow Ridge West Condo Association Agreement Request Discussion
The agreement is almost complete. There will be no street improvements by the city and the city will not be responsible for their upkeep in any way. The condo association will pay for all of the legal fees accumulated before the city signs off on the agreement. The agreement had one item that caused concern for the council. It stated that there is to be no parking on the street. There was also a provision for no cars parked after midnight if I remember correctly. These provisions seemed redundant and didn’t make much sense to much of the council. The council was concerned that maybe the residents were not aware of these provisions.
•Other Items to Be Discussed
Alderman Row brought up the idea that the city should have a policy in place for returning soldiers to have a small processional down main street if they so desired one.
There had been a citizen requesting a while back that she wanted to organize a parade for some returning soldiers. She gave a presentation at an earlier committee meeting and was told of some requirements including the need for an insurance certificate.
Alderman Niemietz asked who would be responsible for organizing the processional. Alderman Row said it didn’t have to be large or even shut down the street; it could be as simple as a fire truck and maybe two cop cars providing an escort down Main Street. Alderman Stumpf mentioned that Waterloo does it for soccer teams and you basically call and a cop meets the group at one end of town and leads or follows them to the other and that’s it.
They decided that a policy would need to be in place for contacting Chief Edwards or the fire department to organize a processional. This policy would be for sports teams as well as returning soldiers.
Personnel
All of issues below were discussed in executive session.
•Discussion on employment and compensation of a specific city employee (City Hall Office)
•Collective Bargaining
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
IL Library Funding Cuts
The following text was taken from an email forwarded to me by the Columbia Library Director. Please take a moment to visit the site linked below and voice your concern.
The IL General Assembly cut state grants by 50% (PA 96-0042, Article 20, Section 25). This cut affects public libraries, school libraries and systems funding. The Secretary of State mitigated the cuts with some federal money for this year, but this is only a temporary fix. All of this is happening at a time when Illinois libraries and systems are busier than ever.
Please contact your elected members of the Illinois General Assembly and ask them to not cut us any more and to restore funding when it's available. We've put this into a Pledge and we are asking each legislator to sign it. Currently two LCLS area legislators have signed the pledge: Senator James Claybourne Jr., and Representative Eddie Lee Jackson Sr., both from the East St. Louis area.
Go to this website: www.saveillinoislibraries.com scroll down to the bottom of the background page. Click on the link, "Send the pledge letter." Have 6 e-mail addresses ready so when prompted, you can urge 6 more people to send messages. The process is very easy and it will only take you a few minutes.
Members of the General Assembly are in Springfield now for the Veto Session, but it won't last long. They need to hear from those of us who love libraries while they are there.
Feel free to adapt this message and send to family and friends requesting that they send messages, too. In a campaign of this sort, numbers count.
Thanks for helping with this effort.
Tina Hubert
Executive Director
Lewis & Clark Library System
6725 Goshen Road
Edwardsville, IL 62025
Monday, October 19, 2009
TIF articles from Illinois Business Journal
There are a few articles in the October Illinois Business Journal which is available online in its entirety that some may find interesting. The first three are points of view on TIF districts and if reform is needed it the state statutes dealing with them.
Click here for the article by Steve Malec a Metalcutters Union official. He suggests some changes to be made to retail TIF's, business districts and their tax subsidies.
Click here for an article by Kevin Vick who is an attorney at a large law firm who deals with real estate and business law. This article explains some misconceptions with TIF's and is more form a developers point of view.
Click here for an article from Kevin Moran who is president of a consulting firm specializing in TIF's. He covers why he feels that if used properly nothing should or needs to be changed in the TIF statutes.
The following two links cover the ongoing situation in Glen Carbon, IL regarding Star Bonds. If you haven't heard of Star Bonds you should do some reading. I feel that even if you support TIF's you may think the Star Bond idea could be going too far. If you hate TIF's the simple suggestion of a Star Bond will have you voicing complaints at a public hearing before you know if.
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Click here for the article by Steve Malec a Metalcutters Union official. He suggests some changes to be made to retail TIF's, business districts and their tax subsidies.
Click here for an article by Kevin Vick who is an attorney at a large law firm who deals with real estate and business law. This article explains some misconceptions with TIF's and is more form a developers point of view.
Click here for an article from Kevin Moran who is president of a consulting firm specializing in TIF's. He covers why he feels that if used properly nothing should or needs to be changed in the TIF statutes.
The following two links cover the ongoing situation in Glen Carbon, IL regarding Star Bonds. If you haven't heard of Star Bonds you should do some reading. I feel that even if you support TIF's you may think the Star Bond idea could be going too far. If you hate TIF's the simple suggestion of a Star Bond will have you voicing complaints at a public hearing before you know if.
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Thursday, October 15, 2009
Appointment of Members of Boards, Commisions, & Commitees
Click here to view the ordinance.
I have had a copy of this ordinance that I obtained via FOIA request for a few weeks but did not post it right away. I was expecting that the city's website would have been updated by now and people would be able to see who serves on these particular boards and commissions but it has yet to be updated on the city site so I will add it here.
I know that who serves on these boards and commissions is often a hotly contested issue for some citizens and the city council itself. I am not posting this here to stir the pot, that not my intention on any subject. People in town deserve to know who represents the populous on these boards and commissions and that info should be made readily available.
The vote on this ordinance was split 4-4 and the mayor made the vote that split the tie, as always. It was voiced at the meeting by an alderman who voted no that many of these appointments are of a political nature and do not represent a wide cross section of our community. I can maybe agree that a wider cross section of the population should be sought out possibly as a few names pop up on more than one committee, but I do not know if citizens failed to volunteer or if some volunteered and were turned away. There was not much discussion at the council meeting about specifics of any one person in particular or who would be better suited than those that were appointed, that is except for my appointment.
I talked with the alderman who singled me out and while I do not agree with their reasoning I respect their decision and hope that by my future service to the city on the board I was appointed to their view of me may change. No names were singled out as being appointed because of political ties including mine and I would hope none of the alderman who voted no viewed my appointment as falling into that category, as I honestly have no bias towards any alderman, they all do things from time to time, including the mayor, that I agree and disagree with.
I believe all of these board and commission meetings are open to the public and would encourage anyone to attend the meetings or contact someone on the board if they have a question, concern or idea for improvement related to it. It’s your town get involved and help make it better.
I have had a copy of this ordinance that I obtained via FOIA request for a few weeks but did not post it right away. I was expecting that the city's website would have been updated by now and people would be able to see who serves on these particular boards and commissions but it has yet to be updated on the city site so I will add it here.
I know that who serves on these boards and commissions is often a hotly contested issue for some citizens and the city council itself. I am not posting this here to stir the pot, that not my intention on any subject. People in town deserve to know who represents the populous on these boards and commissions and that info should be made readily available.
The vote on this ordinance was split 4-4 and the mayor made the vote that split the tie, as always. It was voiced at the meeting by an alderman who voted no that many of these appointments are of a political nature and do not represent a wide cross section of our community. I can maybe agree that a wider cross section of the population should be sought out possibly as a few names pop up on more than one committee, but I do not know if citizens failed to volunteer or if some volunteered and were turned away. There was not much discussion at the council meeting about specifics of any one person in particular or who would be better suited than those that were appointed, that is except for my appointment.
I talked with the alderman who singled me out and while I do not agree with their reasoning I respect their decision and hope that by my future service to the city on the board I was appointed to their view of me may change. No names were singled out as being appointed because of political ties including mine and I would hope none of the alderman who voted no viewed my appointment as falling into that category, as I honestly have no bias towards any alderman, they all do things from time to time, including the mayor, that I agree and disagree with.
I believe all of these board and commission meetings are open to the public and would encourage anyone to attend the meetings or contact someone on the board if they have a question, concern or idea for improvement related to it. It’s your town get involved and help make it better.
Funding Radio System in St. Louis County
The minutes from 9-14-09 had a section on interoperable radio communication for all emergency personnel in Monroe County. There was an article on Tuesday discussing how St. Louis County is moving forward with a very similar project.
Click here to read the article.
Please note that while the City of Columbia has pledged to move forward with the county, no one has proposed any tax increases here for the upgrades. The county said they were working on some grants to cover costs.
I am not sure how realistic covering the costs of this system for the entire county is with grants but I do know tax increases were not discussed the meeting I attended back in September. Having this system in place will not only make emergency responders able to communicate better but their service to us and other communities will be improved.
Click here to read the article.
Please note that while the City of Columbia has pledged to move forward with the county, no one has proposed any tax increases here for the upgrades. The county said they were working on some grants to cover costs.
I am not sure how realistic covering the costs of this system for the entire county is with grants but I do know tax increases were not discussed the meeting I attended back in September. Having this system in place will not only make emergency responders able to communicate better but their service to us and other communities will be improved.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Committee Meetings 9-28-09
Alderman Hejna was not in attendance at these committee meetings. Alderman Niemietz arrived at approximately 7:14 right as the Ordinance, Planning and Zoning meeting was beginning.
Refuse Collection & Recycling
• Refuse & Recycling Contract Presentation/Discussion
This meeting did not take place as Alderman Hejna would not be in attendance and she is the committee chair.
Ordinance, Planning and Zoning
• Main Street Facade Grant Guidelines & Application Amendments Discussion
The discussion of prevailing wages came up first. The issue was that Columbia had no criteria for prevailing wage in their grant facade program. Illinois has passed a law (SB 223) that goes into effect next year stating that projects receiving public funding must pay all labor at or above the prevailing wage. Since Columbia is giving these businesses money to improve their buildings appearance they must pay all workers prevailing wage even if they use the public portion of the money to buy only material. Owners of the business can do work themselves but their employees as an example may need to be paid painters prevailing wages for the time they spend painting when associated with a façade grant.
A line will be added where people sign the grant application stating they have read and understand the application, as apparently some applicants have not read or understood the grant process in the past.
The issue of whether painting should be allowed funding through the grant was discussed. Alderman Agne noted that some painting is a maintenance issue and should not be funded by the grant as the city has codes that require maintenance of buildings. Alderman Row noted that painting can greatly improve the appearance of a building which is the point of the façade grant program. The mayor said that in cases where a company changes logos or company colors it is more in line with the program possibly.
