AGENDA
A Regular Board Meeting of the Weatherby Lake Board of Aldermen will be held at 7:00 P.M., Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at City Hall, 7200 NW Eastside Dr., Weatherby Lake, Missouri
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call
Mayor’s Communications to the Board
Barry Rd-update
Water contract
Waste collection contract
Temporary summer employment
Proposed office hours
Committee & Liaison Discussion
Water contract
Waste collection contract
Temporary summer employment
Proposed office hours
Committee & Liaison Discussion
Consent Agenda
Approval of Minutes for the April 15, 2008 regular board meeting
Approval of Bill Payments made/to be made=$140,265.51
General Fund $39,755.74
Road & Street Fund $ 3,825.88
Water & Sewer Fund $66,259.20
Road Improvement Fund $30,424.69
Approval of Minutes for the April 15, 2008 regular board meeting
Approval of Bill Payments made/to be made=$140,265.51
General Fund $39,755.74
Road & Street Fund $ 3,825.88
Water & Sewer Fund $66,259.20
Road Improvement Fund $30,424.69
Reports
Public Works
Written report submitted
Ponzer-Youngquist agreement relative to sanitary sewer proposal
ACE Pipe Cleaning, Inc. proposal
Bill NO. 1032 Ordinance NO. 1031, an ordinance approving the contract with ACE Pipe Cleaning, Inc. for the purposes of inspecting and cleaning sanitary sewer lines
Finance
Written report submitted
Current CD balances April 2008 (update on Bank Midwest CD)
Audit update
Police
Road sign installation on Westside Dr
Hiring part-time officer
Court
Written report submitted
Community Center
Written report submitted
Approve reduction of rental fee for Women’s Club/Irish- American Club-motion
Community Center update-Hoy/White
Computer Administrator
Written report submitted
Parks
Written report submitted
Planning Commission
Historical
Written report submitted
WLIC
Public Works
Written report submitted
Ponzer-Youngquist agreement relative to sanitary sewer proposal
ACE Pipe Cleaning, Inc. proposal
Bill NO. 1032 Ordinance NO. 1031, an ordinance approving the contract with ACE Pipe Cleaning, Inc. for the purposes of inspecting and cleaning sanitary sewer lines
Finance
Written report submitted
Current CD balances April 2008 (update on Bank Midwest CD)
Audit update
Police
Road sign installation on Westside Dr
Hiring part-time officer
Court
Written report submitted
Community Center
Written report submitted
Approve reduction of rental fee for Women’s Club/Irish- American Club-motion
Community Center update-Hoy/White
Computer Administrator
Written report submitted
Parks
Written report submitted
Planning Commission
Historical
Written report submitted
WLIC
Ordinances and Consideration of Ordinances
Bill NO. 1030 Ordinance NO. 1029, an ordinance approving the contract extension with J& M Displays, Inc. for the Fourth of July fireworks displays
Bill NO. 1031 Ordinance NO. 1030, an ordinance repealing Section 600.230 of the Weatherby Lake Municipal Code.
Bill NO. 1030 Ordinance NO. 1029, an ordinance approving the contract extension with J& M Displays, Inc. for the Fourth of July fireworks displays
Bill NO. 1031 Ordinance NO. 1030, an ordinance repealing Section 600.230 of the Weatherby Lake Municipal Code.
Open Floor to Visitors (Limited to a total of fifteen (15) minutes)
Old Business
Clean up day
Clean up day
New Business
Closed Session
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT, SUBJECT TO A MOTION DULY MADE AND ADOPTED, THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN may also hold a closed meeting for the purpose of dealing with matters relating to one or more of the following:
• Legal actions, Cause of Action, Litigation or privileged communications between the City’s Representatives and it’s attorneys: 610.021(1)
• Lease, Purchase or Sale of Real Estate: 610.021(2)
• Hiring, Firing, Disciplining or Promoting Employees: 610.021(3)
• Preparing for Negotiations with Employee Groups: 610.021(9)
• Bidding Specifications: 610.021(11)
• Proprietary Technology Materials: 610.021(15)
Posted 5-02-08
Gwen Cenac
City Clerk
Closed Session
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT, SUBJECT TO A MOTION DULY MADE AND ADOPTED, THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN may also hold a closed meeting for the purpose of dealing with matters relating to one or more of the following:
• Legal actions, Cause of Action, Litigation or privileged communications between the City’s Representatives and it’s attorneys: 610.021(1)
• Lease, Purchase or Sale of Real Estate: 610.021(2)
• Hiring, Firing, Disciplining or Promoting Employees: 610.021(3)
• Preparing for Negotiations with Employee Groups: 610.021(9)
• Bidding Specifications: 610.021(11)
• Proprietary Technology Materials: 610.021(15)
Posted 5-02-08
Gwen Cenac
City Clerk
11 comments:
Mr. Moratz,
I find this agenda announcement refreshing. Thank you for bringing it to the Citizens attention. Can you please tell us where you got this information (acknowledge the source)?
