MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL
MEETING
GLADSTONE,
MISSOURI
REGULAR
MEETING
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 22, 2001
PRESENT: Mayor Anita Newsom
Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross
Councilman Dan Bishop
Councilman Shirley Smith
Councilman Les Smith
Assistant City Manager Laura
Gay
Acting City Clerk Diane
Whitaker
ABSENT: City
Manager Kirk Davis
City Clerk Marilyn
Ahnefeld
Item 3. on the Agenda. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Anita Newsom led the Pledge of Allegiance in which all joined.
Item 4. on the Agenda. APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 8, 2001 MINUTES.
Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross moved to approve the Regular October 8, 2001 City Council
Meeting Minutes as submitted.
Councilman Les Smith seconded the motion. The vote: All “Aye” -
Councilman Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman Dan Bishop, Mayor
Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom.
(5-0)
Item 5. on the Agenda. CONSENT AGENDA
Following the Clerk’s reading, Councilman Bill Cross
moved to approve the Consent Agenda as read; Councilman Les Smith
seconded. The vote: All “aye” - Councilman Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman Dan
Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom. (5-0)
CONSENT AGENDA DETAIL
Councilman Bill Cross moved to accept RESOLUTION NO. R-01-69 amending the
2001-2002 Annual General Fund and Combined Waterworks & Sewerage Fund
(CWSS) Fund Budgets for the City of Gladstone and authorizing expenditures of
funds. (General Fund: Revenues - $12,510,095; Expenditures -
$12,496,829); (Combined Water & Sewer Services Fund: Revenues - $5,872,432;
Expenditures - $5,867,297).
Councilman Les Smith seconded.
The vote: All “aye” – Councilman
Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman Dan Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill
Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom. (5-0)
Councilman Bill Cross moved to accept RESOLUTION NO. R-01-70 authorizing the
approval of Change Order No. 3 in the amount of $44,780.90 and approving the
acceptance of work under contract with Superior Bowen Asphalt Company for the
2001 Street Overlay Program and authorizing final payment in the amount of
$320,572.31 for Project 0201.
Councilman Les Smith seconded.
The vote: All “aye” – Councilman
Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman Dan Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill
Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom. (5-0)
Councilman Bill Cross moved to accept RESOLUTION NO. R-01-71 authorizing
execution of a contract with Taylor Ball, Inc. for the construction management
of the new fire station and Public Safety renovation in the amount not to
exceed $139,125. Project #025602 &
025603. Funds are authorized from the
Fire/EMS Sales Tax Fund. Councilman Les
Smith seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Les Smith, Councilman
Shirley Smith, Councilman Dan Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Anita
Newsom. (5-0)
Councilman Bill Cross moved to approve the FINANCIAL REPORTS for September, 2001. Councilman Les Smith seconded. The vote:
All “aye” – Councilman Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman
Dan Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom. (5-0)
REGULAR AGENDA
Item 6. on
the Agenda. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE.
Galen Neill,
6010 N. Wyandotte, stated that he wanted to bring to the City’s attention some things he
has noticed in Gladstone and would like to have some of these questions
answered. It would be helpful as far as
working with the City on code enforcement.
At one time he reported that a new resident to his
neighborhood parked a trailer on the grass.
He had a complaint from his neighbor who lives close to this person with
the trailer. His neighbor had been
subjected to a violation a year earlier when he had a boat parked on the grass
and was issued a citation as a result of that.
He asked Mr. Neill how this neighbor gets away with parking that trailer
on the grass. Mr. Neill stated that he
was going to mention this to the code enforcement officers, but probably did
not know what the rules and regulations are in the City.
Mr. Neill did discuss it with a codes officer and
was told he would visit with the new resident in person. This has never been corrected and never a
follow-up to it. He is currently
noticing in his area some trailers being parked in yards. His question is whether the codes people are
looking for these violators and if not, they should be. It should not be expected of the citizens of
the community to be the detectives. It
appears this has been laid on the citizens, per se. He thinks it is good for the community to have code enforcement
and to take care of things, to keep our community in good stride.
