MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2000
Mayor Art Hammen called the Regular January 24, 2000 City Council Meeting to order in the City Council Chambers at 7:30 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Art Hammen Mayor Pro Tem Anita Newsom Councilman Roger Norris Councilman George Nodler Councilman Dan Bishop City Manager Kirk Davis Assistant City Manager Laura Gay City Counselor Nancy Thompson City Clerk Marilyn Ahnefeld Item 3. on the Agenda. Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Art Hammen led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in which all joined. Item 4. on the Agenda. Approval of Minutes. Mayor Pro Tem Anita Newsom moved to approve the Regular Monday, January 10, 2000 City Council Meeting Minutes as submitted. Councilman George Nodler seconded. The vote: "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) Item 5. on the Agenda. CONSENT AGENDA Following the Clerk's reading of the Consent Agenda, Mayor Pro Tem Anita Newsom moved to approve the Consent Agenda as listed; Councilman Roger Norris seconded. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) CONSENT AGENDA DETAIL: Mayor Pro Tem Newsom moved to adopt RESOLUTION NO. R-2000-7, authorizing execution of work under contract with Black & Veatch Engineers for the Storm water Master Plan and authorizing final payment from the Capital Improvements Sales Tax Fund. Total Contract Amount: $404,000.00; Final Payment Due: $8,287.00 Councilman Norris seconded. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) Mayor Pro Tem Newsom moved to adopt RESOLUTION NO. R-2000-8, authorizing execution of a contract with WRS Architects in an amount not to exceed $23,500.00 from the Capital Improvements Sales Tax Fund for the Public Safety Facility Needs Study. Councilman Norris seconded. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) Mayor Pro Tem Newsom moved for APPROVAL OF NEW LIQUOR CLASS "C" PACKAGE LICENSE for Hen House Store #36, 6475 N Prospect. Managing Officer: Ronald Giangreco Councilman Norris seconded. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) Mayor Pro Tem Newsom moved for APPROVAL OF FINANCIAL REPORT for month of December, 1999. Councilman Norris seconded. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) REGULAR AGENDA Item 6. on the Agenda. Communications from the Audience. Mr. Ken Kramme, 131 The Woodlands, commented on the 2000 Missouri Legislative Package presentation given by Assistant City Manager Laura Gay earlier this evening in study session. Mr. Kramme said he has been a teacher and involved in legislative matters for quite a few years. There has been a Collective Bargaining Bill for over twenty years and it seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same, in that regard. He applauds the Council's views on local control and many areas but would urge the Council not to overlook the fact that while this municipality may do a great job with its employee relations that we are citizens of Missouri and need to think on a statewide level on many issues including this one. He said it is no surprise that the management of this municipality would be against a collective bargaining bill but he would ask the City Council to take a "no position" on that bill and asked that they remember that they are representatives of the citizens of Gladstone and not just managers. They are representing a number of citizens who have both public and private sector labor in their families and he believes it would be a mistake for this Council to come out and speak in opposition to something that is so important to many members of our community. Mr. Kramme said these Bills have been introduced for over twenty years and there have been some good and some bad. He urges the Council not to put themselves on record in blanket opposition to something of this nature until they have seen the particular legislation and followed it to its final form. Mr. Kramme said this has been around twenty years and he can flat out guarantee that what Council does tonight will have no affect on any local representative he knows, and no affect on the outcome of this legislation. But it will have an affect by the message that is sent to the residents of Gladstone. Mr. Robert E. Palmer, 11705 E. 87th, Raytown, Missouri said he is the representative of the International Association of Firefighters and is also an elected Director of the Fire Board in Raytown. Mr. Palmer said he is not here to encourage or discourage the Council either way but here to provide some factual information on collective bargaining because it sounds like they are pretty "lean" on the facts of what collective bargaining is all about. There is a lot more to collective bargaining than just a grievance procedure. Without it, there is no place for any relief because the people who set the penalty are the people who finally make the decisions; they are the judge and the jury. An arbitrator is a neutral who comes in, reviews both sides and makes a determination, and win or lose you have to live with it. As far as the comment made by the Assistant Manager about the financial impact on the City, every decision arbitrator's make is on the ability to pay. Most of the matters that go to arbitration are not financial but have to do with wages, hours and conditions of employment, not necessarily the financial part of it. Mr. Palmer said if the City is not able to pay, the arbitrator is