STE. GENEVIEVE — The Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen met last Thursday night for a little more than 90 minutes with a nusance building on Main Street taking up much of the time.
All of the aldermen were present for the meeting, Alderman Bennett’s appearance was remote.
City Administrator Happy Welch announced the date for moving city hall operations to 44 Plaza Drive is Tuesday, August 15. He says they will take the entire day starting at 8 in the morning. He hopes to be able to have the computers running Tuesday evening and be ready to go the next day.
The city is seeking a grant to install a dual electric vehicle charging station. He suggests it be installed behind the Main Street Park restrooms on Valle Street. A full charge will take about seven hours.
Welch said the county is also considering installing a fast charger on their parking lot.
It was also suggested that the Welcome Center might be a good location for the charger.
Welch announced that the Jefferson Street sidewalk-stormwater project will be going out to bid soon.
He also said a possible grant totalling $500,000 may be available from the Delta Regional Authority which he suggests it be used help pay for the Basler extension which is a $1.3 million to $1.5 million project. The pre-application has to be in Sunday, but the final application is due two weeks later than that.
The aldermen conducted a public hearing to discuss the Downtown Ste. Genevieve TIF. No one spoke during the hearing.
A public hearing also held on the need for a nuisance abatement at 42 S. Main Street. The building is owned by Debra Gegg. There have been issues with the property since October, 2009. Letters were sent to her most recent known address without reaching her. Notice of last night’s hearing apparently did reach her, because she sent a letter to the city saying she could not attend the hearing.
Assistant City Administrator David Bova showed aldermen photos of multiple broken windows, holes in the siding, a soffit decaying in several locations, decay in a rear porch, and some foundation stones are loose.
Bova said the building is dangerous to persons walking down the sidewalk. He said it appears that window glass is ready to fall on to the sidewalk.
Alderman Robert Donovan said he is trying to be sympathetic to the owner, who stated in her response to the notice of the hearing, that she is under medical care where she is residing, but said it is hard to be sympathetic.The aldermen approved an order of abatement on a unanimous voice vote. The aldermen also approved the finding of facts presented during the hearing.
All of the items on the consent agenda were approved:
Resolution 2023-49 for a property maintenance agreement with Steven and Jessica Tucker.
Resolution 2023-50 for a contract with Missouri Employers Mutual for Workers Compensation.
Resolution 2023-51 for a contract with U.S. Specialty Insurance to provide property and casualty insurance.
Resolution 2023-52 appointing Jason Blum to the Ste. Genevieve Industrial Development Authority Board.
Resolution 2023-53 for an agreement with Tokio Marine/Houston Casualty to provide cyber liability coverage.
New Business:
Bill No. 4573 to transfer ownership of the welcome center at 66 South Main Street to the National Park Service was given first and second round approval. City Administer Welch said the National Park Serivce will give the city space in the building to provide information to tourists who ask about the city, outside of the national park. The vote to have a second reading passed 7-1, while the ordinance was given second approval 8-0.
The meeting concluded with a discussion of problems with the railroad which runs along Main Street. Alderman Gary Smith said there are 17 constituents who say the trains are making too much noise, especially when they run cars together. They also said the trains are spilling lime.
Welch said they may meet with Mississippi Lime about the issues, but wasn’t too confident that a favorable outcome would be reached.
The meeting was shown live on SteGenTV Channel 991 and is now available on the SteGenTV You Tube channel at https://youtu.be/41Gcmi_xlgc