Mayor Newsom stated that this is very similar to the
discussion she has had with the City Manager and Mr. Wingerson on more than one
occasion. She sees violations that seem
to be missed. She asked Mrs. Wingerson
if he could address Mr. Neill’s questions and said she thinks it is a wide-spread question.
Councilman Bishop asked Mr. Neill how long ago it
was reported that there was a trailer parked on the grass. Mr. Neill indicated that it might be two
months, but not sure.
Mr. Wingerson stated that it is a difficult
question. Please keep in mind that
there are two code enforcement officers positions in the City. They are responsible to cover nine square
miles of the City and approximately 10,000 properties. 60% of what they do is proactive such as the
things that Mr. Neill just talked about, going to visit the neighbor to let
them know the trailer is in violation.
Do they pass potential violations on their way to other sites, yes. They use different routes traveling around
the city and it would be easy to go to Mr. Neill’s house down 72nd
Street, then down Broadway to get to his neighborhood. Certainly, 72nd and Broadway
would receive the lion’s share of attention.
However, if they go down North Oak and through Hamilton Heights and over
to Mr. Neill’s neck of the woods, they will get a different perspective and
another view. They do not go the same
way every time.
It is very true, to be perfectly honest with the
Council and Mr. Neill, that they depend a lot on the help of the residents to
call the City and let them know about their concerns. About 40% of the issues they touch are generated that way. Hopefully, ultimately, it is a partnership
to point the code enforcement officers in the right direction in general from a
policy standpoint and then deal with the individual issues that are of concern
to the residents.
Mayor Newsom stated that she is often out running
errands around the City and comes home and calls Mr. Davis or Mr. Wingerson to
let them know of violations or other issues.
It seems to happen on a regular basis and she too wants to know what
happens with the tracking and follow-up because the problems are still
there. She tells them about issues and
they are still there and she is not the only person who has noticed this. The accountability to the public is
something that maybe this task force can look at because she thinks that
credibility is accountability.
Councilman Les Smith stated to Mr. Neill that the
intention is to have some consistency in what is a violation. If a boat is a violation, a camper would be
a violation, as well as a trailer. We
want to lend some consistency to it and a more proactive approach to it. What he would like to see is things to
happen a little faster. The fact is
that by the time someone complains or we see something, the situation is
actually taken care of and could be two or three months and he feels that is
unacceptable. This is the kind of thing
we are looking for and should be driving past the violation and noting it. If Public Safety is out at night and a
street light is out why can’t we report it instead of having a neighbor make
the call to City Hall. There are a lot
of things we would like to see done.
Our folks do a good job at it, but we can do just a little bit better.
Don Harper, 1606
NE 68th Terrace, stated that he too agrees that code enforcement is far too lax in
Gladstone and as stated, there are obvious violations that have gone on and
on. In his short two block street he
could list four or five violations. He
does not bother to call because it has been going on too long with trees
growing over the sidewalks and you cannot even see the sidewalk in some cases,
they are so overgrown. Recently, the
streets were redone and City employees were on the street and no one pays any
attention to it. He really thinks we
need more enforcement of the existing codes.
Mr. Harper stated there was a note made about Public
Safety. Why can’t the officers, as they
are patrolling, note some of these very obvious things as they are driving
around. Citizens are reluctant to
report on their neighbors and goes back to our upbringing where you are a sneak
or squealer. There may be someone in
your block you know and like, but are in obvious violation, you do not really
want to call and report it. He thinks
maybe City staff could be doing more of that.
Part of this is ignorance of the codes and he stated
that Mayor Newsom had mentioned something he had written down and that is, why
not a new resident packet which would highlight some significant areas that are
frequently violated, like the boat, wheeled vehicles parked on grass. We know that, but new residents would not be
aware of that as a requirement. Dog
leash information, one of his favorite subjects is dogs not on a leash. New residents do not know that we have a
leash law in Gladstone. A packet
informing residents of some of the most obvious problem areas, signed perhaps
by the Mayor and City Manager. Along with
that, invite them to come to Council meetings and find out what is going on in
our City along with the community oriented government ideas. Welcome them to the City and give them some
ideas of things that we want from them and participation in government and
things like that could be helpful in the new member packet. Maybe even deliver it or at least mail it to them with a nice welcome letter.
