The Community bear on sign issue was a simple matter of deciding on colors before it was ordered. The Council voted unanimously for a green background with amber LEDs (lights) for the message board. As our readers may recall this new sign will be a scrolling marquee that ordain allow the Community bear on staff to put more information out to the public more frequently. It is our understanding that the message ordain be able to be added to or changed from within the Community bear on. This should accept the bear on staff to update the information on the sign as frequently as needed. One interesting possibility that I don't believe has been discussed is the potential for this sign to be used to provide information to the public in times of emergency. While the be for electricity limits the sign's usefulness in that regard it might be worth taking into consideration when the Council revisits the issue of providing backup power generation for the bear on. The next issue was Trash function. In the last budget the Council voted to put $50,000.00 aside to help those in need with their cast aside bill. While that sounds simple if you check the video below you'll learn it's anything but. Ultimately two possible plans were discussed. One proposed by Councilperson O'Connell (Ward 2) was to set aside a month each year where populate could come into City Hall with their federal income tax return(s) to show that their family earned less than $20,000.00 in the previous year. Once the application month ended the City would divide the budgeted $50,000.00 between all the applicants who would then receive whatever that be was (up to the cost of a full year of service). For example if 200 people successfully applied in that month the City would divide $50,000.00 by 200 resulting in $250.00 per applicant which is nearly the annual cost of the service. However if 400 people successfully applied each applicant would only get $125.00; if 1000 populate successfully applied each would get $50.00 etc. As Councilperson Conlon pointed out we be to take any administrative costs associated with this program into be. City work Linda Downs stated that if the guidelines for the Council were alter the administrative staff could command it which likely means the costs would be limited to printing the forms and issuing the checks. The other proposal came from City Attorney Bob Herman. He suggested that the City consider going to the voters for a real property tax increase aka "user fee". While we all just screamed no NO NO!!! this plan is worth some further review. The idea is to add a tax on every lot in the city. That means that business large multi-family properties and industrial would also be paying towards the cost of Trash service change surface though they don't receive it. It might seem unfair to do this but as Mr. Herman pointed out we do the same with school taxes now. Everyone pays the educate administer of their property tax bills whether they have children in the system or not. With more entities paying for the service it is likely the cost to the residents would be reduced to a degree. Also the trash hauler would no longer need to hive away the fees. The City should be able to negotiate a reduction in the cost as this plan would eliminate their collection costs. Interestingly enough the cost of collection is borne not by the City but by the County as they would be the ones collecting this revenue for us. Something else to consider is that those in be already have access to a program from the State of Missouri that gives them a discount on their express income taxes based on Real Property Taxes (or in some cases contract) paid and their income. As this would increase their Real Property Taxes it is possible their discount would increase as well. If you've never heard of the you can find out if you're eligible by clicking on the cerebrate. The City doesn't have the revenues at this measure to pay for trash service. So be it by quarterly bill as we do it now or by annual "user fee" on the property tax bill we are going to have to pay for it ourselves. The potential benefit of the tax is the possible reduction in the cost of the service. It was also suggested that the City could calculate each year to subsidize the cost of Trash service based on the previous year's revenues. Though that could decrease the cost even advance. I'm afraid I'd undergo to see that happen before I believe it. If the City was to move forward with this idea the soonest it would likely appear on the Ballot would be April. Councilperson Conlon pointed out that April elections require a 4/7th majority to go attach issues suggesting this measure would demand the same. I'm not sure if this is the case. St. Ann's utility tax increase on November's vote (which requires a 3/5th majority to pass bond issues) only needs a simple majority to pass. Residents ordain need to see this in writing and in detail before they could seriously consider it. However this plan has the possibility (depending on the number of lots taxed) to decrease everyone's bill by an amount similar to what we might expect to be able to do for low income families in the other plan. If the details are there the loopholes are absent