Since becoming interested in Weatherby Lake Politics, I have never seen a full BOA Agenda posted like this before. Please tell the reading public, did the BOA Publish such an agenda while you were Alderperson and Mayor Pro-Tem?? If not, why not?
With this announcement, we citizens can look at the Agenda and make a decision not only about attending the meeting, but we can give input to our Alderpersons on subjects we find important.
Citizen involvement, what a great idea. My bet is that this will encourage attendance at the council meetings (some will be there to voice their disapproval of certain matters as well as approval) which will likely translate into more volunteerism/involvement for WL. I think that would be a good thing, but perhaps I am wrong about people getting involved.
Tell us Mr. Moratz, what strategies did you and the BOA employ to encourage Citizen involvement while you were on the BOA and Mayor Pro-Tem?? How would you grade the success of those strategies to get citizen involvement while the city was under your watch??
Since counting seems to be very important, lets give Mayor Bos a good grade for doing what he said he would do, Publish the Agenda in Full so that the Citizens can take what action they deem necessary.
Brian Stevenson
I am on a business trip so will give a brief response to Brian. You may know the City web site
http://www.cityofweatherbylake-mo.gov/
I am sure the BOA will announce at the meeting tonight. You might also be aware Alderman Hoy sends out her meeting agendas as well, not sure why she didn't mention the City web site in her recent notice, you might ask her tonight if you are at the meeting.
No we didn't post the agenda on the City web site when I as an alderman...because we didn't have a web site. I requested the BOA consider a modest funding of a site, and so we began. We encountered considerable IT problems in the beginning, which I can go into detail if you are interested. In any event we eventually got to the current site, with lots of enhancements that can be added. All we need is time and money. I trust the current administration will find a little bit of both.
As for grading myself, I will let that to the citizens.
I'm VERY distressed over the negligence of the former mayor pertaining to our "clean water" contract that expired prior to this election, which could cost this city an enormous fine. How does something this imporant slips throught the cracks? Plus, now the great savings on our audit isn't all it's cracked up to be either??
Both former mayor York and our Treasurer said this was a great deal, now we need a Financial audit and hopefully can find a reputable firm to handle this , so our city can be eligible for grants. This board didn't have any other option than to hit the ground running to curtail the lapse in mayoral duties. Let's hope these are it and we don't have anymore SURPRISES!~!!!
De, you seem to be in the know, could you explain more about the expired clean water contract and the enormous fine?
Would love to hear more about the audit and grants? Why can't we get grants?
To Anon,
I was at the Meeting the other night and I will take a shot at the issues, as I understand them. Please, I am not an attorney, CPA, or court reporter. If those more familiar with the situation want to comment, please do. This note is from a Citizens observation.
Regarding the Clean Water issue. Alderperson DeJong explained that the state requires that cities must take care of the flow of waste water out of the city. It is the quality of the water at discharge that really matters. For us it would mostly be what runs over the overflow at the Dam (keep in mind that the National gets all of that water) Cities are required to have a permit with the State (I assume the State Folks will need to see how we handle run off). It was not clear to me exactly how that permit is issued and how much work/cost is required to get that done. It is however important to have that permit. The city of WL's permit expired in March. If we are found in violation we are subject to a large daily fine. Alderperson DeJong is on the case. He has asked for help (someone to look over my shoulder) and hope fully the city will get him that. We as citizens must be hopeful that our city is not in Violation of state regs and that the permit can be reinstated quickly. Otherwise, I doubt that a big fine is currently in the budget.