Mr. Harper stated that Item 10 on the Agenda tonight
is the Keg Ordinance and, he urges Council to support it. It will not solve all of our problems on
underage drinking, but is certainly a good step and gives the intention of the
City that we do not want that going on here.
Brad
Robertson, owner of property at 7007 Baltimore, asked about the wall in
front of his house that has collapsed.
He stated that he received the first courtesy notice and said he had
thirty days to resolve it before a
citation was issued. They went to court
and later found out that the wall is in the right-of-way that the City of Gladstone
owns. It is now past thirty days and
there has been no resolution on the wall.
He stated that it works both ways and the City is no more aggressive
than the homeowners.
Amy Harlin,
President of the Gladstone Area Chamber of Commerce, stated that she has some
good news. She would like to extend to
the Council a very big thank you. The
Chamber has immense gratitude for the support of the City Council, City Staff,
and Parks and Recreation for the help and support of Gladfest. It was a huge success and she gives a big
thanks to the Council and has brought a token of her gratitude from the
Gladstone Chamber of Commerce. Ms.
Harlin then distributed commemorative
GladFest tiles to each Council member and staff members.
Councilman Les Smith commented that in addition to
the City volunteers, staff and Gladfest
volunteers, he has had the
occasion to work with a lot of Chamber presidents and executives over twenty
years. He said he told Amy Harlin privately and would like to say
publicly that she has worked as hard, if not harder, than anyone he has been
associated with in the last twenty-two years.
She is to be commended for that and is a great credit not only to the
business community, but the entire community because GladFest is truly a
quality of life festival. We should all
be grateful for Amy’s efforts. .
Mayor Newsom said
she would have to agree with Councilman Smith that Ms. Harlin did a
great job, especially the first time working with Gladfest.
Item 7. on
the Agenda. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL.
Councilman Les
Smith stated that Mr. Wingerson might be his
hero because the loop detectors at 70th and North Oak are now
working. Mr. Wingerson advised
that Director Hashemizadeh and his
staff, along with Guy Vincent are
responsible.
Councilman Smith
said he and Mr. Wingerson have
discussed traffic problems just south of 70th and North Oak. He has noticed that the old Taco Bell/Big
Burger is out of business now. He
believes that the 68th and North Oak area has a lot of problems with
traffic egress and ingress. His thought
was to take the whole area from just north of the law building or south of
Captain D’s to where the new car wash will go and maybe figure a way of one
common point of ingress and egress where a rear access could serve all the
businesses. Maybe we can take some sort
of proactive approach in helping solve that problem. Some good retail establishments might be able to give us a
tremendous payback. He suggests we
have staff pull out a site plan of the entire area and look at it from that
perspective to see if we can do something to help in an area that should be a
good retail area for the City.
Councilman
Shirley Smith noted
that in the Northland section of The Kansas City Star, she read an article
about Melana Scantlin, the new Miss Missouri who will be going to the Miss USA contest in the spring. We should be very proud of that.
Ms. Smith welcomed
Kansas City Star Reporter Mike Rice to our meeting and advised that Mr. Rice had told her that a
young lady named Sylvia Garcia has been named best screener at KCI
Airport. She is also a Gladstone
resident, so we do have some stars in our city.
Councilman Dan
Bishop
asked if staff could look into Mr. Neill’s concern regarding the trailer on the
grass and get back to Council in the next five days on the status of that
situation.
Mr. Bishop stated that at the last Council meeting,
residents from The Woodlands expressed their concern about the safety of the
entrance and exit to their subdivision.
It was his understanding that Trans Systems engineers met with the
Woodlands Board last week. He asked if
there was a report on that meeting.
Mr. Wingerson stated that he and Trans Systems met
with the Woodlands Homes Association Board.
Also present were Ms. Gauer and Ms. Baker who provided information to
the Council at the last Council meeting.
The purpose of the meeting was to hear the concerns of the Board and
residents so that the information could be factored into the
recommendation. Mr. Swenson with Trans
Systems stated that the report would be done in approximately two weeks from
last Thursday night. The report will be
provided to the Homes Association and to the City Council in a presentation or
Study Session.
Councilman Bishop stated that he is glad to know
that process is moving forward and hopefully will come to a mutually agreeable
resolution.
Mr. Bishop stated that his next item of discussion
is something that concerns him and he typically feels that it is up to each
Council member to decide how he or she desires to conduct him or herself. Sometimes you get into an area where there
is conduct that raises some questions that has the potential of casting a cloud
over the entire Council. When that
happens we have to address it. Every
year as a member of the National League of Cities, we have the opportunity as
Council members to attend the National League of Cities Conference. It is most often in a city out of
state. He attended his first year on
the Council in Los Angeles. This year
it is in Atlanta, near the beginning of December.
His concern is that he has learned that our Mayor is
planning to attend the National League of Cities Conference. When he learned that he wondered, given the
fact that she is not intending to seek re-election, the benefit to the City of
sending the Mayor to the NLC Conference in Atlanta when upon returning there
will be less than four months left in the Mayor’s term.
In the last couple of weeks, he has had the
opportunity to talk with the City Manager and was briefed on the financial
status of the City given the current economic downturn that we are experiencing
nationally. He was surprised and
disturbed to find out that for the months of July and August our sales tax
revenues were down 12%. We touched on
that somewhat tonight in Open Study Session regarding the end of year financial
adjustments to the budget. But the
thing that is most troubling about that for the months of July and August is
that it preceded the tragedies of September 11th. One has to be very concerned if the
situation worsens. The City Manager
directed his department heads to draft recessionary policies to be implemented
if the situation does worsen. Mr.
Bishop said the City Manager himself is considering a number of city-wide
initiatives including limiting or severely restricting out of state travel by
city employees.
In light of the current financial situation and in
the interest of fiscal responsibility,
Councilman Bishop said he cannot see the value of Mayor Newsom’s attending the
NLC Conference. Addressing Mayor
Newsom, Councilman Bishop told her he
had invited dialogue with her on this point and none has been forthcoming, so
he wanted to raise the issue tonight to ask if she can see a compelling reason for the City to send her to Atlanta in December.
Mayor Newsom stated that she would respond under her
comments later.
Mayor Pro Tem
Bill Cross said he thinks the resident packet is a good
idea. He knows many home associations
do give packets to new neighbors that move in.
It is very effective and he would like to see us follow up with this
explaining the do’s and don’ts just like an incoming freshman into a high
school.
Mr. Cross thanked the City Council and city department representatives who attended the
Historical Marker Dedication Ceremony in the rain and cold. The dedication of the plaques from the City
and Native Sons of Kansas City was
great and he and Councilman Bishop had the honor of representing both groups.
There was nice publicity for the City and we were on TV late in the
evening after football.
He also appreciated Mr. Harper attending the
dedication as well as other citizens.
At the Board of Directors meeting of the Native Sons after the
dedication, the Board stated that they were glad there was good representation
from Gladstone. He does appreciate the
efforts of Director of Parks and Recreation Steve Buschor and his staff who
provided good food and good company.
Everything was perfect except the weather.
Mr. Cross stated that he attended the MARCIT Public
Liability Seminar at Tan-Tar-A and learned a great deal about sexual harassment
and also about using lethal and non-lethal weapons. He states that we are right up there and doing the right things
compared to other cities who are not nearly as far along as we are in the
Public Safety Department.
Mayor Pro Tem Cross stated that he agrees with
Councilman Bishop about the 12% drop scaring him too and the September figures
are not even in. We as citizens will
have to figure out a way to spend a few more dollars in Gladstone.
Mr. Cross commented that he attended the West Gate
MML dinner in Grain Valley where they just opened up a new community
center. He gave a report on
Gladstone activities and felt very
proud to tell all the cities what an outstanding job we are doing and the
progress we were making.
Mayor Anita
Newsom congratulated
the second graduating class of the
Public Safety Youth Academy.
She just received an invitation for the culminating exercises on October
25th at 3:45 PM in the Little Theatre at Antioch Middle School. She is not sure if she can attend but stated
that it is a wonderful program that is near and dear to her heart. The first class was a really sharp group of
young people who had a lot of different ideas as to how the experience with
Public Safety was going to impact their lives.
It is a wonderful program and she would like to see it continue.
Ms. Newsom confirmed with Mr. Buschor that the City
received a number of proposals for the engineering design of the new Public
Safety fire station and asked if he had anything he wanted to share with
Council.
Mr. Buschor stated that there were 32 requests for
receiving the RFP for design services for the new fire station as well as the
renovations downstairs and 11 firms met the deadline this past Friday.
Mayor Newsom stated that Thursday evening she
received a memo in her packet from Mr. Bishop as he had referred to earlier
regarding her travel to the National League of Cities Conference. The first time she knew anything about it
was when she opened it in her packet late Thursday night. Since Mr. Bishop sent a memo, she will
respond in kind. Mayor Newsom
read her memo:
“In response
to your October 17 memo, I am pleased that you are looking at opportunities to
assist the Management Team in belt-tightening; but it would appear that you are
in need of additional information and clarification on several points.
In your letter
you referred to what Mayor Art Hammen did or did not do. What former Mayor Art Hammen did or did not
do two years ago is not a matter up for discussion, debate or personal opinion
from either of us at this time.
You may not be
aware that during my time as a Gladstone City Council Member, I have served on
a national policy committee with the National League of Cities for more than
ten years. My initial appointment was
with the Transportation and Communications Committee, which was changed
approximately three years ago to the Transportation and Infrastructure Services
Committee. As a participant on these
committees, I have had the opportunity to be involved with decisions impacting
cities of our size and type. Policy
recommendations and decisions dealing with telecommunications, electronic
commerce and taxation, ISTEA funding, and most recently, air transportation
safety are areas where my committee has worked extensively.
The assertion
that due to the assumed idea that I am not seeking re-election to the City
Council makes my attendance at and participation in the Conference of Cities of
little or no value to the City is, in my opinion, presumptuous and demeaning to
my ability to gain valuable training and utilize it in my work on the Council
and share it with the appropriate departments within the City to aid us in
making good decisions. Even if I do not
seek re-election, it is my full intention to serve to my very best ability
right up to the last day I am in office.
The current times we are working through as a governing body are some of
the most difficult I have experienced in my 11+ years on the Council, and the
last four months of this Council term may be some of the most challenging. I intend to move ahead to serve the citizens
of Gladstone to the best of my ability, including any additional training or
ideas I may receive as a result of the conference.
Your
suggestion that the Mayor Pro Tem “carry” the City’s credentials, is not
viable, due to the fact that he will be leaving the conference prior to the
annual meeting, whereupon I will be the only voting delegate from Gladstone to
vote Gladstone’s vote.
I could have
answered these questions for you very easily if you had chosen to contact me
personally, but due to your choice of communication tools, I am responding in
kind.
I do hope your
questions and misgivings have been answered; and do encourage you, if you
should choose to run for a second term, to attend the annual conference more
than once, and become involved in its valuable leadership training program and
policy committees involving communities such as ours.”
Mayor Newsom advised that she copied her memo to
other Council members as Councilman Bishop had done.
Item 8. on
the Agenda. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY MANAGER.
Assistant City Manager Laura Gay stated that the Council Goal-setting meeting is
this Saturday, October 27th from 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM. Council should have received a packet mailed
directly from the facilitator, Mr. Saunders.
Ms. Gay also reminded
Council of the fourth Community-Oriented Government meeting next Monday,
October 29th at 7:00 PM at St. Andrew’s Church for Area Four which
is south of 65th Street from
Michigan east to the City limits. This
will finish up the presentations and then will lead us to the City-wide meeting
scheduled for January 24th.
Assistant City Manager Gay reminded everyone about the Fall Brush
Disposal scheduled for November 2nd – 4th from 8:00 AM-5:00 PM at
the Public Works facility. Residents
should be receiving post cards that were mailed on Friday.
Mayor Newsom asked what part
of St. Andrew’s Church they were meeting in since it was so large. Mr. Buschor stated that it would be in the
Community Hall, adjacent to the sanctuary.
Item 9. on the Agenda. PUBLIC HEARING: on a
request to rezone property at 7508 N Oak from C-1 to CP-3. Applicant:
North Oak Garden Center. Owner: Anthony and Fina Scire. (File # 1164)
Mayor Newsom stated that the public hearing will be
opened and immediately continued to the Monday, November 12, 2001 City Council
Meeting at the request of City Staff.
Ms. Newsom asked if we would be moving forward with
the hearing on November 12th.
Mr. Wingerson stated that it is a complicated
application and Staff is checking with the applicant to see if we
would like to provide a different development application. It will either move forward or be withdrawn.
Item 10. on
the Agenda. FIRST READING BILL 01-41,
amending Chapter 3 of the Gladstone Alcohol Beverage Code, by enacting a
new section requiring the registration by licensees of kegs containing beer,
wine or intoxicating liquor and prohibiting any person from allowing
consumption by a minor of alcoholic beverages purchased in kegs; prohibiting
minors from consuming alcoholic beverages purchased in kegs and providing
penalties for violations.
Councilman Dan Bishop moved to place Bill 01-41 on First Reading; Councilman Bill Cross seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman Dan Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom. (5-0) The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Dan Bishop moved to accept the First Reading of Bill 01-41, Waive the Rule and Place the Bill on Second and Final Reading; Councilman Bill Cross seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman Dan Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom. (5-0) The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Dan Bishop moved to accept the Second and Final Reading of Bill 01-41 and enact the Bill as Ordinance 3.809; Councilman Bill Cross seconded.
Discussion.
Councilman Cross stated that as a very active member of Teaching and Reaching Youth (TRY) Committee, they would be very pleased with this. He and Councilman Bishop have talked about this and have tried to get something going on this for a year and finally it appears we have it. He does not know how many beer distributors we have that will be selling keg beer, but the TRY Committee will be extremely happy.
Councilman Dan Bishop stated that a he said on the record at the last Council meeting, that we are on the cutting edge in the state in terms of adopting a keg licensing ordinance. There are only six other communities in the state that have adopted such an ordinance. There is an effort at the state level to adopt this as a state statute, but we send a message that will be heard outside of our city limits that we will not tolerate adults buying kegs for minors to consume beer. He will be voting in favor of this tonight.
Councilman Les Smith stated that he would like to
commend Mr. Cross and Mr. Bishop for bringing this forward.
Mayor Newsom stated that she commends Mr. Harper for bringing this up to her about two years ago that this is a good thing to do. Having two teenage nephews, this makes you really aware of the opportunity that is out there for kids to do things that are not wise. Their decision-making capacity is not always in place. She too is very much in favor of this.
The vote:
All “aye” – Councilman Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman
Dan Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom. (5-0)
Item 11. on
the Agenda ADOPTION
OF WRITTEN DECISION WITH FINDINGS OF FACT on denial of Application of Auto
Trend, Inc. for Special Use Permit to operate an automobile dealership on
property located at 5800 N. Oak Trafficway, documenting City Council action of
October 8, 2001.
Councilman Bishop moved to adopt the Written Decision with Findings of Fact. Councilman Bill Cross seconded.
Discussion.
Councilman Les Smith stated that at the last meeting
when it was voted down, he was for it, and
not to get into a great debate of the merits of the other side of it,
because he believes the dye was cast on the outcome of the votes, but sometimes
it is OK to be the one in the 4-1 vote.
However, he wants to support the Decision with Findings of Fact, but he
has a real concern that we have at least one part of the last paragraph of
Paragraph 18 that is not a fact. It is
conjecture and speculation versus fact and reads “A three year Special Use
Permit would not seem to be economically feasible for the Applicant to recover
site improvement costs, which could lead to property maintenance problems.”
We had an applicant who was willing to accept the
three year Special Use Permit and should know the auto business better than the
rest of us as to whether it is economically feasible and just because there is
a business in the worst case scenario that might not be successful would not
necessarily mean it would lead to property maintenance problems. He has a concern that it gets away from our
findings of fact and more conjecture and speculation.
Mayor Newsom asked if she is hearing he would choose
to amend the Findings of Fact .
Councilman Les Smith moved to amend and delete only
that sentence in Paragraph 18. He
believes the first sentence to be correct and accurate because it relates
specifically to the Comprehensive Plan which we have record. Just delete the last sentence of that
paragraph.
Councilman Shirley Smith seconded.
Discussion on the Amendment.
Councilman Dan Bishop asked Councilman Les Smith for
purposes of clarification, if they indicated an opinion on the three
years. He remembers discussion on the
five years that was in the record, but he does not remember that they expressed
an opinion on the three years or not.
Mr. Smith stated that he did not recall that they
did at the meeting. He asked for Mr.
Wingerson’s help on this.
Mr. Wingerson stated that the best way would be to
research the minutes. He does not know
if Ms. Freeman specifically concurred with the three year indication or not.
Mayor Newsom stated that she did not recall
discussion on this with Ms. Freeman on a three year permit.
Councilman Bishop said that he did not remember it
being in the record, so he is not sure about the amendment.
Mr. Smith stated that nonetheless, it states that it
does address the three year permit and the fact remains that we do not know,
not being in that business, if it is economically feasible or not and is just
conjecture.
Mayor Newsom stated we have a motion and second to
delete the second sentence of Paragraph 18 on the Findings of Fact. The vote:
All “aye” – Councilman Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman
Dan Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom. (5-0)
Mayor Newsom stated that we have a motion on the
floor to accept the amended Findings of Fact.
The vote: All “aye” – Councilman
Les Smith, Councilman Shirley Smith, Councilman Dan Bishop, Mayor Pro Tem Bill
Cross, Mayor Anita Newsom. (5-0)
Item 12. on
the Agenda. OTHER BUSINESS
Councilman Bishop stated that while he appreciates
the effort Mayor Newsom spent on
writing this memorandum to him, this was obviously the first chance he had to
hear of it this evening. He would move
that the City not pay any expense or costs associated to send the Mayor to the
National League of Cities Conference in December.
Councilman Shirley Smith seconded.
Discussion.
Councilman Bishop stated that he understands that
you served on a national policy committee and asked if you still serve on the
committee.
Mayor Newsom stated yes, that the committee has
evolved from the Transportation and Communications Committee to the
Transportation and Infrastructure Services Committee. They hold policy meetings twice a year. One is at the Congress of Cities and one in Washington, D.C. She
has never gone to the Washington conference due to the cost to the City and has
opted to go to the one meeting each year for the ten years she has served on
that committee.
Councilman Bishop asked if they will be meeting in
Atlanta in December.
Ms. Newsom stated, yes it is part of the meetings
and pre-conference workshops.
Mr. Bishop stated that he understands attending NLC
is beneficial. He benefited greatly
from attending the one in Los Angeles his first year on the Council and would
have attended last year in Boston if he had not had a child on November 9th.
The reason he referenced Art Hammen in his memo is
because he went to the conference in L.A. when he was not seeking re-election
and could not see a benefit to the City during his last four months on the
Council by his having attended the conference.
He is still unclear as to what benefit this has to the City.
Mr. Bishop stated that he has two questions: What benefit specifically do you see the
City deriving from your attendance at the conference in Atlanta. Second of all, what kind of message does
this send to City employees who are facing the very real prospect of having
their long-anticipated out-of-state training cancelled when a lame-duck Council
member takes a trip to Atlanta and what impact that has on the entire
perception of the Council.