not going to make an award that way and that is part of the law, too. He noted there are 32 states that have some kind of collective bargaining bill and Missouri is not one of them. Mr. Palmer said he represents four states and three are right to work states except Missouri, and it is the only state that does not have a good collective bargaining bill. In reference to Mr. Kramme's comments, Mr. Palmer said he has been trying to get a collective bargaining bill for 30 years in the State so he has been at this longer than Mr. Kramme who spoke earlier. He added that there are a lot of labor folks living in Gladstone and he would guess perhaps 70-75% of those likely belong to some kind of labor union, such as Machinists, Communication Workers, Firefighters, etc. He said it is illegal for police officers to belong but if we ever get a decent law maybe they can. Mr. Palmer said the collective bargaining bill is not going to pass, because it hasn't in 30 years. And it is not going to pass this year, so don't put your good name on something that will not happen until we change some legislative votes down there. They lost by 13 votes last time and they will probably lose by a similar number this year because the same people are there. He said the firefighters took a survey in the State of Missouri and 85% of the people believe that police and fire employees should have the right to bargain collectively over wages, hours and conditions of employment. He said they know that for a fact. They are going to be working in Gladstone and be passing a referendum petition just like the one on the billboards. He asked the Council again not to put their name on something that will not pass. Item 7. on the Agenda. Communications from the City Council. Councilman Dan Bishop welcomed Director of Community Services Hamid Hashemizadeh who comes to us from New Berlin, Wisconsin and was quickly initiated into our city by the weekend rain, snow and ice. He is happy to have him here and glad he is on the job. Councilman Roger Norris also welcomed Mr. Hashemizadeh and commented that his department certainly did an excellent job in our snow clearing efforts. Councilman George Nodler echoed the welcome to Mr. Hashemizadeh and also complimented the good job of snow removal. Councilman Anita Newsom announced that Gladstone resident Freddie Nichols and her late husband, Art, were selected "Outstanding Northlanders of the Year" by the Northland Chamber of Commerce at a recent event. She regrets she was unable to attend and congratulates Freddie Nichols and her late husband on this well deserved award. She said the couple always kept in focus what was best for the community. Ms. Newsom said she received a copy of the Missouri Parks & Recreation Journal and was pleased to see it included an article on Hamilton Heights Park along with a picture of Director Buschor and Freddie Nichols, Park Board Chairman. The article told how Gladstone conducted a series of "Plan a Park" meetings and focused on what can and should be done to bring community involvement into park planning. Ms. Newsom also noted her school recently conducted DARE Graduations and the Dare Officer in charge of the exercise commented that Gladstone Dare Officer LeAnn Smith had been his mentor and was highly complimentary of her skills. Ms. Newsom asked Director Adamo to pass along the compliment to Officer Smith. Ms. Newsom asked when the Hen House Store will open. Director Wingerson reported that the target date is mid-March. Mayor Pro Tem Newsom also joined her fellow Councilmembers in welcoming Hamid Hashemizadeh to Gladstone. Mayor Art Hammen said he has received comments recently from citizens about people running red lights. We all recognize this has become a problem at intersections not only in our community but also in the metropolitan area. He asked if we might want to consider concentrating some of our patrol at signalized intersections to reduce the incidents in Gladstone. City Manager Davis asked if any particular locations were mentioned. The Mayor responded that it was a general comment from several sources so he thought it appropriate to mention. Ms. Newsom commented that it was bad at the big intersections on 72nd Street. The Mayor also welcomed Hamid Hashemizadeh to Gladstone and said he understood that it was the City Manager who arranged for the inclement weather as a test to see how well Mr. Hashemizadeh would do. Item 7a. on the Agenda. City Council Board and Commission Appointments/Reappointments. Councilman Roger Norris moved to approve the listed Board and Commission
appointments/reappointments: Mayor Pro Tem Anita Newsom seconded. The vote: All
"aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) |
Planning Commission |
Term Expiration |
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Reappointment |
Carol Rudi |
December 2003 |
Les Smith |
December 2003 |
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New Appointment |
Mike Steffens |
December 20003 |
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Capital Improvements Program Committee |
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New Appointment |
Citizen Member Daniel Prego |
December 2000 |
Citizen Member David Sanford |
December 2002 |
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Reappointment |
Citizen Member Pete Hall |
December 2002 |
Planning Commission Member Bill Duncan |
December 2000 |
