STE. GENEVIEVE – The Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen met in regular session Thursday, January 8, 2026 for its first meeting of the new year. All of the aldermen were present for the meeting with the exception of Teddy Ross, who did not attend.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Domestic Violence Advocate Kathy Kreitler thanked Police Chief Daniel Halek for his cooperation with their efforts to deal with domestic violence in the city. Three other persons associated with Kreitler joined her at the podium.
Ste. Genevieve Fire District Chief Kenny Steiger presented his year end operations report. He talked about the number of calls.
(The fire report may be viewed in its entirety in the agenda packet published Wednesday, January 7 in the Sun Times News Online at www.suntimesnews.com )
City Administrator David Bova presented his report. He noted that mailboxes on St. Mary’s Road will be moved to the opposite side of the street, because the new sidewalk will not be wide enough to keep the mail boxes where they are now.
Bova presented the community development report.
He noted the recent death of Bill Hart who was very active in the community’s tourism and historic preservation.
He said the Ste. Genevieve-Modoc ferry was preparing to reopen Friday, January 9 as the Mississippi River was up to three feet on the Chester gauge.
Tourism Director Aaron Smith presented his report, which is also available in the agenda packet. He noted the number of visits went up to 356,000, but the number of visitors to the city fell 10,000 to around 85,000, which indicates many visitors are coming to Ste. Genevieve more than once. The city uses cell phone data to come up with the number of visits and visitors. The information also includes the incomes of visitors. He said goal is to have more visitors with an income of $100,000 or above. The industry says the percentage of higher income visitors should be 22-24 percent, while the number of current visitors at that income level is only 12 percent. Smith hopes to increase the percent of higher income visitors.
Smith was asked about the city’s preparations for the 250th anniversary of the nation. He said Ste. Genevieve will observe it May 30 and 31. He said there will be quality re-enactors in the community.: including the actor who portrays George Washington at Mt. Vernon, He is also working on Ste. Genevieve’s 300th anniversary in 2035.
A street closure request from Justin Bowen of Rockinator Racing LLC was approved for Saturday, April 18 for the Missouri Outlaw Bike Race. Main Street will be closed from Audubon’s Restaurant north to Washington Street from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Bill No. 4702 to hire Taylor Engineering for professional services for the expansion of Crestlawn Cemetery was approved on second reading by a 7-0 vote with one absence.
Resolution 2026-08 to re-appoint Tom Hooper to the Ste. Genevieve Heritage Commission was approved.
A low bid of $28,757.88 from SRS to make repairs to the water treatment plant roof wes also approved.
It was noted that this meeting was the first for new city administrator David Bova, who offically became the city administrator on January 1st.
The meeting was shown live on Ste. Gen TV Channel 991 and is now available on the SteGenTV you tube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/live/XntE8waGGn4?si=PVT6hCfbMeN2wVi9