It was determined that the facade review board will look at grant applications on a case by case basis remembering that the facade grant is not intended to be used for maintenance purposes and continue to pass their recommendations on to the city council who has always had final say on the projects.
Streets Sidewalks, Drainage, and Public Utilities
• Old Town Project – Davenport (404 E. Cherry) & Crimm (216 Ferkel) Driveway Issue Discussion
I’ll explain these one at a time. But the idea here is that when the new streets went in these residents had issues with the way their driveways changed when compared to before the new street was in. It should be noted that all of the driveways and street segments in question are within in the criteria set forth by IDOT.
Crimm – The city has already changed his approach in an effort to keep his cars from dragging when he pulls in off the street. The city was within the design criteria when the new street was put in. The actual metal on the bottom of his car hit concrete when he pulled in. After the city had the contractor make changes to the driveway only the plastic ground affects on his car hits the concrete. Crimm has two low riding cars which have been altered to ride even lower to the ground than when originally manufactured, I believe one is a Mustang and the other is a Corvette. The city will do no more to his driveway.
Davenport – When this resident backs their boat into their driveway the hitch hits the concrete. Alderman Row made a number of points regarding this resident saying that no one anticipated the issue before construction but if they had Mr. Davenport would have requested what he wants done now in his easement. Row also suggested that the city should replace his driveway all the way to his garage or split the costs in some way with the city. Alderman Roessler said he thought Mr. Davenport had more of an issue with the visual look of the driveway rather than its functionality. Either way they both feel that something should be done
Alderman Oberkfell, Niemietz, and Ebersohl all said that doing anything sets a precedent for the city on similar projects in the future. There is a lot of work to be completed on this project in the coming months.
Alderman Roessler will check with the Davenports to see what solutions the Davenports would find reasonable. HE will bring those ideas back to the council at the next meeting.
Committee of the Whole
•National Incident Management System Discussion
There currently is no system in place for the city to keep tract of which employees have completed required NIMS training. It was determined that Al Hudzik the city administrator will begin a program to track what everyone should have in terms of training and if they have completed it. Al said this was on his list of things to get done. It was suggested he contact Gene Henkler with the county to discuss what everyone is required to have done.
Personnel & License, Insurance, CEMA and Contracts (Joint Committee Meeting)
•Pre-Employment Testing Service Provider Discussion
Additional pricing was available from Progressive Family to compare to the pricing the city already had from St. Elizabeth’s. Some tests were higher at Progressive while others were higher at St. Elizabeth’s, not all tests were available at Progressive Family though. Chief Edwards noted that in the past Progressive did not always have an MD administer the tests as requested.
Alderman Row mentioned that the psychological tests for the police candidates should be administered as close as possible to keep mileage reimbursements costs down. Chief Edwards noted that he is aware of one doctor in Illinois that can administer those tests and he has an office in South County that they send candidates to.
Alderman Niemietz and Row both agreed that as many tests as possible should be administered in one location to make it easier on both the candidate getting the tests and the city when waiting for test results.
The committee moved to have Al Hudzik iron out a one year agreement with St. Elizabeth’s and have it ready for the next council meeting.
•Collective Bargaining
Discussed in Executive Session
Refuse Collection & Recycling
• Refuse & Recycling Contract Presentation/Discussion
This meeting did not take place as Alderman Hejna would not be in attendance and she is the committee chair.
Ordinance, Planning and Zoning
• Main Street Facade Grant Guidelines & Application Amendments Discussion
The discussion of prevailing wages came up first. The issue was that Columbia had no criteria for prevailing wage in their grant facade program. Illinois has passed a law (SB 223) that goes into effect next year stating that projects receiving public funding must pay all labor at or above the prevailing wage. Since Columbia is giving these businesses money to improve their buildings appearance they must pay all workers prevailing wage even if they use the public portion of the money to buy only material. Owners of the business can do work themselves but their employees as an example may need to be paid painters prevailing wages for the time they spend painting when associated with a façade grant.
A line will be added where people sign the grant application stating they have read and understand the application, as apparently some applicants have not read or understood the grant process in the past.
The issue of whether painting should be allowed funding through the grant was discussed. Alderman Agne noted that some painting is a maintenance issue and should not be funded by the grant as the city has codes that require maintenance of buildings. Alderman Row noted that painting can greatly improve the appearance of a building which is the point of the façade grant program. The mayor said that in cases where a company changes logos or company colors it is more in line with the program possibly.
It was determined that the facade review board will look at grant applications on a case by case basis remembering that the facade grant is not intended to be used for maintenance purposes and continue to pass their recommendations on to the city council who has always had final say on the projects.
Streets Sidewalks, Drainage, and Public Utilities
• Old Town Project – Davenport (404 E. Cherry) & Crimm (216 Ferkel) Driveway Issue Discussion
I’ll explain these one at a time. But the idea here is that when the new streets went in these residents had issues with the way their driveways changed when compared to before the new street was in. It should be noted that all of the driveways and street segments in question are within in the criteria set forth by IDOT.
Crimm – The city has already changed his approach in an effort to keep his cars from dragging when he pulls in off the street. The city was within the design criteria when the new street was put in. The actual metal on the bottom of his car hit concrete when he pulled in. After the city had the contractor make changes to the driveway only the plastic ground affects on his car hits the concrete. Crimm has two low riding cars which have been altered to ride even lower to the ground than when originally manufactured, I believe one is a Mustang and the other is a Corvette. The city will do no more to his driveway.
Davenport – When this resident backs their boat into their driveway the hitch hits the concrete. Alderman Row made a number of points regarding this resident saying that no one anticipated the issue before construction but if they had Mr. Davenport would have requested what he wants done now in his easement. Row also suggested that the city should replace his driveway all the way to his garage or split the costs in some way with the city. Alderman Roessler said he thought Mr. Davenport had more of an issue with the visual look of the driveway rather than its functionality. Either way they both feel that something should be done
Alderman Oberkfell, Niemietz, and Ebersohl all said that doing anything sets a precedent for the city on similar projects in the future. There is a lot of work to be completed on this project in the coming months.
Alderman Roessler will check with the Davenports to see what solutions the Davenports would find reasonable. HE will bring those ideas back to the council at the next meeting.
Committee of the Whole
•National Incident Management System Discussion
There currently is no system in place for the city to keep tract of which employees have completed required NIMS training. It was determined that Al Hudzik the city administrator will begin a program to track what everyone should have in terms of training and if they have completed it. Al said this was on his list of things to get done. It was suggested he contact Gene Henkler with the county to discuss what everyone is required to have done.
Personnel & License, Insurance, CEMA and Contracts (Joint Committee Meeting)
•Pre-Employment Testing Service Provider Discussion
Additional pricing was available from Progressive Family to compare to the pricing the city already had from St. Elizabeth’s. Some tests were higher at Progressive while others were higher at St. Elizabeth’s, not all tests were available at Progressive Family though. Chief Edwards noted that in the past Progressive did not always have an MD administer the tests as requested.
Alderman Row mentioned that the psychological tests for the police candidates should be administered as close as possible to keep mileage reimbursements costs down. Chief Edwards noted that he is aware of one doctor in Illinois that can administer those tests and he has an office in South County that they send candidates to.
Alderman Niemietz and Row both agreed that as many tests as possible should be administered in one location to make it easier on both the candidate getting the tests and the city when waiting for test results.
The committee moved to have Al Hudzik iron out a one year agreement with St. Elizabeth’s and have it ready for the next council meeting.
•Collective Bargaining
Discussed in Executive Session
Updates
I have my minutes from the committee meeting on Sept. 28 almost complete and will get them finished sometime today. I will also work on a couple of video clips from the Oct. 5 council meeting. A couple of good points were made at the meeting, I'll get clips up this weekend.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Celebrate Your Neighbor Contest
Columbia's volunteer fire department has been made a finalist in the "Celebrate Your Neighbor" contest by the Suburban Journal. Check out the link below to read about all of the finalists, the second link will take you straight to the page to vote.
Click here to read the Story
Click here to VOTE
Pass the links on your your friends and families. All of the finalists are great examples of how we call all help on another.
Click here to read the Story
Click here to VOTE
Pass the links on your your friends and families. All of the finalists are great examples of how we call all help on another.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Flood Maps Revised
Ron Williams has reworked the flood maps to include more properties into the area "D". He made these changes based on what other communities in the area are doing as well. Please note that nothing was revised in the other areas of the older larger map. Good work Ron.
Changes to Area "D"
Old Larger Map
Changes to Area "D"
Old Larger Map
Committee Meetings 9-14-09
I had these written up and done but for some reason I never added them to the active posts on the blog here. Sorry for the delay. I thought these were posted last week.
Alderman Rowe was not in attendance at these committee meetings. Alderman Ebersohl arrived about ten minutes late.
Ambulance, Radio Communication & Dispatch
• Monroe County Interoperable Communications Committee Meeting of 08/25/09 Presentation & Discussion
This meeting was fairly technical in a subject I am not too familiar with so bear with me and feel free to correct me as always if I make a mistake.
The FCC will require all emergency personnel and districts to have a narrowband radio system in place by January 1, 2013. Columbia has begun installing and purchasing radios that will meet these specifications so they will be ready for the deadline. Narrowband radio is shorter range than other systems. This system also allows for only communication between two people at any one time. Columbia has one frequency to use under this system.
The regional counties in both Illinois and Missouri as a whole have begun making a shift towards an 800 MHz digital system. Monroe County is moving towards adopting this system and is looking for all communities to join in the effort as a collective to apply for grants. The system for the county will cost between $1.5-1.6 million and could cost Columbia upwards of $35,000 a year in maintenance and “subscription fees”.
This system allows for “trunking” which gives personal a ~97% chance of getting through when they need to. If I understand correctly the digital system will allow for departments to set up frequencies for special units on an as-needed basis. It’s a much longer range system with better reception and will keep Monroe County and Columbia in contact with other cities especially in instances where other cities interact on calls in the rural or in major emergencies.