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Planning Commission Member Carol Rudi |
December 2000 |
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Planning Commission Member Les Smith |
December 2000 |
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Road District Member Charles Carmack |
December 2000 |
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Parks & Recreation Board Member John Houlihan |
December 2000 |
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New Appointment |
Parks & Recreation Board Member Freddie Nichols |
December 2000 |
Chair |
Pete Hall |
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|
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Parks and Recreation Advisory Board |
||
Reappointment |
Teresa Farley |
December 2002 |
Phil Summers |
December 2002 |
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New Appointment |
Donald Harper |
December 2002 |
Freshman Student Member |
October 2002 |
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Board of Zoning Adjustment |
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Reappointment |
Jerry Connors |
June 2004 |
Dick Davis |
June 2004 |
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|
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Uniform Codes Board of Appeals |
||
Reappointment |
Rick Washer |
December 2002 |
Chair |
Charles Logan |
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Cable TV Advisory Board |
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Reappointment |
Paul Degenhardt |
December 2002 |
New Appointment |
Benny Bachand |
December 2000 |
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Gladstone Recycling and Solid Wate Committee |
||
Reappointment |
Jim Groves |
December 2002 |
Reappointment |
Nettie Schwartzbauer |
December 2002 |
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Mayor Pro Tem Newsom commented that the Board & Commission interviews were conducted on January 8, 2000 and she is always impressed with the diversity and high level of interest of citizens who come out and offer their services to the City. It is that diversity of our citizen base that makes the City of Gladstone as successful as it continues to be. Mayor Hammen said he would certainly echo those comments because our citizen volunteers are extremely important part of seeing that this city runs smoothly. Item 8. on the Agenda. . Communications from the City Manager. City Manager Kirk Davis welcomed Community Services Director Hamid Hashemizadeh and said he will be a very valued member of our management team. Item 9. On the Agenda. SECOND READING AMENDED BILL 2000-01, approving a Site Plan for development of property at 5700 N Main subject to certain conditions. Applicant: Nolte Associates. Owner: Herman Scharhag (File #1108) Councilman Norris moved to accept the First Reading of the Bill and place Amended Bill 2000-01 on Second Reading; Ms. Newsom seconded. Discussion. Councilman Norris said at the last meeting, a number of items ranging from overland storm water to parking were discussed. It appears they have all been addressed in the memorandum and revised ordinance and he asked if these changes have all been discussed with the developer. Director Wingerson said yes, they have all been discussed and the fine points will be negotiated in the developer's agreement but conceptually the time limits, security, and triggers are all acceptable to the developer. They will want their Counsel to review it before they sign and execute anything but conceptually they are in agreement. Mr. Norris asked if they are in agreement with all the site plan conditions; Mr. Wingerson advised that the document has been provided to them and their cursory review has found no red flags, so again conceptually they are in agreement with everything listed. Councilman Norris asked Scott Cargill of Lutjen and Associates if he sees a problem with overland water coming off of this site. Mr. Cargill said they have done a preliminary macro storm drainage study to analyze the site to see how they can provide for storm water detention on the site and limit the flows to those of a pre-developed condition. They do have a detention basin proposed of 2.7 acre/feet give or take to limit the flows to those of a pre-developed condition and they took into account. He knows there was some concern voiced two weeks ago, concerning the water discharged off-site into the property north of their site where there are a couple of existing ponds. They have also limited drainage area through grading activities and cut the drainage area down to limit those flows off the site to those of a pre-developed condition, so to answer the question they have looked at it, they can limit their flows to those even a little bit less than what we are seeing now with the use of detention and diversion grading activities. Councilman Bishop said at the last Council Meeting, Mr. Nolte mentioned that about 30% of the water from the property was draining in sort of a northeasterly direction up towards those ponds. So are we saying that the total volume will not exceed that 30% level now and in fact the total volume may be less than what is going off the property. Mr. Cargill said basically they are regrading the site to eliminate the run-off from the site that discharges to the northeast back to the existing ponds, so that the amount of water coming off the site equals that of the pre-developed condition of what is