MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
GLADSTONE, MISSOURI
MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2009
ADJOURNMENT TO CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION
6:30 PM
Mayor Carol Rudi opened the City Council Meeting to adjourn to a Closed Executive Session on June 8, 2009, at 6:30 PM. Councilmember Carol Suter made a motion to adjourn to Closed Executive Session pursuant to Missouri Open Meeting Act Exemption 610.021(1) for Litigation and Confidential or Privileged Communications with Legal Counsel, and 610.021(2) for Real Estate Acquisition Discussion, and 610.021(3) for Personnel Discussion. Councilman Barry McCullough seconded.
Roll Call Vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi. (4-0).
Note: Councilman Mark Revenaugh was present at the Closed Executive Session.
Mayor Carol Rudi recessed the Closed Executive Session to go into the Regular City Council meeting, saying the Closed Executive Session would resume following the Regular City Council meeting.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
7:30 PM
PRESENT: Mayor Carol Rudi
Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith
Councilman Mark Revenaugh
Councilmember Carol Suter
Councilman Barry McCullough
City Manager Kirk Davis
City Counselor David Ramsay
ABSENT: Assistant City Manager Scott Wingerson
Mayor Carol Rudi opened the Regular June 8, 2009, City Council Meeting at 7:30 PM in the Gladstone City Council Chambers, and said that City Council met in Closed Executive Session prior to the Open Study Session and will reconvene the Closed Executive Session following this meeting.
Item 2. on the Agenda. ROLL CALL
Mayor Carol Rudi noted that all City Council members were present.
Item 3. on the Agenda. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
Mayor Carol Rudi led the Pledge of Allegiance, in which all joined.
Item 4. on the Agenda. APPROVAL OF THE REGULAR MAY 26, 2009, CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES.
Councilman Mark Revenaugh moved to approve the Regular May 26, 2009, City Council Meeting Minutes as presented. Councilman Barry McCullough seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi. (5-0).
Item 5. on the Agenda. PROCLAMATION: congratulating the NORTHMEN OF GLADSTONE BOWL, who won the first ever HIGH SCHOOL BOWLING STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT on May 23, 2009.
Mayor Carol Rudi and Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith invited the Northmen of Gladstone Bowl team to join them in front of the dais, where Mayor Rudi read and presented the Proclamation to the team.
Mayor Rudi thanked the team and said this is an outstanding achievement, which has brought great honor to Oak Park High School!
Following applause from the audience, Mayor Pro Tem Smith offered, “good job”, to the team members.
REGULAR AGENDA
Item 6. on the Agenda. Communications from the Audience.
There were no communications from the audience.
Item 7. on the Agenda. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL.
Councilman Barry McCullough had no comments at this time.
Councilmember Carol Suter said she wished to offer kudos to City staff for a couple of well-run events that were held last weekend. One was the Hazardous Waste Project. Councilmember Suter said her husband was one of the volunteers, and he was amazed at how many people showed up for this event, and how well it was appreciated by Gladstone residents. The traffic was very well managed with the traffic moving through the park area and off of the street. It was a good job done by all.
Councilmember Suter said the other item was the Bluesfest, which was held this weekend. It seemed to be successful and was enjoyable by those who participated. Councilmember Suter inquired into the strategy regarding the enforcement of the smoking ban in the parks.
Public Safety Director Mike Hasty replied his understanding was that there was supposed to be some ability of the City Council to issue a waiver on the smoking ban during a special event. Director Hasty said that Public Safety’s ability to enforce a smoking ban during an event such as Bluesfest is going to be a challenge, and that was discussed, and it would seem that there needs to be further discussions on this issue.
Councilmember Suter said, for those who participated, there was certainly more smoking going on outside of the designated area than in the designated area. Councilmember Suter said there were a couple of men who were smoking cigars in front of her, and she informed them of the smoking area, and they responded by saying, “Lady, look around, nobody is paying any attention to any of that”. Councilmember Suter said she told them she did not wish to smell the cigars, so she would appreciate it if they would put them out, and they did. Councilmember Suter said she saw a family move to another location, because six people were smoking. We seem to have figured out how to enforce alcohol purchase and consumption laws, because people had to stand in line, show an I.D., and get tagged. We apparently look for contraband in people’s coolers. Councilmember Suter said she was intrigued about that and wondered what they were looking for, because the signs did not actually say, but the signs did warn everyone that their coolers would be looked at. Some effort is not going to destroy the event, as we do monitor other things.
