STE. GENEVIEVE — The Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen received some good news at its meeting last night.
A portion of the crack-ridden four-foot wide walking trail at Pere Marquette Park will be replaced soon, thanks to the city receiving approval for an “RTP” grant.
City Administrator Happy Welch said the replacement will be concrete instead of asphalt and will be 10-feet wide instead of four feet. The portion of the trail to be replaced is between the “big” pavilion and the first “small” pavilion.
“That’s the start of what we hope will eventually be around the whole park,” Welch said.
Welch said the next step is to have an engineer design it.
“We’ll just keep working through the process,” he said. “It is a federal government project, so it is complicated.”
During the public comment section of the meeting, Ron Klein, who lives on Boyer Place, asked for an update on a review of the stormwater issue in his area, on the possibility of cleaning the creek area out and a small culvert off of South Gabouri.
Claudia Stuppy, also commented on the need for stormwater control in the same neighborhood. She noted the area flooded in August 2021. She said some of the same conditions that existed then and possibly contributed to the flooding, continue to exist today in the area.
The following resolutions were approved by the aldermen
Resolution 2023-05, a property maintenance agreement with Doral and Lynette Parmer to maintain flood buy out property.
Resolution 2023-06, a grant application for the purchase of turnout gear for the fire department.
Resolution 2023-07, a grant application to purchase new mobile radio units for the police department.
A public hearing was held to consider a request for special use permit from Laura LeFaivre and Ashley Crary for guest lodging at 198 N. 4th Street in a general residential area. Following the hearing, the aldermen gave the request (Bill No. 4522) first and second round approval.
The aldermen also gave first and second round approval for the following measures:
Bill No. 4523 – A proposal for professional services with Cochran Engineering for the Jefferson Street sidewalk improvement project.
Bill No. 4524 – A proposal for professional services with Cochran Engineering for the Fourth Street improvement project.
The aldermen then discussed Resolution 2023-04 which had been pulled from the consent agenda.
The resolution would allow the city to donate a 2018 Ford Explorer to be used by the school resource officer and declaring the vehicle to be surplus.
Alderman Joe Prince
Aldermen Robert Donovan
Aldermen Joe Prince and Robert Donovan expressed objection to the donation of a vehicle which Prince said could be worth $12,000, compared to the $3,000 or $4,000 vehicle which was donated to the school district previously. The city administrator noted that the officer who serves as a school resource officer is a fully qualified police officer and is a member of the Ste. Genevieve police force, though her salary is paid by the school district. The resolution was approved 6-2 with Aldermen Prince and Donovan voting no.
The regular session then adjourned and a work session commenced.
The aldermen discussed the following items during the work session:
Street repaving for 2023
Police/Fire radio system upgrade
Recreational Marijuana (Constitutional amendment allowing it was approved by voters in the general election Tuesday.)
St. Mary’s Road and Seraphin Street, which was discussed in a closed session because of a lawsuit.
The meeting was shown live on SteGenTV Channel 991 and is now available on the SteGenTV You Tube Channel: https://youtu.be/twCeDDZa83k