coming off now. So they have not affected that watershed any, The amount of water that is coming through those drainage ways to those existing ponds will remain the same because they are regrading the site and pulling some of that drainage area back onto their site and into their proposed detention facility. Mr. Bishop asked Mr. Cargill if their study touched on the general integrity of the ponds as they currently are. In other words how sound are those ponds now. Mr. Cargill said no they did not, and that is why they have looked at this concept. They looked at limiting the flows coming off of their sites to those of a pre-developed condition to avoid analyzation of ponds off their property and addressed it in this manner, that way the run-off remains the same as it is today and will not affect the ponds other than the way they are affected as they exist now. Mayor Hammen said page 16 of the storm water study includes a comment that says further analysis of the 50 year storm flows indicate that the 18 CMP culvert under N Broadway is not adequate and recommends that future improvements to N Broadway include an increase in the size of this culvert. The Mayor asked Mr. Cargill to elaborate on that. Mr. Cargill explained that the APWA design criteria set forth looks at both 10, 50 and 100-year return frequency rainfall events. Where you have an arterial roadway such as Broadway crossing a culvert, they set certain design criteria that a 10-year return frequency storm needs to be handled within the enclosed system. The 50-year storm, based on that APWA design criteria, needs to be contained within the system. The 100-year return frequency event can top the roadway and as long as you have less than seven inches crossing the roadway then that will meet the APWA Design Criteria. You have a little bit of a conflict here because of the way the criteria states water will top the road in a 50-year return frequency storm by 2 inches. However, it is less than 7 inches during the 100-year storm. So the release rates based on the 1.8 cfs break release rate that is set by APWA Design Criteria adopted by Kansas City which is a little more stringent than Gladstone and is what they are adhering to based on the Planning Commission's recommendation, indicate that the 100-year flows are met and the crossing along Broadway are met. The 50-year flows top the roadway by an inch, therefore that pipe is undersized based on the 50- year design criteria. Mayor Hammen asked Mr. Cargill to explain the 50-year, 100-year storm. Mr. Cargill said it is more inches per hour in a longer duration of a storm event, more run-off. When reference is made to a fifty year storm, supposedly it will happen once every 50 years. Mayor Hammen asked Mr. Wingerson if we are currently undersized for a 50 year storm flow under N Broadway would it be prudent to ask the developer to make the improvement necessary to meet the 50-year storm flow as part of this development. Mr. Wingerson said it would, except that it would be an off-site improvement and because the developer is holding the water and releasing it at a rate which is less than currently developed, there is no impact downstream which requires the upgrade of the pipe. The Mayor said so you are saying the developer's improvements will actually improve our situation even though it still does not meet the 50-year design. Mr. Wingerson said with the improvements it will be a better system overall than it is today. The Mayor asked Mr. Wingerson if he had any idea what it would take to meet the 50 year storm requirement. Mr. Wingerson said he does not know at this time but it can be checked when the plans come through. Councilman Norris said he is heartened to hear that the flows to the northeast which was a concern as far as those ponds will be lessened or at least not increased. This was a major concern of the property owners that were here and spoke of the flood back in the 70's and we certainly do not want them to relive that. Mr. Norris said he likes hearing that the on-site detention is going to lessen the impact on our storm creek problem in that culvert under N Broadway. So those things have been met and he applauds the City staff and the developer for going all out to make changes recommended at the last Council Meeting. Councilman Bishop said he believes there is a need for this type of housing north of the river and thinks it would be good for Gladstone to have this type of housing. He had concerns last week about the run-off and impact on the existing ponds. He, like Councilman Norris, appreciates the willingness of the developer to work with staff to address Council concerns but he is still concerned about the condition of the ponds specifically those on the property north of the Scharhag property. However, from what he is hearing tonight it sounds like nothing the developer is doing is going to make that situation worse and it is probably out of the purview of something the developer is responsible for. He would hope that staff continues to look into that situation to see if in fact these creeks are unstable and if something needs to be done to enforce and strengthen them and he hopes we can take whatever steps are necessary to do that. Councilman Bishop said he cannot see voting against this based on an existing concern with those creeks, when we are being told it will not make that condition worse. So based on what he has heard here tonight, he