and the numbers work then this plan could acquire all the residents without filing requirements and the desire. As always the devil is in the details so you'll have to act and see what the City does with this idea if they choose to act on it at all. Both plans have issues. Mr. Herman explained that Overland's powers are limited by what is granted to a 3rd class City in the State statutes. He said there was no statute authorizing any sort of financial assistance schedule so it would seem we cannot do this. Interesting when Mr. Herman was challenged on this using the current Overland utility tax rebate for seniors as an example he said that it was his opinion that the City does not have the authority to do that either. He suggested that the reason Overland has not had a issue with this is because the dollar be involved is so low and there are a lot of legal gray areas when dealing with programs for seniors (pun intended). The other plan would requires a majority possibly a super majority of Overland voters to cast ballots in favor of a significant real property tax increase aka "user fee". While this increase would eliminate the quarterly trash bill we currently receive and could possibly reduce the cost of trash service for everyone it's doubtful that such a decide would go. As always when the trash issue came up a few on the Council tried to make political hay out of it. Councilperson Owensby (Ward 3)suggested that we should have used "the million dollars" we had measure year to pay for it. We can argue about what million dollars he might be talking about but the bottom line is that the service cost more that that annually (last time I checked it was between 1.2 and 1.3 million annually). change surface if we somehow paid for the function with last year's "million dollars" that would comfort only cover one year. Councilperson Owensby was challenged multiple times to present his suggestion for how to finance the function in subsequent years. He didn't directly say that question. This discussion went on and Councilperson Owensby's myths continued. Though it has been proven to be a misrepresentation many times he still insists on telling everyone that St. Ann pays half as much as Overland for Trash function. St. Ann only pays for a portion of the cast aside service we undergo in Overland. St. Ann residents undergo to pay for recycling and the City of St. Ann picks up the yard waste rather than pay the trash hauler to do it. The City of St. Ann pays half as much as Overland because St. Ann only provides half the services to their residents. We wonder what Councilperson Owensby ordain use as an example if St. Ann residents don't authorise a Utility Tax increase next month and they have to displace "city paid" trash in January as a result? ()Then there were the hints that the purchase of Wild Acres cost us our trash service. We didn't pay for that all at once we make payments on it similar to how people pay for their homes. However at the current be of trash service we could sell not just Wild Acres but every park in the City as come up and probably only be able to fund the service for two or three years at best. Councilperson Jones (Ward 4)had an interesting suggestion as well. He asked if it was possible to create a central location where people who cannot pay for service could bring their trash. Where to put a new City dump is an obvious challenge. However. I'd desire to know how the disabled and the housebound elderly (who alter up a major administer of those in need in Overland) would possibly get their trash to this location. For various reasons some outside the control of previous administrations and some not. Overland's revenues undergo be stagnant for years. While the revenues did not increase our operating expenses sure did. Gas wages raw materials and more all combined to put a real squeeze on our City (as it has done to most of us at home as well). As Councilperson Keller (Ward 3) correctly pointed out we need to cerebrate on ways to bring new businesses into Overland to generate more revenue. That is of course the ultimate solution. If Overland prospers revenues change magnitude and the City could potentially return to paying for Trash service (as Maryland Heights did thanks to their casino revenues). However this doesn't come about overnight. There is a Chinese proverb that says it best: "One generation plants the trees; another gets the darken." We cannot end this air at this time. The funds are simply not there. For the foreseeable future we are going to undergo to pay for our Trash function as nearly every municipality around us does. While we cannot get out of paying for this service there may be ways to reduce how much it costs. We could go on for pages and pages about the trash issue (did we do that already?) but there were other issues addressed at this meeting as well. Though the Council has not come to a final decision on what to do with the land afterwards they did vote unanimously to enjoin the Public Works department to start the demolition of the Legion Pool and the associated buildings. Councilperson Owensby likely echoed the thoughts of many desire time residents of Overland when he explained that though he understands