The committee voted to join in the coalition the county is forming to acquire this system.
I do not fully understand the systems as I stated before but I have to wonder what Columbia can and will do with equipment we have begun to purchase that may no longer be needed. What’s Columbia’s plan if this coalition does not acquire funding, do we pursue narrow band or try to go 800 MHz digital on our own?
License, Insurance, CEMA and Contracts & Finance, Claims , Bonds, and Interest (Joint Committee Meeting)
• Balance Due on Bottom Avenue Project
Illinois has realized Columbia owes them ~$37,000 for the Bottom Avenue project a few years ago. It was part of an agreement that Illinois paid the contractors and then Columbia would reimburse Illinois. Ron Williams dug through the files and we do in fact owe this money. If we had known we owed the money when the budget was created for this year it would have been put into the budget. It was decided that the city will need to pay this bill by altering the current budget and using money out of the Capitol Development Fund which has a projected year end balance at this time of $866,000.
• Cable TV Franchise Update, Review & Discussion
The city will work towards new franchise agreements with both Charter Communications and HTC. These agreements will mirror as close as possible the expiring agreement with Charter Communications.
Municipal Buildings, Property and Capital Improvements
• Miller-Fiege Home Security System Bid Review & Discussion
The city will get a security system installed in this historic home that includes four wireless smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
• Miller-Fiege Home Update
The electrical panel needs to be upgraded from a 100amp service to a 200amp service. $500 will be spent to upgrade this and some lighting around the home.
Streets Sidewalks, Drainage, and Public Utilities
•Detour Traffic Discussion
Traffic on Breidecker has picked up since it was made a through street due to the Cherry Street construction. The city will install some “Slow Signs”. No speed bumps will be installed. Chief Edwards said he sat there for two and a half hours, he made three stops, one speeding and two for rolling a stop sign. All three drivers were issued warnings. Everyone suspects that people are not speeding but the increased volume makes it seem so to residents. Chief noted that the department does not have the resources to post someone there.
Personnel
•Pre-Employment Screening
It was discussed to have pre employment screening with St. Elizabeth’s for all people hired by the city. Pricing examples given were as follows. $776.85 for a firefighter or $746.85 for law enforcement hires. The results of tests would not be known to the city but the doctor would give the city a pass/fail result based on criteria and job descriptions the city would provide.
•Collective Bargaining
Executive Session.
Alderman Rowe was not in attendance at these committee meetings. Alderman Ebersohl arrived about ten minutes late.
Ambulance, Radio Communication & Dispatch
• Monroe County Interoperable Communications Committee Meeting of 08/25/09 Presentation & Discussion
This meeting was fairly technical in a subject I am not too familiar with so bear with me and feel free to correct me as always if I make a mistake.
The FCC will require all emergency personnel and districts to have a narrowband radio system in place by January 1, 2013. Columbia has begun installing and purchasing radios that will meet these specifications so they will be ready for the deadline. Narrowband radio is shorter range than other systems. This system also allows for only communication between two people at any one time. Columbia has one frequency to use under this system.
The regional counties in both Illinois and Missouri as a whole have begun making a shift towards an 800 MHz digital system. Monroe County is moving towards adopting this system and is looking for all communities to join in the effort as a collective to apply for grants. The system for the county will cost between $1.5-1.6 million and could cost Columbia upwards of $35,000 a year in maintenance and “subscription fees”.
This system allows for “trunking” which gives personal a ~97% chance of getting through when they need to. If I understand correctly the digital system will allow for departments to set up frequencies for special units on an as-needed basis. It’s a much longer range system with better reception and will keep Monroe County and Columbia in contact with other cities especially in instances where other cities interact on calls in the rural or in major emergencies.
The committee voted to join in the coalition the county is forming to acquire this system.
I do not fully understand the systems as I stated before but I have to wonder what Columbia can and will do with equipment we have begun to purchase that may no longer be needed. What’s Columbia’s plan if this coalition does not acquire funding, do we pursue narrow band or try to go 800 MHz digital on our own?
License, Insurance, CEMA and Contracts & Finance, Claims , Bonds, and Interest (Joint Committee Meeting)
• Balance Due on Bottom Avenue Project
Illinois has realized Columbia owes them ~$37,000 for the Bottom Avenue project a few years ago. It was part of an agreement that Illinois paid the contractors and then Columbia would reimburse Illinois. Ron Williams dug through the files and we do in fact owe this money. If we had known we owed the money when the budget was created for this year it would have been put into the budget. It was decided that the city will need to pay this bill by altering the current budget and using money out of the Capitol Development Fund which has a projected year end balance at this time of $866,000.
• Cable TV Franchise Update, Review & Discussion
The city will work towards new franchise agreements with both Charter Communications and HTC. These agreements will mirror as close as possible the expiring agreement with Charter Communications.
Municipal Buildings, Property and Capital Improvements
• Miller-Fiege Home Security System Bid Review & Discussion
The city will get a security system installed in this historic home that includes four wireless smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
• Miller-Fiege Home Update
The electrical panel needs to be upgraded from a 100amp service to a 200amp service. $500 will be spent to upgrade this and some lighting around the home.
Streets Sidewalks, Drainage, and Public Utilities
•Detour Traffic Discussion
Traffic on Breidecker has picked up since it was made a through street due to the Cherry Street construction. The city will install some “Slow Signs”. No speed bumps will be installed. Chief Edwards said he sat there for two and a half hours, he made three stops, one speeding and two for rolling a stop sign. All three drivers were issued warnings. Everyone suspects that people are not speeding but the increased volume makes it seem so to residents. Chief noted that the department does not have the resources to post someone there.
Personnel
•Pre-Employment Screening
It was discussed to have pre employment screening with St. Elizabeth’s for all people hired by the city. Pricing examples given were as follows. $776.85 for a firefighter or $746.85 for law enforcement hires. The results of tests would not be known to the city but the doctor would give the city a pass/fail result based on criteria and job descriptions the city would provide.
•Collective Bargaining
Executive Session.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Council Meeting 9-8-09 - Tuesday
Should be an interesting meeting.
Couple of surprises in the agenda.
I don't know if this is a yearly levy but 2% for the library is on the agenda...if it's not a yearly levy I would assume this would be for repairing the library roof. I wonder what 2% equals. Never saw this discussed in committee.
Passing a resolution to support Representative Costello's bill to suspend the new flood insurance rate maps.
It appears that bids were taken for the air conditioner and ducts on the police station roof. I thought the ducts were going to repaired ASAP, wonder if we bought a new air conditioner as well.
Updates later this week, video of parts I find interesting or that people request.
Couple of surprises in the agenda.
I don't know if this is a yearly levy but 2% for the library is on the agenda...if it's not a yearly levy I would assume this would be for repairing the library roof. I wonder what 2% equals. Never saw this discussed in committee.
Passing a resolution to support Representative Costello's bill to suspend the new flood insurance rate maps.
It appears that bids were taken for the air conditioner and ducts on the police station roof. I thought the ducts were going to repaired ASAP, wonder if we bought a new air conditioner as well.
Updates later this week, video of parts I find interesting or that people request.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Brace Yourself it's a Long Read - The Levee Issue
The levee issue is still something I am looking into as it will affect not only current property owners in the bottoms but also affect any future development that Columbia hopes to have in that area. Columbia issues alone should spark your interest in the matter but this is more importantly an issue that matters to the entire region and not just to the citizens of Columbia or even Monroe County.
I am no expert on the topic but am doing my best to figure out the situation so if I misstate something then by all means please drop me an email and let me know. If you have something else to add to the topic please add a comment or email me.
It appears that US Army Corps of Engineers has declared the levees to be inadequate in their present state. Alongside this desertification FEMA began drawing new maps that would classify the American Bottoms area to be a special flood hazard area. This classification would cause people to buy costly flood insurance while any new construction in the area would have to meet construction requirements including new elevated foundations.
As I see it…..
One path is that no action is taken to repair or fix the levees and FEMA requires everyone in the American Bottoms area to purchase flood insurance and new elevation requirements will be made to any new construction. This insurance is rather costly.
Another option is the path that the local government bodies have started going down. The counties have declared themselves an AR or Restoration Zone dedicated to repairing the levees to meet the 100 year flood requirements set forth by the Corps of Engineers. To show their dedication to the effort the three county region has enacted a sales tax to raise money for the repair of the levies. It was thought that the federal government would pick up 65% of the project cost and money raised from the local sales taxes would make up the remaining 35%.
The federal government has since said they can not guarantee any money to the project which is estimated to have costs that could reach as much as $400 million.
As you can see this area is much more than just Columbia or Monroe County. This will not just be an issue for a few select businesses or residents living down by the river but rather whole cities that have been in place for decades. According to the East West Gateway website 150,000 people live in the American Bottoms and the area is home to more than 50,000 jobs. This fact alone makes it more than an issue that should concern future development. It’s an issue to the many people already living and working there.
The first of the three maps above shows what the river looked like in 1991 and the second and third maps show what the river looked like during the flood of 1993. It is important to go back to the levee map above provided by East West Gateway and compare the floods reach in 1993. If I am understanding the situation correctly the area of people that would be required to buy flood insurance is far greater than those who lost property in the flood of 1993. These are people who do not or have not ever considered their homes in danger in the case of a flood. Most people consider 1993 a worse case scenario, if there is anything mother nature has proven to us over the years it’s that things can always get worse.
I think there could be a few possible solutions to raise the money for the levee repair which I will discuss but I do believe that it must first be stated why I believe the levies should be repaired.
If we do not repair the levies and homeowners and business are forced to pay for flood insurance then some will pack up and leave the American Bottoms, creating the question of what the communities in question will do if their populations dwindle and key businesses pack up and leave town. Even if insurance is bought by everyone and the levies are not fixed what happens when the next flood does come? Unless these insurance plans force relocation to higher ground then we as taxpayers will still be paying through federal government tax money to have these areas cleaned up and rehabilitated much like we did in Katrina. These people will still need financial assistance other than simple home insurance when a flood does occur.
Another scenario could be that everyone simply moves out of the American Bottoms. Who pays people and businesses for their now useless buildings? Who goes in to police this area? Who pays for all of these current buildings to be destroyed as to not become a refuge of crime? I can assure you that completely abandoning the American Bottoms logistically will cost more than $400 million. Then if you add that these people will have to relocate elsewhere and that many businesses will possibly relocate out of the region entirely. Both of which will affect the people currently living above the bluff. This entire scenario is hardly an option.
The costs associated with not improving the levees seem to me at least to outweigh the costs that will be incurred by improving them.
Raising the Money
Possible solutions to raise the money will not make everyone happy. The money should be raised across the region and not just by the people that will suffer directly from higher insurance rates as the fate of the American Bottoms will affect the economy of the entire region.
According to the 2000 census there are approximately 209,000 households in the three counties involved in this issue. If each household was required to pay $400 over the next 10 years that would raise $83.6 million for the project. If those households pay $100 each year for 10 years it would raise $209 million. I would also suggest that these numbers for households are low as our region has grown since 2000.
Another way to raise money for the project would be to charge a fee for all new developments and new houses built in the American Bottoms. This would force people and developers to realize their choice has consequences, this money must go to a levee fund. A 1% fee on total building costs associated with any new project could raise substantial capitol for such a levee fund.
Another possible source of money would be the federal government. I hate most government spending. Everyone hates to hear about bridges going no where any other program serving a small number of people or research of a topic that is better left alone.
This project though is not for a select few or serving only hundreds of people or even thousands of people. Remember the numbers from up above “150,000 people live in the American Bottoms and the area is home to more than 50,000 jobs”. Take into account the businesses in the affected area and how their possible demise will affect the regions economy and the greater national economy. There are a great number of distribution and manufacturing facilities in the area that provide for a greater audience than just the metro east region.
I often find it absurd when people say “well the federal government has spent money on sillier things” or “well they will spend the money somewhere, why not here?” when talking about justifying any federal money that helps their cause. I would be impressed if the local communities and governments can find a way to fund this entire project. I just don’t think that is possible but our region could possibly set a new standard for a region addressing their own needs and not asking the federal government for handouts on our public projects.
I do however think it is possible for our three county coalition to fund 65% of the total costs and maybe ask the federal government for 35% of the funding. If we as a region could propose a plan such as that who could say no and our region could again possibly set a new standard for federal government funding. If a true cost for the project can be determined maybe we can fund the entire project but the truth is that no one can provide a true estimate for the costs to determine what type of money needs to be collected.
The Columbia Perspective
I must say that we as Columbians tend to focus on what is going on in our city only. Our town is kind of in its only area. Other cities in the metro-east meld together we do not experience in Monroe County. Columbia has visible borders to town. The Edwardsville-Glen Carbon-Maryville or Belleville-Fairview Heights-O’Fallon conglomerates meld together. Columbia has empty space all around it. We tend to want to protect this empty space. But this empty space does not separate us from the issues facing our region.
I sense that one main reason for this levee issue not being very popular and being talked poorly about is that not fixing the levee could assist in possibly preventing a development in the bottoms, as a developer may be less inclined to develop right behind a poor levee system. I would ask you if you as a person try to prevent development in the bottoms then where would you like it to go? Would you prefer that a developer create a complex up Cherry Street or right off Route 3 South of town?
Development of that kind will eventually find Columbia. Controlling that development and dictating where it goes is up to us as a city. I would prefer it be in the bottoms almost separated from town, in an area that would keep most visiting traffic to that development from ever really entering what many consider the city of Columbia. Most importantly if you think stopping the levees from being repaired is a good way to stop development in Columbia take a moment and reflect on the rest of the region and what’s good for it before forming a biased opinion.
Opposing Viewpoints
I must note that there is a seemingly local to Columbia website showing mainly reasons why we should not repair the levees or spend federal money on them. I seem to have luck finding websites that have plenty of information but no way to contact the people running the website (remember the mystery election website from this past April). I am troubled by the fact that there is supposedly an entire group of people behind this website yet not one person has been listed as a contact for answering questions or as someone to contact to send information to.
I feel it important to mention again how important it is for people to know where information is coming from when they use it to form opinions. Everyone who reads this site has a way to contact me and challenge me on anything I say, its how good conversations that lead to solutions get started, I only wish more would openly voice their opinions. I do however appreciate them(whoever they are) for linking to my blog as it now provides one linked source on that web page that offers people information on what good levies do and how they benefit the region.
Again if you think I miss-stated something send me an email or post a comment to this write up.
I am no expert on the topic but am doing my best to figure out the situation so if I misstate something then by all means please drop me an email and let me know. If you have something else to add to the topic please add a comment or email me.
It appears that US Army Corps of Engineers has declared the levees to be inadequate in their present state. Alongside this desertification FEMA began drawing new maps that would classify the American Bottoms area to be a special flood hazard area. This classification would cause people to buy costly flood insurance while any new construction in the area would have to meet construction requirements including new elevated foundations.
As I see it…..
One path is that no action is taken to repair or fix the levees and FEMA requires everyone in the American Bottoms area to purchase flood insurance and new elevation requirements will be made to any new construction. This insurance is rather costly.
Another option is the path that the local government bodies have started going down. The counties have declared themselves an AR or Restoration Zone dedicated to repairing the levees to meet the 100 year flood requirements set forth by the Corps of Engineers. To show their dedication to the effort the three county region has enacted a sales tax to raise money for the repair of the levies. It was thought that the federal government would pick up 65% of the project cost and money raised from the local sales taxes would make up the remaining 35%.
The federal government has since said they can not guarantee any money to the project which is estimated to have costs that could reach as much as $400 million.
As you can see this area is much more than just Columbia or Monroe County. This will not just be an issue for a few select businesses or residents living down by the river but rather whole cities that have been in place for decades. According to the East West Gateway website 150,000 people live in the American Bottoms and the area is home to more than 50,000 jobs. This fact alone makes it more than an issue that should concern future development. It’s an issue to the many people already living and working there.
The first of the three maps above shows what the river looked like in 1991 and the second and third maps show what the river looked like during the flood of 1993. It is important to go back to the levee map above provided by East West Gateway and compare the floods reach in 1993. If I am understanding the situation correctly the area of people that would be required to buy flood insurance is far greater than those who lost property in the flood of 1993. These are people who do not or have not ever considered their homes in danger in the case of a flood. Most people consider 1993 a worse case scenario, if there is anything mother nature has proven to us over the years it’s that things can always get worse.
I think there could be a few possible solutions to raise the money for the levee repair which I will discuss but I do believe that it must first be stated why I believe the levies should be repaired.
If we do not repair the levies and homeowners and business are forced to pay for flood insurance then some will pack up and leave the American Bottoms, creating the question of what the communities in question will do if their populations dwindle and key businesses pack up and leave town. Even if insurance is bought by everyone and the levies are not fixed what happens when the next flood does come? Unless these insurance plans force relocation to higher ground then we as taxpayers will still be paying through federal government tax money to have these areas cleaned up and rehabilitated much like we did in Katrina. These people will still need financial assistance other than simple home insurance when a flood does occur.
Another scenario could be that everyone simply moves out of the American Bottoms. Who pays people and businesses for their now useless buildings? Who goes in to police this area? Who pays for all of these current buildings to be destroyed as to not become a refuge of crime? I can assure you that completely abandoning the American Bottoms logistically will cost more than $400 million. Then if you add that these people will have to relocate elsewhere and that many businesses will possibly relocate out of the region entirely. Both of which will affect the people currently living above the bluff. This entire scenario is hardly an option.
The costs associated with not improving the levees seem to me at least to outweigh the costs that will be incurred by improving them.
Raising the Money
Possible solutions to raise the money will not make everyone happy. The money should be raised across the region and not just by the people that will suffer directly from higher insurance rates as the fate of the American Bottoms will affect the economy of the entire region.
According to the 2000 census there are approximately 209,000 households in the three counties involved in this issue. If each household was required to pay $400 over the next 10 years that would raise $83.6 million for the project. If those households pay $100 each year for 10 years it would raise $209 million. I would also suggest that these numbers for households are low as our region has grown since 2000.
Another way to raise money for the project would be to charge a fee for all new developments and new houses built in the American Bottoms. This would force people and developers to realize their choice has consequences, this money must go to a levee fund. A 1% fee on total building costs associated with any new project could raise substantial capitol for such a levee fund.
Another possible source of money would be the federal government. I hate most government spending. Everyone hates to hear about bridges going no where any other program serving a small number of people or research of a topic that is better left alone.
This project though is not for a select few or serving only hundreds of people or even thousands of people. Remember the numbers from up above “150,000 people live in the American Bottoms and the area is home to more than 50,000 jobs”. Take into account the businesses in the affected area and how their possible demise will affect the regions economy and the greater national economy. There are a great number of distribution and manufacturing facilities in the area that provide for a greater audience than just the metro east region.
I often find it absurd when people say “well the federal government has spent money on sillier things” or “well they will spend the money somewhere, why not here?” when talking about justifying any federal money that helps their cause. I would be impressed if the local communities and governments can find a way to fund this entire project. I just don’t think that is possible but our region could possibly set a new standard for a region addressing their own needs and not asking the federal government for handouts on our public projects.
I do however think it is possible for our three county coalition to fund 65% of the total costs and maybe ask the federal government for 35% of the funding. If we as a region could propose a plan such as that who could say no and our region could again possibly set a new standard for federal government funding. If a true cost for the project can be determined maybe we can fund the entire project but the truth is that no one can provide a true estimate for the costs to determine what type of money needs to be collected.
The Columbia Perspective
I must say that we as Columbians tend to focus on what is going on in our city only. Our town is kind of in its only area. Other cities in the metro-east meld together we do not experience in Monroe County. Columbia has visible borders to town. The Edwardsville-Glen Carbon-Maryville or Belleville-Fairview Heights-O’Fallon conglomerates meld together. Columbia has empty space all around it. We tend to want to protect this empty space. But this empty space does not separate us from the issues facing our region.
I sense that one main reason for this levee issue not being very popular and being talked poorly about is that not fixing the levee could assist in possibly preventing a development in the bottoms, as a developer may be less inclined to develop right behind a poor levee system. I would ask you if you as a person try to prevent development in the bottoms then where would you like it to go? Would you prefer that a developer create a complex up Cherry Street or right off Route 3 South of town?
Development of that kind will eventually find Columbia. Controlling that development and dictating where it goes is up to us as a city. I would prefer it be in the bottoms almost separated from town, in an area that would keep most visiting traffic to that development from ever really entering what many consider the city of Columbia. Most importantly if you think stopping the levees from being repaired is a good way to stop development in Columbia take a moment and reflect on the rest of the region and what’s good for it before forming a biased opinion.
Opposing Viewpoints
I must note that there is a seemingly local to Columbia website showing mainly reasons why we should not repair the levees or spend federal money on them. I seem to have luck finding websites that have plenty of information but no way to contact the people running the website (remember the mystery election website from this past April). I am troubled by the fact that there is supposedly an entire group of people behind this website yet not one person has been listed as a contact for answering questions or as someone to contact to send information to.
I feel it important to mention again how important it is for people to know where information is coming from when they use it to form opinions. Everyone who reads this site has a way to contact me and challenge me on anything I say, its how good conversations that lead to solutions get started, I only wish more would openly voice their opinions. I do however appreciate them(whoever they are) for linking to my blog as it now provides one linked source on that web page that offers people information on what good levies do and how they benefit the region.
Again if you think I miss-stated something send me an email or post a comment to this write up.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Committee Meetings 8-24-09
All Aldermen were in attendance at these committee meetings.
Parks, Playgrounds and Recreation & streets, Sidewalks, Drainage and Public Works (Joint Committee Meeting)
• Presentation of Veterans Memorial
Floyd Crowder presented the Oerter Foundation’s plan for the new veteran memorial that will be located on Parkview near the elementary school. He presented a plan for five granite benches memorializing the five branches of the US military circling a center granite pedestal that is topped with an original bronze cast sculpture of an “American Freedom Fighter with a Palestinian Girl”. Construction should begin soon and everything should be completed in time for an unveiling on Veterans Day in November.
If any trees in the area are removed in the construction of the memorial Floyd said the Foundation will replace them.
License, Insurance, CEMA and Contracts
• Alert Now Emergency Notification System
A presentation was made by an AlertNow representative. This is the same system in use by the school district right now to automatically call parents when snow days occur. It can be used to send messages via email, text message or phone message. The city will pay $1 per a household to use it for emergencies only. Each household can have a combination of 15 phone numbers or emails associated with it. The system can process 1000 numbers every ten seconds. So it could alert 9000 residents in thirty seconds.
Chief Edwards would like to use this system as an alert for tornado warnings or boil orders and to narrowly alert a portion of a neighborhood of recent burglaries or other similar things.
The primary source of the phone numbers to begin such a list would come from the sewer and water billing database and others could be entered as they elect to be.
The council liked the idea but it was decided a policy would need to be developed before such a system would be purchased or implemented. This is a cheaper alternative to expanding the current tornado siren system to cover the entire city and it would allow for many other uses as well.
I personally could see how these messages could get way out of hand if too many people had access to sending messages so I am glad a policy is going to be developed first.
Refuse Collection and Recycling
• Contract Discussion
Hejna led a discussion on renegotiating the services provided by Reliable Sanitation. The city would like to have more businesses involved in recycling have more recycling containers in the parks. It was decided that Al Hudzik will talk with other communities about what services and fees they pay for their refuse collection. Reliable’s fees have always gone up based on the CPI and Reliable would like to have their contract based on a dollar amount increase and not this index.
The city may go out for bid on the refuse collection. They will wait to see what Mr. Hudzik finds out.
Municipal Buildings, Property and Capital Improvements
•Police Station Roof Repairs
The roof repairs began on August 21 and should be completed by the 28th. In the process or replacing the roof it has come to everyone’s attention that the duct work on the roof of the building needs to be replaced as it will let water into the building. The ducts were removed to replace the roof and their poor condition coupled with the disassembling and reassembling will only cause them to be in a poorer condition after the fact. An early estimate from the HVAC rep helping with the roof replacement was $12,000. Chief Edwards is going to get more replacement bids ASAP.
$12,000 will buy a lot of ductwork. I have to wonder what everything looks like up on that roof and how much ductwork there is.
• Library Roof Update
The library roof also needs to be replaced before this winter. Ron Williams will write a general spec along with the help of Alderman Oberkfell and have this project go out for bid. A few different companies have provided estimates, each company bid different items and roof systems. Ron estimates this replacement to be somewhere around $90,000.
Personnel
•Pre-Employment Screening
Chief Edwards would like to have all of his pre-employment screenings done at one location. Currently applicants see a local physician for a physical and then have their drug tests done somewhere else. It was not mentioned how much this currently costs the city.
His ideal list of pre-employment tests includes your standard drug tests, physical and more involved tests such as an EKG. He said St. Elisabeth’s can provide his requested tests for around $1000 all at one facility.
It was noted that an hires the city makes in the police department go on to the police academy and they will have similar tests done there. Most of the information gathered in the tests would not be available to the city as it would be personal info but the applicant would then have knowledge of issues facing them if any. The tests would also be a good basis for fighting any workers compensation claims down the line.
The city will continue to look at the tests for the police department and for all of their departments. No action was taken at the meeting.
•Collective Bargaining
Executive Session.
Parks, Playgrounds and Recreation & streets, Sidewalks, Drainage and Public Works (Joint Committee Meeting)
• Presentation of Veterans Memorial
Floyd Crowder presented the Oerter Foundation’s plan for the new veteran memorial that will be located on Parkview near the elementary school. He presented a plan for five granite benches memorializing the five branches of the US military circling a center granite pedestal that is topped with an original bronze cast sculpture of an “American Freedom Fighter with a Palestinian Girl”. Construction should begin soon and everything should be completed in time for an unveiling on Veterans Day in November.
If any trees in the area are removed in the construction of the memorial Floyd said the Foundation will replace them.
License, Insurance, CEMA and Contracts
• Alert Now Emergency Notification System
A presentation was made by an AlertNow representative. This is the same system in use by the school district right now to automatically call parents when snow days occur. It can be used to send messages via email, text message or phone message. The city will pay $1 per a household to use it for emergencies only. Each household can have a combination of 15 phone numbers or emails associated with it. The system can process 1000 numbers every ten seconds. So it could alert 9000 residents in thirty seconds.
Chief Edwards would like to use this system as an alert for tornado warnings or boil orders and to narrowly alert a portion of a neighborhood of recent burglaries or other similar things.
The primary source of the phone numbers to begin such a list would come from the sewer and water billing database and others could be entered as they elect to be.
The council liked the idea but it was decided a policy would need to be developed before such a system would be purchased or implemented. This is a cheaper alternative to expanding the current tornado siren system to cover the entire city and it would allow for many other uses as well.
I personally could see how these messages could get way out of hand if too many people had access to sending messages so I am glad a policy is going to be developed first.
Refuse Collection and Recycling
• Contract Discussion
Hejna led a discussion on renegotiating the services provided by Reliable Sanitation. The city would like to have more businesses involved in recycling have more recycling containers in the parks. It was decided that Al Hudzik will talk with other communities about what services and fees they pay for their refuse collection. Reliable’s fees have always gone up based on the CPI and Reliable would like to have their contract based on a dollar amount increase and not this index.
The city may go out for bid on the refuse collection. They will wait to see what Mr. Hudzik finds out.
Municipal Buildings, Property and Capital Improvements
•Police Station Roof Repairs
The roof repairs began on August 21 and should be completed by the 28th. In the process or replacing the roof it has come to everyone’s attention that the duct work on the roof of the building needs to be replaced as it will let water into the building. The ducts were removed to replace the roof and their poor condition coupled with the disassembling and reassembling will only cause them to be in a poorer condition after the fact. An early estimate from the HVAC rep helping with the roof replacement was $12,000. Chief Edwards is going to get more replacement bids ASAP.
$12,000 will buy a lot of ductwork. I have to wonder what everything looks like up on that roof and how much ductwork there is.
• Library Roof Update
The library roof also needs to be replaced before this winter. Ron Williams will write a general spec along with the help of Alderman Oberkfell and have this project go out for bid. A few different companies have provided estimates, each company bid different items and roof systems. Ron estimates this replacement to be somewhere around $90,000.
Personnel
•Pre-Employment Screening
Chief Edwards would like to have all of his pre-employment screenings done at one location. Currently applicants see a local physician for a physical and then have their drug tests done somewhere else. It was not mentioned how much this currently costs the city.
His ideal list of pre-employment tests includes your standard drug tests, physical and more involved tests such as an EKG. He said St. Elisabeth’s can provide his requested tests for around $1000 all at one facility.
It was noted that an hires the city makes in the police department go on to the police academy and they will have similar tests done there. Most of the information gathered in the tests would not be available to the city as it would be personal info but the applicant would then have knowledge of issues facing them if any. The tests would also be a good basis for fighting any workers compensation claims down the line.
The city will continue to look at the tests for the police department and for all of their departments. No action was taken at the meeting.
•Collective Bargaining
Executive Session.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Levy Update
This is the developed area map and its accompanying spreadsheet that the city got over to me late today.
Map
Accompanying Spreadsheet
Map
Accompanying Spreadsheet
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Meyer Lake Subdivision - Still not a Subdivision
The issues surrounding the Meyer Lake Subdivision continue to grow. The platt was brought before the council with a number of variances to be included. The council decided to not approve the plat again but the interesting point in the discussion was that the Mayor became rather aggravated at the entire issue.
To explain this a little bit the Meyers have been before the council at least 3 or 4 times to see approval of his subdivision plat. The plat has changed a few times but the issues that were brought up at the council meeting were major changes that were never discussed previous to this meeting. The issue of the brick ordinance variance needing to go before the zoning board of appeals was a new step in solving a problem that everyone thought had been solved.