will be voting in favor of this application. Director Wingerson advised that as soon as staff understood the concept of the drainage study and that through grading they would divert water to the new detention basin rather than to what was being referred to as the Leimkuhler pond, they immediately contacted DNR and DNR explained that they only regulate dams and ponds where the dam wall is in excessive of 35' which is not the case in this particular pond and in fact there is not a regulated pond in the city of Gladstone. DNR did volunteer their services and their advice to our staff to review that dam and they are scheduled to come in early March for that review, and we will take their advice. Mr. Wingerson said the run off rate will be the same post development as they are today pre-development. The Mayor said so this project will have no impact. Mr. Wingerson said that was correct. Mayor Pro Tem Newsom commented that she appreciated the adjustments that have been made and the conditions added to the site plan ordinance. It puts us in a better position to protect all the residents as well as the property owners and provides for a better development in the long run. Councilman Nodler commended the developer for addressing the concerns of the citizens who spoke at the public hearing on January 10th. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0). The Clerk read the Bill. Councilman Norris moved to accept the Second and Final Reading of Amended Bill 2000-01 and enact the Bill as Ordinance 3.739. Mayor Pro Tem Newsom seconded. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) Item 10. On the Agenda. FIRST READING BILL 2000-02, repealing Ordinance No. 3.598 (Section 29-6 of the Gladstone City Code) and enacting a new ordinance establishing water service rates for the City of Gladstone, Missouri. Councilman Roger Norris moved to place Bill 2000-02 on First Reading; Councilman George Nodler seconded. Discussion. Councilman Norris said we have conducted a very intense study over the several months dealing with our water distribution system and our sewer system. The study came back with some things we knew, some things we did not know, and some things that were a lot bigger than we thought we knew. It has brought us to the point tonight where we must adjust our water revenue rate to put us on firm footing for some progress that needs to be made for our future. He asked that the record reflect an editorial in the Wednesday, January 19, 2000 edition of the Kansas City Star which read that Gladstone's revenue bonds should go on the ballot. He thinks the author sums it up correctly that with the 4 million dollars in revenue bonds and the .25 cent increase in water rates, it will put us on a path to have our problems fixed, rather than take 10-12 years to do it. Councilman Norris said we saw some pictures of sewers that were embarrassing and need to be addressed. The same people call year after year and with sewers backing up because it is raining, that will stop with passage of this Bill. We now know the first projects we need to do to relieve the most people, and then we have a list of 41 projects after that that will be handled step by step. He is thrilled that the staff did so much work on this. He thinks the priorities are set correctly and he would encourage the Council to approved the Bill and move on for a better tomorrow. Councilman Bishop said he first began to glimpse the scope of this problem while serving on the Capital Improvements Advisory Committee two summers ago when we were having all the flooding in Gladstone. Many people were coming to those CIP Meetings and he was struck by the fact that some of the concerns we were hearing about were not technically storm water concerns. They were telling horrible stories about raw sewage coming up in their basement and while that is related with storm water it is technically different because it is a sewer problem. When he was walking door to door a year ago and met people who had experienced raw sewage in their basement, he recalls talking with the Atherton's on N Flora who had experienced problems for years with their sewer lines and periodically would see sewage bubble up in their back yard leaving all sorts of debris, toilet paper, etc. He talked to people on Shady Lane who were having the same problem and it was a problem which was affecting some big areas of the city. As Councilman Norris pointed out clearly at the last Council Meeting, sewers and age don't mix well and for anyone who would say that this is a problem that would only affect certain legions of Gladstone, he has to disagree because it affects everyone because every house, every sewer line in Gladstone is going to age and if we do not take care of the problem now it is only going to get worse and more difficult to handle. He thinks we also have to make the distinction that if we pass this bill, it is an action we can take on our own as a Council in raising rates. Regardless of what happens with Agenda Item 11 which puts the bond issue on the ballot, raising rates is the right thing to do because it will increase our revenue for the water fund and enable us to start working on these sanitary sewer problems which have to be addressed, so he is going to support it. Mayor Pro Tem Newsom said those who know her know she is a great bargain shopper and although she does not generally favor increases. This rate adjustment is a heck of a