On the issue of the Audit- The Mayor reported that the previously agreed upon audit (a cheap one indeed) is not a "Financial" Audit but instead is a "Management" Audit. Please, I am not a CPA and certainly not a qualified Auditor, however what I understood this to mean is that the currently engaged Audit firm will not render an official "Opinion Letter" of our Financial position or other important financial matters. There is question about if we meet the rules (if not the intent) of the Missouri Constitution. As well, there may be other issues so far as our ability to issue bonds or get grants in the future if we do not have a Financial Audit. There seems to be a lot to learn about this issue. When questioned, the City Treasurer said she was not aware that the Audit Firm was not going to do a financial Audit. Perhaps Ms. Ennett can comment on that on her own. There is concern on the board about the lack of a financial Audit. Citizens at the meeting also expressed concern about the lack of a financial Audit. All of this was discovered during a meeting with the Audit Firm with Mayor Bos and Ms. Ennett. So, what to do?? The city realized a "savings" on this audit firm of several thousand dollars from the last firm that did a financial Audit. The city will have to make a decision about the need or requirement for a Financial Audit. Mayor Bos is working with the City Attorney to understand our obligations under the Constitution. Then it will fall upon our council (this is a good time to get in contact with your Alderperson to express an opinion) to make the final decision to spend more money (yep, a financial audit with an opinion letter will be expensive) on the financial Audit. My 2 cents worth is that I can not imagine being without a Financial Audit. "Trust Me" is not good enough in most financial circles. Mayor Bos is working to establish an "Audit Committee" for the city. Hopefully this "oversight" will not occur again in the future.
There was one other "ooops" that was discovered as well. Our water contract with KC expired also during March (boy do we use a lot of water per household here in WL). Frankly, I believe that KC will continue to want to sell water, but we are working without a contract. Mayor Bos is working with Alderperson DeJong, George Lowman and KC to work out a deal that will keep water to our taps (from a contractual standpoint). This is just a bit untidy and I suppose that it does add some risk in case KC has a problem somewhere.
A final note on the condition of our Sewers. I was under the impression that our Sewers had recently been inspected and that we were "in good shape" on the Sewers (I thought I heard that at the Voter's Forum in March). At Tuesday's meeting, the Council voted for the proposal to begin the study of our sewer system. Perhaps I was wrong in my impression, but I checked back in this Blog Post on March 26 "Forum Fun". You all can revisit that as well.
Look, I wish that Mr. Moratz would have been at this BOA meeting and then he could have rendered his opinions and report. As a citizen I got several surprises at the meeting. 1. Our city is at risk with the State on Water Discharge and has been since March. 2. Our City does not have an engagement for a Financial Audit. 3. Our city has been operating without a water supply contract since March. 4. Our Sewer Systems have yet to be looked at, so we do not know the conditions of the sewers.
Hopefully our city will not be bitten by these above surprises to badly.
Please if I have made errors above or anyone disagrees, say so. As I say, I wish that Mr. Moratz would have been at the meeting. He has done a nice job in many cases of reporting on these meetings.
Best regards,
Brian Stevenson
To Brian,
Thank you for your observations. It is disturbing though, that instead of trying to find out the whole story behind the issues you reported on, you instead chose to incite suspicion and foster negativity. You claim to be interested in doing community service; however, I'm not understanding how reporting misinformation helps anyone. Perhaps it is a good thing that you did not win the recent election. Your true colors are starting to show.
I did not see any misrepresentations in Brian's email regarding the summary of the city council meeting but for those of you who choose not to believe he is correct, let's see what the meeting minutes say. They should back up what Brian has reported.
By the way, the penalty for the expired storm water run-off contract is about $10,000 per day! While they may not choose to penalize us, they apparently have a right to do just that. I do not believe that was in our budget for 2008.
Brian:
FYI Westside Alderperson Hoy has been publishing the agenda to her email distribution list for the past year.
Speaking of fines not being in the budget, neither were the Community Center extra upgrades. Only difference is the fines could happen...the CC spend did happen.
There is a difference in the "unbudgeted dollars" spent on the community center and the fines that "could" be levied against the city on the storm water runoff. Firstly, the "unbudgeted dollars" for the community center amounted to about $11,000--roughly $8,000 was left over from the Save the Community Center Fundraiser. Secondly, the spend on the community center renovations was a unanymous vote from the entire board!!! The penalty for letting the contract expire on the storm water runoff would be $10,000 per day!!! That would be over $700,000by now! A very big difference indeed. Just thought I would set the record straight.
Just to clarify, I don't believe there is any sort of "contract" regarding Clean Water, rather a requirement to file a periodic report. I do not believe the issue of fines is as straightforward as put forth in comments. It is my understanding there is/was confusion when the information was due. I do not think there is any confusion on the fact the City has been very active in protecting the watershed which is the heart of the matter. If the City had been remiss in taking active measures and ignored the reporting dates, then I think there would be an issue. So regarding the fines the discussion is theoretical. The extra spend of $8,000 unbudgeted is not theoretical and regardless of a unanimous vote of the board, it is subject to criticism.
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