To be fair to both sides in the issue the Meyers are not your typical subdivision development and the whole process has been rushed through, but Mr. Meyer has been very compliant and has done everything the city has asked him to do. The city appears to have some mis-communication going on between the council, attorney, and the city engineer.
I am unsure of what process is in place for developers and businesses to use when planning to move or build in Columbia but there appears to be at least a few places that could use a little improvement.
Mayor Hutchinson’s frustration wasn’t really pointed at any one person, just the system. Which is only ironic because it was a main running point of Harold McCarty to fix the system to encourage businesses and development in Columbia.
To explain this a little bit the Meyers have been before the council at least 3 or 4 times to see approval of his subdivision plat. The plat has changed a few times but the issues that were brought up at the council meeting were major changes that were never discussed previous to this meeting. The issue of the brick ordinance variance needing to go before the zoning board of appeals was a new step in solving a problem that everyone thought had been solved.
To be fair to both sides in the issue the Meyers are not your typical subdivision development and the whole process has been rushed through, but Mr. Meyer has been very compliant and has done everything the city has asked him to do. The city appears to have some mis-communication going on between the council, attorney, and the city engineer.
I am unsure of what process is in place for developers and businesses to use when planning to move or build in Columbia but there appears to be at least a few places that could use a little improvement.
Mayor Hutchinson’s frustration wasn’t really pointed at any one person, just the system. Which is only ironic because it was a main running point of Harold McCarty to fix the system to encourage businesses and development in Columbia.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Monday, August 03, 2009
Committee Meetings 7-27-09...Well Sort Of........
Alderman Row, Hejna, Stumpf, Oberkfell, and Agne were not in attendance at this meeting. It was noted to me that Oberkfell and Agne were both out of town on business. The council did not have a quorum to do much of anything really. Quite a few delegations of people were there to make presentations. These people took time out of their schedules to make presentations and those council members in attendance did their best to accommodate these people to ensure they would not be required to take more time out of their lives to attend a future meeting.
Parks Committee
• Bikers Benefit Ride
http://www.sheriannherboys.com/events.htm
PDF for the Event – distribute at your leisure
Three representatives presented their plan for the ride. They will be out of the park in the morning. They said they have had a great number of people call them about the ride and expect anywhere up to 500 riders if people show up like they have been saying they will. Cars are welcome in the ride as well and they have some car clubs that will be in attendance. See the website linked to above for more details if you are interested.
•Returning Soldiers Parade
Rhonda Farrel(sp) was in attendance to present on her idea for the parade and see if it would be ok with the city and to get their input on the plan. There are four young men returning at the end of September from Afghanistan who she would like to have a “homecoming” parade for. The parade will be open for any veteran who would like to be a part of it as to not offend anyone who might not have had a parade when the returned home from serving their country abroad.
A major concern for her that the council brought to her attention would be the insurance that she and the other organizers would need to purchase to hold the city
harmless during the parade. It was suggested that maybe the acknowledgment of these young men and their service could take place on stage at the Festivfall(sp).
• Blue Jay Football
Two representatives form the Blue Jay football organization were in attendance to present a plan to expand the area around their flagpole to incorporate two small memorials for their lost teammates Garret & Gavin Coleman. There have been donations made for the material and they will maintain the area as they have in the past, there will be no cost to the city.
•Walking Trail Expansion
There was a discussion about exchanging some land with the concrete plant in order to alleviate the need of a large switchback on the walking trail for Metter Park access. The council decided the land offered in the trade did not accomplish what they would like to so regardless of what the concrete plant had asked for in return it would not be worthwhile. The plant was asking for room to have an entrance off of Cherry Street along side of the walking trail, this would have also created another area where large trucks would be in close proximity with the walking trail. Overall the trade really had no positives in it for the city.
Municipal Buildings, Property and Capital Improvements
A quorum was not present so this meeting could not take place.
License, Insurance, CEMA and Contracts
A quorum was not present so this meeting could not take place.
Finance, Claims, Bonds and Interest
• Audit Engagement Letter review/approval
It was discussed that the auditing company that the city used last year will be providing more services than last year for the same price and no one on the council had any issue with this. When questioned why the service price had not gone up Alderman Roessler noted that Linda Sharp had simply told the company that the price could not go up as the city’s revenues were not up. Big thanks should go out to Linda for saving the city a little money on this service. Good work.
• Senior Center Site Lease
Paulett(sp) from Western Egyptian and Paula Stumpf(sp) who is the onsite supervisor for the senior center were in attendance for this meeting.
It was explained that the lease agreement with Traube Inc. was favorable with their organization as it provided them with the best space for their operation. When questioned why the YMCA location would not work it was explained that the space they would be granted for their activities would have to be picked up and all of their supplies and equipment moved out of the way each day before they left. This was a much more suitable explanation than the left turn on Route 3 explanation the council had always heard before.
The council asked if it would be possible to raise the menu prices to cover some of the increasing costs but it was explained that the seniors are simply asked for a “suggested donation” and they give what they can. I believe the “suggested donation” prices on the meals at the Columbia location are $3.75 for eating in and $4.00 for home delivery.
Personnel
I am not sure if this was canceled for lack of quorum or if the update
Parks Committee
• Bikers Benefit Ride
http://www.sheriannherboys.com/events.htm
PDF for the Event – distribute at your leisure
Three representatives presented their plan for the ride. They will be out of the park in the morning. They said they have had a great number of people call them about the ride and expect anywhere up to 500 riders if people show up like they have been saying they will. Cars are welcome in the ride as well and they have some car clubs that will be in attendance. See the website linked to above for more details if you are interested.
•Returning Soldiers Parade
Rhonda Farrel(sp) was in attendance to present on her idea for the parade and see if it would be ok with the city and to get their input on the plan. There are four young men returning at the end of September from Afghanistan who she would like to have a “homecoming” parade for. The parade will be open for any veteran who would like to be a part of it as to not offend anyone who might not have had a parade when the returned home from serving their country abroad.
A major concern for her that the council brought to her attention would be the insurance that she and the other organizers would need to purchase to hold the city
harmless during the parade. It was suggested that maybe the acknowledgment of these young men and their service could take place on stage at the Festivfall(sp).
• Blue Jay Football
Two representatives form the Blue Jay football organization were in attendance to present a plan to expand the area around their flagpole to incorporate two small memorials for their lost teammates Garret & Gavin Coleman. There have been donations made for the material and they will maintain the area as they have in the past, there will be no cost to the city.
•Walking Trail Expansion
There was a discussion about exchanging some land with the concrete plant in order to alleviate the need of a large switchback on the walking trail for Metter Park access. The council decided the land offered in the trade did not accomplish what they would like to so regardless of what the concrete plant had asked for in return it would not be worthwhile. The plant was asking for room to have an entrance off of Cherry Street along side of the walking trail, this would have also created another area where large trucks would be in close proximity with the walking trail. Overall the trade really had no positives in it for the city.
Municipal Buildings, Property and Capital Improvements
A quorum was not present so this meeting could not take place.
License, Insurance, CEMA and Contracts
A quorum was not present so this meeting could not take place.
Finance, Claims, Bonds and Interest
• Audit Engagement Letter review/approval
It was discussed that the auditing company that the city used last year will be providing more services than last year for the same price and no one on the council had any issue with this. When questioned why the service price had not gone up Alderman Roessler noted that Linda Sharp had simply told the company that the price could not go up as the city’s revenues were not up. Big thanks should go out to Linda for saving the city a little money on this service. Good work.
• Senior Center Site Lease
Paulett(sp) from Western Egyptian and Paula Stumpf(sp) who is the onsite supervisor for the senior center were in attendance for this meeting.
It was explained that the lease agreement with Traube Inc. was favorable with their organization as it provided them with the best space for their operation. When questioned why the YMCA location would not work it was explained that the space they would be granted for their activities would have to be picked up and all of their supplies and equipment moved out of the way each day before they left. This was a much more suitable explanation than the left turn on Route 3 explanation the council had always heard before.
The council asked if it would be possible to raise the menu prices to cover some of the increasing costs but it was explained that the seniors are simply asked for a “suggested donation” and they give what they can. I believe the “suggested donation” prices on the meals at the Columbia location are $3.75 for eating in and $4.00 for home delivery.
Personnel
I am not sure if this was canceled for lack of quorum or if the update
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Levy Issues Creeping Back Into The Picture
In my notes from the July 13, 2009 committee meeting I noted there was brief discussion regarding the levy issues popping up again. It stemmed from an article in the Belleville News Democrat. It was discussed that the previous plan of the counties in the levy districts pay 33% of the costs in repairing the levies and the federal government would pay the other 66%. That deal is apparently going away and the federal government is no sure how much if any money will be put into the fund to repair/work on these levies.
Further discussion on the subject took place on July 20, 2009 at the regular session council meeting.
I also requested a copy of the developed/undeveloped map along with its corresponding spreadsheet last week Tuesday July 21, 2009 in my FOIA requested. I'll post what I can here when/if I get the info I requested.
Further discussion on the subject took place on July 20, 2009 at the regular session council meeting.
I also requested a copy of the developed/undeveloped map along with its corresponding spreadsheet last week Tuesday July 21, 2009 in my FOIA requested. I'll post what I can here when/if I get the info I requested.
Comments to "School Tax" discussion on "Topix"
I’ll be upfront and let you all know I have thought very hard before weighing in on this subject because if you didn’t know my wife is a teacher at the middle school here in Columbia.
I would have to say that from my personal experience I could never repay some of the teachers in my life for what they have given me. This includes teachers from college, high school, and grade school. Teachers frame your children for the future. I have met many of the teachers in the Columbia school system and all that I have met care deeply for the children walking through the doors every day of every school year. I am not sure why you would want to reward them any less than you can.
It appears from the information posted on “Topix” there are seven administrators whose average salary is $103,701. Is this too much for a district of over 100 teachers at three different schools? It seems fairly on target with surrounding Missouri districts. It would seem logical to me that the seven administrators are the principal and vice-principal of each of Columbia’s three schools and the superintendent, I am not sure if this is true but like I said it seems logical to me.