Councilmember Suter said she believes that social stigma is one of the best enforcers of these kinds of Ordinances, and when groups have events such as this, when there is a designated smoking area, she would suggest having that announced from the stage a couple of times during the event. This would remind everyone and empowers those people who came expecting our parks to be smoke free to be able to turn to people and ask them to not smoke or go to the designated smoking area. It doesn’t cost anything, and we could just make it a requirement that it has to be announced at least a couple of times during an event. Other announcements are made, such as how much food is left, and things for sale, so reminding people about the smoking policy might be a helpful way to handle this. Councilmember Suter asked what the expectation would be or what could a citizen do if a person refused to quit smoking.
Director Hasty replied officers are staffed at these types of events, and at this event in particular. Like any violation, an officer would encourage an offender to comply, absent that, there would be enforcement action, whether it would be citing them or removing them from the park.
Councilmember Suter said usually having a law enforcement officer make a suggestion is all it takes for this type of thing, and there were plenty of law enforcement officers present at Bluesfest.
Director Hasty said this was something for which we probably neglected to develop a strategy, but that will definitely be on the radar for the next event.
Councilmember Suter said she just does not want people to feel that the law does not matter – nobody is enforcing it. It just underscores why do we bother to have the rules in place, if they are not enforced.
Councilman Mark Revenaugh stated he knows the Bluesfest is a Chamber event, but he cannot imagine it being successful without the efforts of City staff; in particular the Public Safety group, who had already worked a twelve hour shift, and were still volunteering their time; albeit, on overtime. They were there and we needed them, and there were a lot of them. Councilman Revenaugh said he wished to commend the Public Safety group for being able to round up enough officers willing to put in those kinds of hours.
Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith stated that he felt Councilmember Suter was correct on the smoking issue at Bluesfest, and from having attended organizational meetings he knows there was a lot of trepidation on behalf of the Chamber as to how exactly they should handle it. They did not feel they should be the ones to tell people they should not smoke. Mayor Pro Tem Smith said he did not observe many people in the designated smoking area. It seemed there were more smokers in the northwest corner of the park, so he suggested to the Chamber that for this event next year they have two smoking areas; maybe one in the southeast corner and one in the northwest corner. A lot of the people from the VIP shelter did leave the shelter, so there were no smoking issues there, but they only went about twenty feet outside, up into the northwest corner. Mayor Pro Tem Smith said he believed we felt our way through it a bit, but the point that Councilmember Suter made is that if you have a regulation and you obey it and no one else does, your tendency is to say, “what the heck”, so what do we do, punish the good guy, who is doing as he should do. We do need to have a bit more of an aggressive strategy for the events in the future.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith said that everyone did a fabulous job at Bluesfest. Public Safety did a great job, but it goes way beyond that, the Parks and Recreation staff did the set-up on Friday morning. They worked all day Friday on the event, but you take it a step further, it was probably noticed by all that during the event there were City staff members working in the volunteer positions. That is not part of their job. Parks and Recreation Director Sheila Lillis was cleaning the sugar shack, for example, Saturday evening. Those are the kinds of folks we have. They were not there just because it is their job, but they volunteered as good members of the community, and they all deserve to be commended. Gladstone gets a lot of good will from Bluesfest, because people come from all over. It was an excellent event, and not only did we do our job professionally, we have professional folks who volunteered their time as member of the community, and they are to be commended.
Mayor Rudi invited Director Lillis to report on upcoming activities in the parks.
Parks and Recreation Director Sheila Lillis reported that this coming Friday night the movie Kung Fu Panda will be shown in Oak Grove Park, at 9:00 PM, and this should be a great family event. During the week of June 22, the City will host the Corporate Challenge at the Gladstone Community Center. That will be held Monday through Thursday, from 5:00 PM to about 10:00 PM. This event brings a lot of people to our city. Director Lillis reported that the lighting truss was placed today. That is an exciting and significant piece of equipment for the lighting system at the Gladstone Amphitheatre. The Oak Grove Park playground will have a walk attached to it, and it will soon be completely open, so we will not only be able to accommodate 170 children, but about 220 children will be able to utilize it. It has been busy since it opened, and it will soon also have an accessible walkway.
Mayor Rudi asked if the concession stand would be open during the Corporate Challenge event.
Director Lillis replied the concession stand would be open and staff will be selling the wonderful barbeque, 150 pounds of which was sold this past weekend.
Item 8. on the Agenda. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY MANAGER.
City Manager Kirk Davis reported that our City is co-sponsoring an Electronic Recycling event, which will be held on June 20, at Metro North. City Manager Davis said that Public Works Director Chuck Williams informed him that funds were budgeted for 240 cars for the Household Hazardous Waste event, and the 240th car went through at 11:59 AM, so it was well attended. City Manager Davis offered congratulations to all who worked and enjoyed the Blues Festival, and he appreciates all the Staff who worked there. There were several people who worked, including those sitting next to him, and sitting behind him, who spent numerous hours of their time volunteering, and all that is appreciated, and he appreciates the recognition from Council.
Item 9. on the Agenda. FIRST READING BILL 09-18, authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with the Missouri Department of Transportation granting City right-of-way access for Sidewalk Improvements on M-1 Highway from Vivion Road to Northeast 72nd Street.
Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith moved to place Bill 09-18 on its First Reading. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi. (5-0). The Clerk read the Bill.
Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith moved to accept the First Reading of Bill 09-18, Waive the Rule and place the Bill on its Second and Final Reading. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi.
(5-0). The Clerk read the Bill.
Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith moved to accept the Second and Final Reading of Bill 09-18 and to enact the Bill as Ordinance #4.110. Councilmember Carol Suter seconded.
Roll call vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi. (5-0).
Councilman Barry McCullough moved to place Bill 09-19 on its First Reading. Councilman Mark Revenaugh seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi. (5-0). The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Barry McCullough moved to accept the First Reading of Bill 09-19, Waive the Rule and place the Bill on its Second and Final Reading. Councilman Mark Revenaugh seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi.
(5-0). The Clerk read the Bill.
Councilman Barry McCullough moved to accept the Second and Final Reading of Bill 09-19 and to enact the Bill as Ordinance #4.111. Councilman Mark Revenaugh seconded.
Roll call vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi. (5-0).
Item 11. on the Agenda. RESOLUTION R-09-43, authorizing the Mayor, City Council members, and City Manager to make application for a Neighborhood Stabilization Grant Category-3 under the Missouri Department of Economic Development; approving the multi-jurisdictional grant between the cities of Gladstone, Belton, Harrisonville, Lawson, Lee’s Summit, Liberty, Raytown, Richmond, Sugar Creek, and Wood Heights for the joint application for such grant; and authorizing the execution of all necessary documents to complete the application process.
Councilmember Carol Suter moved to adopt RESOLUTION R-09-43, authorizing the Mayor, City Council members, and City Manager to make application for a Neighborhood Stabilization Grant Category-3 under the Missouri Department of Economic Development; approving the multi-jurisdictional grant between the cities of Gladstone, Belton, Harrisonville, Lawson, Lee’s Summit, Liberty, Raytown, Richmond, Sugar Creek, and Wood Heights for the joint application for such grant; and authorizing the execution of all necessary documents to complete the application process. Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi.
(5-0).
Item 12. on the Agenda. RESOLUTION R-09-44, adopting the 2010 Annual Operating Budget for the City of Gladstone, Missouri, and authorizing the expenditure of funds for Municipal Services.
Councilmember Carol Suter moved to adopt RESOLUTION R-09-44, adopting the 2010 Annual Operating Budget for the City of Gladstone, Missouri, and authorizing the expenditure of funds for Municipal Services. Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith seconded. The vote: All “aye” – Councilman Barry McCullough, Councilmember Carol Suter, Councilman Mark Revenaugh, Mayor Pro Tem Les Smith, and Mayor Carol Rudi. (5-0).
Item 13. on the Agenda. OTHER BUSINESS.
There was no Other Business.
Item 14. on the Agenda. QUESTIONS FROM THE NEWS MEDIA.
There were no questions from the News Media.
Item 15. on the Agenda. ADJOURNMENT.
There being no further business to come before the June 8, 2009, Regular City Council meeting, Mayor Carol Rudi adjourned the Regular meeting to reconvene to the Closed Executive Session.
Respectfully submitted:
______________________________
Cathy Swenson, City Clerk
Approved as submitted: ___
Approved as corrected/amended: ___
______________________________
Mayor Carol A. Rudi