bargain for our citizens because the .25 cent increase in the long run, especially if we are able to pass the 4 million water and sewerage bonds, will be quite a bargain for the citizens in our community, and she is all for it. Councilman Nodler said we should point out that the relationship of our rates to other cities in the metropolitan area will remain the same even with the increase. We will not move ahead but will stay about the same place comparatively with our rates. Mayor Hammen said while nobody likes a rate increase it has been three years since the City has initiated a rate increase on water and this increase will cost the average homeowner approximately $3.00 per two month billing period which is minimal. He said Councilman Bishop's comment about this affecting everyone if we do not address these problems, certainly holds true. The City is going to continue to have other cost increases impact us, specifically our insurance rates, We had a number of insurance claims last year and the insurance pool we belong to came to us this year and said they wanted a 300% increase in our rates. We give our City Manager a great deal of credit for being able to negotiate that amount down substantially. But the fact is, that it is a case of pay me now or pay me later, because one way or another, the City is going to pay money out. So it certainly seems most appropriate to pass this increase and get our problems resolved. This is the best way to do it. The Mayor said having three daughters, he will suffer from this increase. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) The Clerk read the Bill. Councilman Norris moved to accept the First Reading of Bill 2000-02, Waive the Rule and place the Bill on Second and Final Reading; Mr. Nodler seconded. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) The Clerk read the Bill. Councilman Norris moved to accept the Second and Final Reading of Bill 2000-02 and enact the Bill as Ordinance No. 3.740. Mr. Nodler seconded. The vote: All "aye" Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) Item 11. On the Agenda. FIRST READING BILL 2000-03, calling a Special Election on Tuesday. April 4, 2000 on the Question of issuance of $4,000,000 of Combined Waterworks and Sewerage System Revenue Bonds. Councilman Roger Norris moved to place Bill 2000-03 on First Reading; Mayor Pro Tem Newsom seconded. Discussion. Councilman Norris said he is supports this bond election because every time we have sold bonds since his Council service began, they were generally sold that day because our rating is excellent. People like to buy our bonds and as soon as they go on the market they are gone. He also noted that Kansas City, Missouri is going to install metering systems into the sewers that go into Kansas City and they will start charging us by how much water they get. When it rains and those people get their basements flooded and the sewers are full it means they will be metering rainwater and charging it as sewer. That is going to be a huge cost to the City of Gladstone and this .25 cent water rate increase will pale in comparison to what that bill will be if we do not take care of some of these problems now. In the long run this will save all of us money and get us caught up on what we need to do so we can maintain our system because we have not done it up to now. Councilman Bishop said we have to be really clear that if we approve this, we are not asking the voters of Gladstone to assess themselves any rate increase or tax increase, All we are asking them to do is approve the issuance of bonds. We already took the step of raising the water rates, and using that revenue, and these bonds we will do a lot more projects for the buck. We have heard financial presentations from the City's financial advisors and we know that Gladstone has a relatively low level of municipal debt and he thinks this will be a great way to do a lot of projects. We need to remember under the proposal the City Manager put forth, he is not just proposing sewer projects. We have had a problem in the city lately with people complaining about the taste of the water, and also we have a very valuable asset in our water treatment plant and the Larkin Study pointed out some areas where improvements are needed. He thinks that is another factor that makes this bond issue more appealing for him is the fact that we will be addressing some of those issues set forth by Larkin to address water control. He really hopes that if this ballot issue passes that we will be able to rectify that water quality problem. With that and supporting the water and the sewer, he will be supporting this issue. Councilman Nodler said he would echo the need to reinforce in the information provided to our residents that this does not require any tax increase to finance the bonds. Ms. Newsom agreed that it is very important that the residents understand the ballot issue because the wording of the ballot is sometimes confusing when you are looking at a number of different issues. We need to get the information out to the public so they can make wise decisions on April 4th if this Bill passes. Ms. Newsom also commented that she hates paying interest and hates to have to pay interest on bonds but it will cost us more than the interest in the long run if we do not remediate the problems in the very near future. So in this case, paying interest on the bonds is a very very wise investment. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) The Clerk read the Bill. Councilman Roger Norris moved to accept the First Reading of Bill 2000-03, Waive the Rule, and place the Bill on Second and Final Reading; Mayor Pro Tem Anita Newsom seconded. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) The Clerk read the Bill. Councilman Roger Norris moved to accept the Second and Final Reading of Bill 2000-03 and enact the Bill as Ordinance 3.741; Mayor Pro Tem Anita Newsom seconded. The vote: All "aye" - Bishop, Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. (5-0) Item 12. on the Agenda. RESOLUTION R-2000-06, authorizing the adoption of the 2000 State Legislative Program for the City of Gladstone, Missouri Ms. Newsom moved to adopt Resolution 2000-06; Councilman Nodler seconded. Discussion. Councilman Bishop said there are ten distinct issues set forth in the legislative program and some of those he feels comfortable voting for and some he frankly does not. He asked if it is necessary to adopt the program in tact or if it possible to adopt it issue by issue. Counselor Thompson said the motion on the floor is to adopt the listed 2000 State Legislative Program in its entirety. If that needs to be amended or changed then certainly that ability is the prerogative of the Council. Amendment of the resolution requires a motion, second and vote. Councilman Bishop asked Councilman Newsom if she would consider changing her motion to adopting the points issue by issue. Ms. Newsom responded that if there are issues Mr. Bishop would like to delete for discussion separately, she would suggest he do that and then take the rest of the legislation package in total so we don't have to discuss each one. She asked Councilman Bishop if that was amenable. Mr. Bishop said yes. Mr. Bishop moved to amend Councilman Newsom's motion to adopt Resolution R-2000-6 such that we would approve the 2000 Legislative Program in tact with exception of Items: (5) Labor Relations; (8) Municipal Personnel Policies; (9) Outdoor Advertising Billboards. No second to the motion was heard and Mayor Hammen advised that the amendment to the motion had died for lack of a second. Discussion on the original motion to adopt Resolution 2000-06: Councilman Norris said the legislative program presented is in line with the policies we have been following for years. He understands the differences that the gentlemen who spoke under comments from the audience would have. Currently we have labor union in operation in our fire department and it meets under a meet and confer. The City Manager and several firefighters have told him that things have improved. So at least at the Gladstone level which is where this Council should concern itself, those things are being acted on and acted on promptly and properly. He sees no reason as a Councilman to change that meet and confer based on a population of 27,000 and a limited budget with a lot of other things going on. We need to retain all of the rights that we can to protect not only our citizens but our employees and we have steadfastly done that in this city and he sees no reason at this time to change anything in the wording of Item 5 which is Labor Relations. Councilman Norris said under Franchise Fees, he would echo what Ms. Gay said in the Study Session that the City needs to maintain its right of right of way. That is really important if you have seen some of the minor battles we have had with some of the big utilities getting things done. He can only imagine if it gets deregulated what kind of a nightmare that this could be opening up, if we don't maintain some right of way access. On personnel, Councilman Norris advised that we have a policy of paying our employees 107% of the market and he would venture a guess that most people who go out and work for a company don't have bosses who make policies that exceed 100% of what is currently in the market place, We do that so we can recruit and retain the best employees that you can get. We want top of the line here in Gladstone and it is important that we do that. We have consistently maintained professional, ethical and consistent personnel practices and we are opposed to any legislation that would interfere with municipal authority to determine personnel where merit system rules. As we discussed, we have a Cog-Wit Committee that meets regularly and they discuss what is in that personnel manual and we have had changes to that manual come to the Council by way of that committee. He believes that the employees acting on their behalf is a pretty good collective bargaining tool and they have done nothing but make this Councilman proud of their activities. On outdoor advertising billboards, Councilman Norris said he hates their appearance but he does not want to see the State find themselves in a position where they can say something is ok on a State Highway that runs through Gladstone or any other community and then Gladstone not have the right to say, no this is Gladstone, the Council needs to retain those rights. He understands where Mr. Bishop was coming from in study session because quite frankly it does not stipulate that we are not looking to be less impactive on billboards. We are not going to do more than state law, we just want to be able to restrict what we consider in this community to be inappropriate. As we have found in other discussions, there are areas that are appropriate for certain types of activities. It