City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Call me to order. Pledge of allegiance. Council member White to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Roll call, please. Mayor Larkkey, here. Council member White, here. Council member Thompson, here. Council member Davidson, here. Council member Bryan, here. Council member Lawson, here. Council member Richardson here. Council member McCllum here. Council member Johnson here.

We have a quorum. Item D, P, professional appearances. Number one, Thomas Gartman. Come to there and identify yourself, address, name, and address. And you have five minutes. Thank you. Let's make sure the mic. No, that would be a good idea. Is it? Okay.

Uh, my name is Thomas Gartman. I live at 12825 South Spoon Creek Road, Altha, Kansas 66061. Uh I am the chief financial officer of Kansas Capital Group. We operate a route of no chance machines in the greater Kansas City area. I'm coming in front uh of this council to to come out against the no chance ban that you are currently considering. Um we only have a few machines here in Belton. Uh in fact uh our one location is Fast Gas and Sachs 1509 North Scott Avenue. Uh we have three machines there. Um however, we're obviously against uh uh completely removing the machines in any jurisdiction. Um these machines provide a lot of benefits to uh local businesses, thousands of dollars of revenue a month that they otherwise would not receive uh or reinvest into their businesses. Um and uh you know, we come from Kansas City. I run my route in Kansas City. And as you heard uh last meeting, Kansas City banned our machines. we no longer operate in Kansas City. Um they did that specifically because they were targeting uh game rooms. Uh people were renting out spaces in uh um disadvantaged neighborhoods and just lining the walls with as many machines as possible. Uh it's not a business that I do. Uh I partner with retail locations, convenience stores, gas stations, laundromats, bars, liquor stores. Uh and we place a few of them. one to five is normally where we stand depending on the volume of play at the location. Um these game rooms in Kansas City, they uh were operating with no security, no partnership with law enforcement, uh no care for their neighbors. Uh um and they allowed people to gather in and around their businesses. Uh Kansas City, as you know, unfortunately has a significant homeless problem. Uh uh this became a gathering

place for homeless people uh to set fires, to sell drugs, uh to threaten local businesses. Um and Kansas City had to act to prevent this from happening. However, when they put their ban in place, they did not consult uh any route operator or any local business uh uh to understand the difference between uh a game room with 20 or 30 of these machines versus a convenience store who has three of them. Um, and it has cost local businesses in Kansas City, Missouri hundreds of thousands of dollars, uh, since the, uh, ban has been put in place. Uh, I know people have lost jobs. Uh, um, and I know that, uh, retail sales are down at these locations. Um the uh as an as an example in Kansas City of uh um the benefit that this money brings to the community, uh I do business with all of the express smarts that are up there and they took the machine money that they had and they bought 5K security cameras. So they're able to do facial recognition on customers uh and they've provide that security camera footage to law enforcement uh which has significantly improved law enforcement's investigative capabilities around these areas. Um, I think the council should be proactive. It should consider regulation um a limitation on the number of machines. Uh, Jackson County, Missouri, their legislature is working with us right now on the county level to do the to do exactly that. And I would love to talk with you further um to about what kind of regulation looks good for the city of Belton. Uh, I will be here for any questions afterwards if you have any. Thank you.

Thank you. Number one, