STE. GENEVIEVE – The Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen met in regular session Thursday, November 13, 2025.
Matt Clark and Kristine Fulford from the Ste. Genevieve YMCA presented an update on the transition to the YMCA operation of the Ste. Geneieve County Community Center.
Clark reviewed a survey of Ste. Genevieve County residents on what the community desires in the YMCA.
He said 585 persons participated in the survey, with 41 percent were ages 35-54 and 33 pecent were ages 56-74. He said 79 percent of the respondents have lived in the county 10 years or more.
Favorites included the library, youth sports, fitness and the pools. Favorite amenities were fitness, senior social space, tot watcher (what the YMCA calls child watch) being included in the membership, group exercise and the pools. The most populat interests were fitness, group exercise, senior wellness, and home school programs.
The community challenges mentioned by respondents to the survey were: activities for youth outside of school hours which was picked up 51 percent of respondents, chronic disease 38 percent, and adult fitness at 37 percent.
Fulford is the incoming director of the facility. She said she has been in the facility for about a month.
“I have been welcomed with open arms. I want to say it is a wonderful community, I am fully excited to be a part of it and to help lead the center into its next chapter.”
She said the changes that are being made based on what they hear from the community.
So, the child watch program will be brought back
She said the yoga area will be converted to the child watch center within about 30 days.
They have also been working on a new group exercise schedule.
“There was a lot of requests for expanding the amount of opportunities we have for group exercise and we have already looked at for December were going to be able to add a couple of classes to the schedule. We hope to keep growing.”
She said they are looking at converting the two meeting rooms into an area for more group exercise.
“In addition to that, we are looking at providing access to the Progress sports complex. As of December 1st we are going to open that up for pickleball,” Fulford announced.
“We are trying to increase the value of membership so (the) water park is now included in the value package of the membership,” she said. The value package also includes all of the Y facilities in St Louis as well as Bloomsdale.
She also plans to offer swim lessons by the spring.
“We are really pushing forward on a lot of fronts and, so far, it is going well. It’s being well-received. We have good membership sales. We are very happy with the progress we have had so far. I look forward to continuing to expand and grow.”
Fulfordd was asked about the youth hockey program which has been using the facility.
“For this year, we are changing nothing,” she said.
Aaron Smith presented his report. Among the items he mentioned were:
Funding for the Ste. Genvieve Modoc Ferry from Illinois has been secured. It will match a MoDOT grant of $88,000.
A new brochure is being produced for the city. The $20,000 cost is being covered by YPR Agency, a new local agency.
Smith then presented his year in review. (28:00 in the video).
Highlights include a 120 percent increase in web traffic. The site has a 98 percent engagement rate, which means almost every visitor to the website will click on additional pages. He said the webmaster said normal engagement is 60 to 70 percent.
He said visitor traffic is up by 13,000 over last year.
Police Chief Daniel Hadel presented his report. (38:00 on the video.) In his report Halek indicated a need for a second K9 which would not cost the city any upfront expense.
Corey Litterest presented the Alliance Water Resources report. (47:00 on the video).
Public Comment:
Disability Advocate Gina Bennett spoke concerning issues (48:30 on the video).
A second individual spoke about the 300th anniversary of Ste. Genevieve in 2035 which is less than 10 years away and how planning should begin soon.
The following items were approved as part of the consent agenda:
Resolution 2026-02 declaring surplus property.
Resolution 2026-03 for the purchase of a 2026 Polaris Ranger crew side by side for the police department for $18,700.
Resolution 2026-04 to hire Statistical Resources, Inc. to develop an history walking tour mobile app for the city.
Resloution 2026-05 approving a bid from Turn-Key Mobile Inc. for six mobile data terminals for the police department.
Public Hearing.
A public hearing was held to consider a request from Jason and Ashley Stackle for a special use permit to allow a guest lodging establishment at 135 N. Third Street in a general residential district.
Bill No. 4700 approving the special use permit for the Stackle’s guest lodging business at 135 N Third Street was passed on a voice vote and won second round approval 7-1, with Alderwoman Amie Dobbs voting no.
Old Business
Bill No. 4694 for an agreement with Cochran Engineering for professional services was given second round approval 8-0.
Bill No. 4696 for a budget amendment for the current budget was given second round approval 8-0.
New Business
Resolution 2026-06 appointing Stephanie Gegg to the Ste. Genevieve Housing Authority Board was approved on a voice vote.
Bill No. 4699 for a marketing agreement with Jasper Paul Marketing for limited public relations and marketing services for the city.
Bill No. 4701 to amend section 115.150 appointment qualififications was amended to require the city administrator to maintain a residence in Ste. Genevieve County was then given first round approval on a voice vote and second round approval 8-0.
The expected mayoral appointment of a new city administrator did not take place.
Other business
The meeting was shown live on SteGenTV Channel 991 on the Spectrum cable system in Ste. Genevieve and streamed live on the SteGenTV You Tube Channel. The video is now available here: https://www.youtube.com/live/rx530GxoPqU?si=IZOr7tMNHxKoetaQ