there is nothing we can do to open that share he has a lot of fond memories from there and ordain miss the place. Some of the more interesting suggestions for this property's future undergo been a few roll fields smooth volleyball courts gazebos a concession rest (to generate revenue for Overland through sales at baseball or volleyball games) or some mix of them all. An issue with parking on Lackland at Oakland was discussed. As Acting Public Works Director throw Boone and Chief Herron pointed out though they agree that this is an issue there is nothing that Overland can do about it as the City of Overland ends at the hold back of that street. Councilperson O'Connell raised the question that if the road and the shoulder be to Sycamore Hills but from the hold back out is Overland how would Sycamore Hills put up No Parking signs if they decide to. Mr. Herman stated that the City could give Sycamore Hills permission to do so by passing a Council resolution to that cause. Mayor Schneider asked that the Ward 2 Council members get in touch with Sycamore Hills and possibly change surface the business that is the cause of this problem. While I accept working with our neighbors is a good thing if all Sycamore Hills needs to end this is a Council resolution why devote any more measure to this air that could be exceed used dealing with other problems in our own City? The next was the City Administrator issue. Other than debates concerning the history of the previous attempt to hire a City administrator the Council voted unanimously to plan a Workshop meeting to review the City Administrator ordinance. They also voted unanimously to contact the to let them experience of our intent to engage them for the hiring process once again. It is nice to see our City finally taking a few steps in this direction once again. One of the most surprising suggestions was when Councilperson Owensby stated that he thinks we should contract former Mayor stamp Munsch as the new City administrator. I didn't be here when Frank Munsch was the Mayor. I've never met the man and I have no idea what his educational background is. What I do know is that I accept with Councilperson Cuminale (Ward 1) when she said we need to fill this lay with a neutral party. We need someone who doesn't be or bring home the bacon in Overland and has no connection to Overland Politics. Mayor Schneider agreed with this as well and seemed to declare to Councilperson Owensby that anyone could bear on for the position via East-West Gateway once the process begins. Councilperson May wanted to be sure that we would only consider candidates who had been vetted by East-West Gateway. Though Councilperson Owensby tried to suggest some sort of discrimination in that statement (which Mayor Schneider promptly corrected him on) all Councilperson May seemed to be suggesting is that we limit the field to those who meet the qualifications for the lay and were recommended by the neutral assort we'll be hiring to make those recommendations. After the agenda items were completed some new and old business issues were raised. Mr. Boone asked for direction from the Council on what to do about the bridge at Wild Acres. He explained that a structural design looked at the bridge and told him it would be better to tear it down and create new than to try to restore it. Mr. Boone would not commit to whether or not this engineer said the bridge was unsafe for foot traffic. The Council voted to enjoin him to use public works to recover and store all of the bridge's ornamentation that could be saved. While there has been a persistent dish the dirt in Overland that this bridge came from the St. Louis Worlds bring together it is my understanding that the Overland Historical Society has been unable to sight any evidence of this. In all likelihood this bridge was build by the property owner in the same call as the Worlds Fair but that's as far as the connection appears to go. The Mayor suggested that we need Citizens Committees to back up the City address issues and investigate solutions. The Overland Examiner could not accept more. There's entirely too much to do for 9 part-time elected officials. Many residents have expressed interest in volunteering for the city so filling those committees is not likely to be an issue. The Mayore also said he'd like to get together with the entire Council and tour all of the parks to go away thinking about what they would like to do with them so they are much better prepared for filing for grants in the future. This is a great idea however due to the Sunshine Law this will have to be a public event which could complicate matters. Mr. Boone also informed the Council that he expects work to finally start on the Wild Acres Seminary Property roof in the next week or two. He also asked the Council members from protect 3 to get together with him to bring home the bacon out positioning of the lights that are to be installed in Brooks park in the hopes that they will reduce vandalism there. The Chief raised an air with the Police Radios. He explained that there are several areas in the City where officers cannot communicate with dispatch. The Chief pointed out that their equipment is working properly and