may not matter to the Legislator from Springfield. Missouri what Gladstone's highways look like but it does to him and he thinks we ought to keep our rights and our foot in the door. He said we also need to increase the storm water funding to the City of Gladstone through the State Legislature. Ms. Newsom commented that after serving as a public educator in the State of Missouri for 27 years there are times when very likely if collective bargaining had been in place it might have bettered her position as a public educator but that aside, she is not wearing that hat right now sitting up here. She is wearing the hat of a City Councilman who has been elected to protect the rights and the benefits and the services to the citizens of Gladstone. She will go on record that she resents being visited by labor leaders from Raytown who have come to give a public "drubbing" on what we should and should not do for the citizens of Gladstone when that person neither lives here or has no great concern other than his association with the local union. She said she has always been a big picture person and has a tendency to generally sit back and look at the big picture. And looking at the big picture of the State of Missouri, because we are recommending a legislative package to the State of Missouri, that is when individual municipalities that cannot meet muster are going to have to raise their own bar and produce standards such as we have produced here in order to obtain and retain solid, good, employees in their community. When they are not good employers they aren't going to have good employees. That is part of the natural selection that happens with businesses and public entities whether it be business, governments, education, or whatever it might be. You have to provide the benefits and the salaries for your employees in order to obtain the kind of employees you want. Looking at the big picture in the State of Missouri, she is not a state representative nor does she desire to be, but she is representing the citizens of Gladstone and feels that the package we are looking at best represents what she feels will do the best for the citizens of our community and provide the kind of atmosphere and the level of services she hears our citizens want on a day to day basis, so she is wholeheartedly for all the items in the legislative package. Councilman Bishop said in a certain sense he does agree with Councilman Norris that we have got to look at some issues from a local issue and consider what is going on in Gladstone. There are a number of things that bother him about this process. On the one hand, there seems to be a feeling at the Council table tonight that we don't want Jefferson City in terms of the legislature mandating or telling us what to do, but on the other hand we don't mind accepting the Missouri Municipal League Legislative Agenda hook line and sinker. The memorandum which accompanied these recommendations indicated that these were recommended largely by the Missouri Municipal League. People on the MML Board may be from any city or county but the point is that on this issue of collective bargaining for public employees, in talking to legislators who are in Jefferson City, he understands from them and the point was made tonight also, that this issue failed last year and the legislature is largely the same in terms of membership as it was last year. He said Councilman Newsom made the good point that we are here to represent the people who put us here, and his most immediate experience interacting with the people of Gladstone was in going door to door last year. He believes there is a strong labor community in this city and he believes we have a lot of TWA union folks and a lot of UAW labor folks. This is a very sensitive issue right now. Two years we got the IAFF Local in Gladstone Public Safety and we have many of our officers who are joining the FOP these days. He asks why this Council would want to take a position on an issue that is going no where in the legislature this year and basically stick their thumb in the eye of the laboring men and women of this community. We were not elected here to represent the MML but put here to represent the citizens of Gladstone, We have a good record here in Gladstone as far as management but why would we want to tell an individual who comes to work for the City of Gladstone that you cannot have the right that any worker in the private sector has which is the right to collectively bargain for the terms and conditions of your employment. Especially when Missouri is in the minority of states in those who don't have some form of collective bargaining for their public employees. Mayor Hammen commented that labor unions in the private section work but in the public sector things have to be monitored carefully because our citizens don't have the ability to go to another city for services. They can't go to Smithville for water and we have a responsibility to keep our finances down and control our own density. Following additional Council discussion on the proposed legislative program, the Mayor called for the vote. The vote on adoption of Resolution R-2000-06: "Aye" - Nodler, Norris, Newsom, Hammen. "Nay" - Bishop. (4-1) * * * There being no further business to come before the January 24, 2000 Gladstone City Council Meeting, Mayor Art Hammen adjourned the Regular Meeting. Respectfully submitted:
Marilyn F. Ahnefeld, City Clerk |