If you think about the wages for administrators in terms of comparison to the private sector it really does not seem wrong. Say I owned a chain of distribution sites. I have three sites with about thirty employees each and I paid my manager and assistant manager at each branch around $100K would anyone complain? Not if they were successful. Then if I paid myself the CEO in the neighborhood of $100K no one would have anything to complain about.
I would also hope any of you value your child’s education more than what you may value results in any private industry example.
I am not sure what caused this debate other than your tax bills coming in the mail last week. Which everyone received last year and the year before, right? If this is your first year in Columbia in your new house then you should have known what your tax bill would be this year before you bought your house. These tax costs should be no surprise to anyone.
Getting your bill should not be the time when your alarm goes off; it should have gone off long ago. Posting on a site such as “Topix” and complaining behind a generic username does nothing in the grand scheme of things. All the negative comments there could realistically be coming from the same three or four people.
Call your alderman and school board members for answers, come to meetings when they have them and ask questions. Change comes with involvement and realistically you cannot hope that the school board and aldermen of Columbia take any action based on the opinions of anonymous posts on a website that churns more negative than positive about all of the people that represent you.
As always feel free to email me at levi.ottwell@gmail.com
I would have to say that from my personal experience I could never repay some of the teachers in my life for what they have given me. This includes teachers from college, high school, and grade school. Teachers frame your children for the future. I have met many of the teachers in the Columbia school system and all that I have met care deeply for the children walking through the doors every day of every school year. I am not sure why you would want to reward them any less than you can.
It appears from the information posted on “Topix” there are seven administrators whose average salary is $103,701. Is this too much for a district of over 100 teachers at three different schools? It seems fairly on target with surrounding Missouri districts. It would seem logical to me that the seven administrators are the principal and vice-principal of each of Columbia’s three schools and the superintendent, I am not sure if this is true but like I said it seems logical to me.
If you think about the wages for administrators in terms of comparison to the private sector it really does not seem wrong. Say I owned a chain of distribution sites. I have three sites with about thirty employees each and I paid my manager and assistant manager at each branch around $100K would anyone complain? Not if they were successful. Then if I paid myself the CEO in the neighborhood of $100K no one would have anything to complain about.
I would also hope any of you value your child’s education more than what you may value results in any private industry example.
I am not sure what caused this debate other than your tax bills coming in the mail last week. Which everyone received last year and the year before, right? If this is your first year in Columbia in your new house then you should have known what your tax bill would be this year before you bought your house. These tax costs should be no surprise to anyone.
Getting your bill should not be the time when your alarm goes off; it should have gone off long ago. Posting on a site such as “Topix” and complaining behind a generic username does nothing in the grand scheme of things. All the negative comments there could realistically be coming from the same three or four people.
Call your alderman and school board members for answers, come to meetings when they have them and ask questions. Change comes with involvement and realistically you cannot hope that the school board and aldermen of Columbia take any action based on the opinions of anonymous posts on a website that churns more negative than positive about all of the people that represent you.
As always feel free to email me at levi.ottwell@gmail.com
Truancy Ordinance - Updated Videos 8-6-09
Video of the discussion at the July 20, 2009 council meeting will be added this afternoon.
I understand that the ordinance mirrors what the county already has in place. I also understand that truancy may be a growing problem in Columbia. I have not seen the actual ordinance to comment on its specifics but the idea behind it makes perfect sense to me and I agree it needed to be in place for the upcoming school year.
I would have liked to see this at least be discussed before it was brought to be approved at a regular session council meeting. It could have been brought up in any number of committees or merely talked about by Tom Adams or Chief Edwards at a council meeting as something they were working on. To have Tom and Joe working on an ordinance since March with really no discussion with the council seems odd in my mind.
I would expect any department or city official working on an ordinance for around four months to come to the council at least once for input, questions, or discussions. Do I think Joe or Tom are overstepping their bounds, no I simply think some time should have been devoted to the issue before it being brought forward to a vote with no previous discussion.
I will post the actual ordinance here once I receive a copy via my FOIA request I filed with the city last week Tuesday. I was notified last night they wanted to get me a signed copy of the ordinance, I should have it sometime today.
Link to Ordinance I received 7/29/09
I apologize to everyone for not getting all three videos up in the original posting. I would also like to note that an article by Kevin Darr which shows support form Superintendent Settles on the Truancy Ordinance.
I wrote the above article based on the discussion that took place at the council meeting on July, 20 in which few details of the ordinance were discussed. After review I see this ordinance as a positive thing to have in place. I still support my previous statements that serious topics such as this should receive as much time in a committee meeting as lesser subjects.
I understand that the ordinance mirrors what the county already has in place. I also understand that truancy may be a growing problem in Columbia. I have not seen the actual ordinance to comment on its specifics but the idea behind it makes perfect sense to me and I agree it needed to be in place for the upcoming school year.
I would have liked to see this at least be discussed before it was brought to be approved at a regular session council meeting. It could have been brought up in any number of committees or merely talked about by Tom Adams or Chief Edwards at a council meeting as something they were working on. To have Tom and Joe working on an ordinance since March with really no discussion with the council seems odd in my mind.
I would expect any department or city official working on an ordinance for around four months to come to the council at least once for input, questions, or discussions. Do I think Joe or Tom are overstepping their bounds, no I simply think some time should have been devoted to the issue before it being brought forward to a vote with no previous discussion.
I will post the actual ordinance here once I receive a copy via my FOIA request I filed with the city last week Tuesday. I was notified last night they wanted to get me a signed copy of the ordinance, I should have it sometime today.
Link to Ordinance I received 7/29/09
I apologize to everyone for not getting all three videos up in the original posting. I would also like to note that an article by Kevin Darr which shows support form Superintendent Settles on the Truancy Ordinance.
I wrote the above article based on the discussion that took place at the council meeting on July, 20 in which few details of the ordinance were discussed. After review I see this ordinance as a positive thing to have in place. I still support my previous statements that serious topics such as this should receive as much time in a committee meeting as lesser subjects.
Meyer land at 1700 Ghent Road Update
I think we can all say that these people were shown no preferential treatment in getting their land divided. It appears any complaints the Smith party may have had about the Meyers getting to do something they couldn't do are gone.
I have to wonder if Diane Smith has been notified that the Meyers were forced to conform with every requirement she was asked to. Still waiting to see if anymore comes of her claims against the mayor.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Commitee Meetings July 13, 2009
Alderman Row was not in attendance at this meeting.
Municipal Buildings, Property, and Capital Improvements
• Fire Department Brick Replacement
The brick on the Fire Station need to be replaced or repaired, it was the belief Alderman Oberkfell to replace all of the brick. Repair of some flashing and some steel in the chiefs office are also believed to be needed. An estimate of $13,000 was made by Williams Brick of Waterloo. Specs were given to the chief by Oberkfell, these will be reviewed by the chief and Ron Williams to put the work out for bid.
• Police Station Roof Update
Lakeside Roofing will do the work and add sloping to the currently flat roof system on the building. They will also add gutters and downspouts for the total price of $34,087. The insurance company will pay out $25,770 which puts the city on the hook for around $8,000 out of pocket. Hejna noted that there was $4,000 in this years budget for roof repairs to this building.
Committee of the Whole
• Meadow Ridge West Condo Association
An ordinance will be drafted by Tom Adams the city attorney for the Columbia Police to have jurisdiction on the associations private property. This ordinance will only be worked on by Tom if the association first agrees to pay for all legal costs the city will have in dealing with the drafting of the ordinance. The city only has one other agreement of this type and that is with the owners of the Market Place complex.
•Veterans Parkway
This was discussion on changing the names of Parkview and Edelweiss to Veterans Parkway at the beginning of November. A memorial will be placed along what is now Parkview between the evergreens and the road near the Blue Jays football field.
This was something that was presented in ’07 and the council told the group that if they could get all the landowners to agree then the name change could occur and they could place the memorial in the park. Sketches were presented last winter regarding the memorial, no final design was presented but the understanding is that the bronze sculpture has already been ordered, the council has no real idea if it resembles the sketches at all. The consensus was they agreed to it and they figure the memorial will look fine. They seemed to think the memorial would be a solider helping a child.
I like the idea of having the memorial and the name change. Alderman Agne thinks the name Veterans Parkway should be used on a more prominent street in town. I feel they are fairly major streets in the community.
This will affect all people who own property along these streets; if you have not been notified or do not wish to have your address changed I would suggest calling City Hall ASAP, it could be a pain to get your address changed on everything you get in the mail and if you’re a business your stationary will be obsolete.
• Legal RFQ Submissions
The aldermen were asked to give their impression of the submissions along with any specific items they would like to have reviewed before a selection is made. The city attorney is appointed by the mayor with the council’s approval on a yearly basis. The labor attorney is determined by a vote of the council. Tom Adams is in place until spring of 2010 as the city attorney. The following notes are some highlights of the discussion on the subject.
Ebersohl – fixed rate or hourly rate? The city does not want a 1 or 2 year associate they would prefer a partner. Which partner would handle the city’s issues?
Stumpf – The city attorney and the labor attorney should be two separate law firms for diversification.
Hutchinson – What will be included in the retainer fees if optioned, what do the firms include in other cities umbrella retainer plans?
Roessler – Law firm that handles a diverse array of legal issues with a good retainer plan.
Oberkfell – The city should have on “pointman” contact at the law firm they select.
Hejna – Do other Cities have attorney present their council meetings? Answer form Hutchinson, “Yes”
Niemetz – Fixed rate prices for handling certain issue that arise frequently. Hourly rate could be an issue if they charge for everything and really nickel and dime their clients.
Hejna – Would the mayor simply give his recommendation or update the council with his progress and answers from the law firms. Hutchinson said he would present his recommendation with bullet points on what he finds with each law firm he speaks with regarding the issues the council has given him to review and look for.