Mayor Newsom stated that first, the term “lame duck”
she finds very offensive and derogatory.
She does not think that anything she is doing now and in the next few
months and since she is very likely not going to file for City Council
tomorrow, that what she does and cares about and can provide for the City is
negated by the fact that she will be terminating her twelve years of service in
April. The “lame duck” term offends
her. But that is not what you are asking
for here.
Number one is what benefit the City is going to
get. Her participation in this
committee provides cities of our size and type with packets of
information. She has sat down numerous
times to discuss with department heads who deal with it, whether it is the
ISTEA money or telecommunications issues and how and what is the best way to
serve our city. This is discussed and
what percentage of our size and type weighs best for us specifically and cities
like us to help represent us and make that policy vote on those committees when
they meet. She still feels she can
represent our city on those policy-type decisions which will be residual down
the line. No other member of the
Council can say they have served on any of those committees. So she still feels like she functions in a
very active role on those committees.
Also, when she does choose to leave the service on
the Council, she is not moving out of Gladstone and not going away. Whatever training she may have received over
the years, she still intends to volunteer and be part of this community. In the last four months, supposedly, that
she will be on the Council, there are a lot of things coming up in our
City. She has signed up for economic
development sessions, sessions dealing with budget and finance that will impact
what is going on in the next four months.
She feels very strongly about this and still has a vote to cast for the
four months after National League of Cities.
Ms. Newsom then addressed the message that it sends
to staff members. This was a conference
already signed up for. Other staff
members who are already obligated to attend conferences and have roles in their
out-of-state national conferences, training sessions or whatever it may be,
they will continue to go and participate in those conferences as she
understands from Mr. Davis. We have already
signed up, we have already obligated money, paid fees, airline, all the things
it entails. We will be losing that
money already deposited on that should she withdraw from it now. It is the same rule that the rest of the
staff members are using for department heads and people already signed up for
conferences.
Councilman Bishop stated that he appreciates that
and thinks that they have a difference of opinion, which is perfectly
permissible, although it is somewhat unusual, actually, when it comes to voting
up here, because we vote usually consistently.
He stated that he is not going to vote in favor of the motion he just
made. He would like it on the record
that he does not think it is a prudent use of City resources for Mayor Newsom
to go to Atlanta. He will state that
for the record.
Mayor Newsom asked if he was removing his motion or
does he want the motion voted on.
Councilman Bishop stated that he withdraws his
motion if Councilman Shirley Smith withdraws the second.
Councilman Shirley Smith withdrew her second.
Item 13. on
the Agenda. QUESTIONS FROM THE NEW MEDIA
Amy Newport from the Dispatch Newspaper
stated that her understanding is that the Mayor has served on various
committees for the National League of Cities over the last ten years.
Mayor Newsom stated that she was first appointed to
the Transportation and Communications Committee at least ten years ago, maybe
eleven. That committee evolved and
divided. With the influx of electronic
commerce and things, that committee divided into two separate committees where
we had basically a Telecommunications Committee and the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee which she was put on . It has been a committee that has subdivided and grown. The responsibilities grew to such a point
that they divided the committee and the responsibilities were not as great.
Ms. Newport asked if she was
able to select the committee she wanted to serve on.
Mayor Newsom stated that the
initial appointment came because the state Missouri Municipal League nominated
her for the first appointment. Once you
get involved in an activity like that and reading the tons of literature you
are sent, you get your teeth into something and when the committee was divided
years ago, she opted to go to the one she is on now. She felt she was more adept at that than the technology
committee, so she chose to stick with that committee.
* * * * *
There being no further business to come before the October 22, 2001 Gladstone City Council Meeting, Mayor Anita Newsom adjourned the Regular Meeting.
Respectfully submitted:
_____________________________
G. Diane Whitaker, Acting City Clerk
__________________________
Anita
Newsom, Mayor