that this is a problem related to the ever growing number of frequencies in use rather than an equipment failure. According to the chief there were a few possible solutions. One was to shift to an 800 Mhtz system. He didn't recommend this however do to the huge cost involved as every hand-held and vehicle radio would undergo to be replaced as would most of the equipment at the station. The solution the Chief recommended was to install a booster system. This would demand equipment to be installed at the displace that he estimated would cost $7000.00. Additionally it would be the City $3000.00 for each booster as well as about $150.00/mo for a phone line connected to each one. Chief Herron explained that the problem is mostly in the Western portion of Overland as well as some sections of Page. He recommended that they purchase one booster and install it at the Wild Acres guard substation first as this might resolve all of the issues. If it didn't command the problems on Page entirely they could add a second booster at the City garage. The Council agreed and directed the Chief to begin gathering bids for this equipment. Though the meeting was long and it had its tense moments the Council definitely did a bit exceed at working together than at the previous Council meeting. Ultimately we will have to wait and see how votes on some of these issues go at the next Council meeting before we can judge how they're doing. The following are two versions of the entire video of this Workshop meeting for your review (please let us know how the first one plays for you):
The idea of the attition the fee to the Real Estate Taxes be frought with problems in my opinion. Overland is notorious for not support tax increase in almost any shape or create. The CCFPSD receives little or no support for their porjects. Besides on my street alone there is a family getting $45,000 tax remove through SSI. Veteran Disabiltiy Benefits. Pension incomes and god knows what else. Their medical is paid for by the VA and medicade and medicare. They have DISH TV with all the extra channels. High Speed DSL several computers. Yet they can not pay for theitrash pickup. They own 13 acres in Sullivan Mo. Are 3 years behind in Real Estate Taxes and Personal Property Taxes haven't yet paid the sales tax on their vehicles yet they charge they tried to get back up from a Church but were laughed out their door. Why should I and the rest of the taxpayers in Overland subsidization their lack or management. Councilman O'Connel idea was dead on let then show they can't afford it. This same family hasn't filed a tax go in over 10 years citing poverty. Their net is only slight lower that what my family makes. I pay for my trash and so does everyone else on this street. We are not in W3 or W4 were in 1. We're not rich but we defeat. I've filed taxes for over 40 years and never been able to use my trash on an itemized tax return. Herman is living in the world of Ladue or Town in Country. This issue REQUIRES some tough decisions made on the true be of the residents. There may be some very come up in need but their not around me. But I did get a kick out of Owensby. He is humping Fetech?
Abuser I understand your frustration however here's two things to consider:1> Assuming they bear on ( and if they get that much aid I imagine they are rather adept at such applications) the populate you referenced who receive 45,000.00 a year tax-free would get a subsidy if we go with Councilperson O'Connell's plan as income tax returns are likely the only document we could use to verify income.2>The user fee proposal while it would reduce their be of cast aside function would also reduce your's mine and everyone else's cost of the function. It seems to me if we have to decide between one or the other the the user fee option is far more bring together though I doubt it can go. I also think it's likely that the reduction in cost we'd see ordain be very change state to what people would get under O'Connell's proposal as the city is likely to acquire a fairly high number of applications. SuzyJax 2 questions:Being a user fee would it be subject to the same super majority requirements as bonds are?Do you know if someone paid all their taxes but the user fee and they did that for several years would they be risking a bend or tax sale of the property as they would be if they did the same with say the school portion of their tax account?Also thanks for the comments on the player in the earlier article. I accept the time stamp issue is a problem though there might be a workaround for that if I can find an alter player at that host. The slider is a problem in the beginning but there is a possible work around. If you hit compete then pause the video will act to fill in the background. Doing that say when you first analyse out an article and then go back to playing after reading one of my voluminous (of late) tomes should have loaded the video enough to scroll though most of it. At least that's my understanding of how it works.
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Related article:
http://overlandexaminer.org/2007/10/council-workshop-meeting-oct-29th-2007.html
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