Agne liked law firms 1, 4, & 5 and C, D, & E
Hejna liked Helper Broom rather than Gallop, Johnson, Newman
Brad liked Helper Broom & Sandberg Phoenix
• Other Items
The surplus auction held July 11th made $11,400. Action Auction received $463 while the city had a net income of $10, 185.
Dr. Hunter with the Osage Nation would like to make some changes to the Programmatic Agreement so it was not signed by the city.
Some discussion took place regarding the levy and the lack of federal funding to those districts.
The funding for the poor road conditions of the road by McDonalds going to marketplace may come from state sources as the owner may be getting some funding for allowing the old car dealership to become a park & ride lot.
License, Insurance, Claims, CEMA, and Contracts
• Steel Workers Health Insurance
The agreement was reviewed by Mark Weissman and some changes will be made. The insurance company did note that their rates did increase by 11% but offered no real reason why.
Personnel
• Executive Session for an update on the collective bargaining negotiations & employee salaries and an update on an EEOC complaint.
Municipal Buildings, Property, and Capital Improvements
• Fire Department Brick Replacement
The brick on the Fire Station need to be replaced or repaired, it was the belief Alderman Oberkfell to replace all of the brick. Repair of some flashing and some steel in the chiefs office are also believed to be needed. An estimate of $13,000 was made by Williams Brick of Waterloo. Specs were given to the chief by Oberkfell, these will be reviewed by the chief and Ron Williams to put the work out for bid.
• Police Station Roof Update
Lakeside Roofing will do the work and add sloping to the currently flat roof system on the building. They will also add gutters and downspouts for the total price of $34,087. The insurance company will pay out $25,770 which puts the city on the hook for around $8,000 out of pocket. Hejna noted that there was $4,000 in this years budget for roof repairs to this building.
Committee of the Whole
• Meadow Ridge West Condo Association
An ordinance will be drafted by Tom Adams the city attorney for the Columbia Police to have jurisdiction on the associations private property. This ordinance will only be worked on by Tom if the association first agrees to pay for all legal costs the city will have in dealing with the drafting of the ordinance. The city only has one other agreement of this type and that is with the owners of the Market Place complex.
•Veterans Parkway
This was discussion on changing the names of Parkview and Edelweiss to Veterans Parkway at the beginning of November. A memorial will be placed along what is now Parkview between the evergreens and the road near the Blue Jays football field.
This was something that was presented in ’07 and the council told the group that if they could get all the landowners to agree then the name change could occur and they could place the memorial in the park. Sketches were presented last winter regarding the memorial, no final design was presented but the understanding is that the bronze sculpture has already been ordered, the council has no real idea if it resembles the sketches at all. The consensus was they agreed to it and they figure the memorial will look fine. They seemed to think the memorial would be a solider helping a child.
I like the idea of having the memorial and the name change. Alderman Agne thinks the name Veterans Parkway should be used on a more prominent street in town. I feel they are fairly major streets in the community.
This will affect all people who own property along these streets; if you have not been notified or do not wish to have your address changed I would suggest calling City Hall ASAP, it could be a pain to get your address changed on everything you get in the mail and if you’re a business your stationary will be obsolete.
• Legal RFQ Submissions
The aldermen were asked to give their impression of the submissions along with any specific items they would like to have reviewed before a selection is made. The city attorney is appointed by the mayor with the council’s approval on a yearly basis. The labor attorney is determined by a vote of the council. Tom Adams is in place until spring of 2010 as the city attorney. The following notes are some highlights of the discussion on the subject.
Ebersohl – fixed rate or hourly rate? The city does not want a 1 or 2 year associate they would prefer a partner. Which partner would handle the city’s issues?
Stumpf – The city attorney and the labor attorney should be two separate law firms for diversification.
Hutchinson – What will be included in the retainer fees if optioned, what do the firms include in other cities umbrella retainer plans?
Roessler – Law firm that handles a diverse array of legal issues with a good retainer plan.
Oberkfell – The city should have on “pointman” contact at the law firm they select.
Hejna – Do other Cities have attorney present their council meetings? Answer form Hutchinson, “Yes”
Niemetz – Fixed rate prices for handling certain issue that arise frequently. Hourly rate could be an issue if they charge for everything and really nickel and dime their clients.
Hejna – Would the mayor simply give his recommendation or update the council with his progress and answers from the law firms. Hutchinson said he would present his recommendation with bullet points on what he finds with each law firm he speaks with regarding the issues the council has given him to review and look for.
Agne liked law firms 1, 4, & 5 and C, D, & E
Hejna liked Helper Broom rather than Gallop, Johnson, Newman
Brad liked Helper Broom & Sandberg Phoenix
• Other Items
The surplus auction held July 11th made $11,400. Action Auction received $463 while the city had a net income of $10, 185.
Dr. Hunter with the Osage Nation would like to make some changes to the Programmatic Agreement so it was not signed by the city.
Some discussion took place regarding the levy and the lack of federal funding to those districts.
The funding for the poor road conditions of the road by McDonalds going to marketplace may come from state sources as the owner may be getting some funding for allowing the old car dealership to become a park & ride lot.
License, Insurance, Claims, CEMA, and Contracts
• Steel Workers Health Insurance
The agreement was reviewed by Mark Weissman and some changes will be made. The insurance company did note that their rates did increase by 11% but offered no real reason why.
Personnel
• Executive Session for an update on the collective bargaining negotiations & employee salaries and an update on an EEOC complaint.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Fireworks 2009 Video
This is the video I shot of the fireworks on Sunday night. I edited it down quite a bit and at one time I had the camera at a 90 degree angle to the ground so the wide screen feature could capture more vertically (that is why the fireworks look like they are being shot horizontally to the ground at one point). Its dark at the start while the choir sings the national anthem.
2009 Fireworks
Here are some pictures of the fireworks on Sunday night taken from the hill at the entrance to Columbia Lakes. I think the fireworks were great and the atmosphere of the crowd down at the legion was great. Lots of people were there and it seemed everyone was having a great time.
Thanks again for the pics D. Auer. They're great photos.
Thanks again for the pics D. Auer. They're great photos.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Committee Meetings June 22, 2009
Alderman Ebersohl and Hejna were not in attendance at this meeting.
Municipal Building, Property and Capital Improvements
• Senior services Relocation update
After reviewing four locations not including the YMCA part of the Traube Tent building is under consideration for the location of this program. Other locations did not meet certain requirements such as handicapped bathrooms and other improvements needing to be done before they could occupy the building.
The council then discussed if they negotiate a lease for the building and then the program asks the city for additional money as they have in the past on top of the monthly rent the city provides them with. It was decided Pat who runs this senior program will need to talk with the council. A motion was passed to allow Paul Ellis to begin negotiating a lease agreement for the council’s approval.
Mayor Hutchinson noted he has spoken with Representative Reitz regarding money for such a program.
• Shoemaker Schoolhouse update
A punch list has been made to restore the building completely. Paul Ellis is looking for grants to complete the work in the neighborhood of $50-60K. The city will need to consider the long term costs of staffing the facility if it will be a tourist information type of facility.
• Oak Street building
Paul Ellis presented a 5-year plan for the building to get more of it tenant ready, replace the parking lot, and expand some of the current tenant base to raise the revenue created by this building. Most if not all of the revenue generated by the tenants will be invested back into the building to attract more tenants and provide a better facility to the current tenants.
• Police Department roof
The roof is scheduled to be replaced by Lakeside roofing as soon as the can get it on their schedule, which looks to be mid to late July. The work will cost roughly $34K and consist of a new sloped roof with 1/8” of slope per a foot, gutters, and downspouts. Currently the roof is flat and has no gutters and downspouts.
Committee of the Whole
• Legal RFQ Submissions
This meeting was scratched as the council would like more time to review the RFQ’s that have been submitted.
Parks, Playgrounds and Recreation
Alderman Row left sometime during this meeting.
-Write-up in progress
License, Insurance Claims, CEMA, and Contracts
-Write-up in progress
Personnel
-Write-up in progress
Municipal Building, Property and Capital Improvements
• Senior services Relocation update
After reviewing four locations not including the YMCA part of the Traube Tent building is under consideration for the location of this program. Other locations did not meet certain requirements such as handicapped bathrooms and other improvements needing to be done before they could occupy the building.
The council then discussed if they negotiate a lease for the building and then the program asks the city for additional money as they have in the past on top of the monthly rent the city provides them with. It was decided Pat who runs this senior program will need to talk with the council. A motion was passed to allow Paul Ellis to begin negotiating a lease agreement for the council’s approval.
Mayor Hutchinson noted he has spoken with Representative Reitz regarding money for such a program.
• Shoemaker Schoolhouse update
A punch list has been made to restore the building completely. Paul Ellis is looking for grants to complete the work in the neighborhood of $50-60K. The city will need to consider the long term costs of staffing the facility if it will be a tourist information type of facility.
• Oak Street building
Paul Ellis presented a 5-year plan for the building to get more of it tenant ready, replace the parking lot, and expand some of the current tenant base to raise the revenue created by this building. Most if not all of the revenue generated by the tenants will be invested back into the building to attract more tenants and provide a better facility to the current tenants.
• Police Department roof
The roof is scheduled to be replaced by Lakeside roofing as soon as the can get it on their schedule, which looks to be mid to late July. The work will cost roughly $34K and consist of a new sloped roof with 1/8” of slope per a foot, gutters, and downspouts. Currently the roof is flat and has no gutters and downspouts.
Committee of the Whole
• Legal RFQ Submissions
This meeting was scratched as the council would like more time to review the RFQ’s that have been submitted.
Parks, Playgrounds and Recreation
Alderman Row left sometime during this meeting.
-Write-up in progress
License, Insurance Claims, CEMA, and Contracts
-Write-up in progress
Personnel
-Write-up in progress
The Programmatic Agreement
This is the copy of The Programmatic Agreement that I could get. Just posting so people know what all the talk is about.
I too had the questions of why Columbia Crossing was mentioned specifically in the document but after the discussion in the following videos and rereading the document a few times it is clearer now.
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I too had the questions of why Columbia Crossing was mentioned specifically in the document but after the discussion in the following videos and rereading the document a few times it is clearer now.
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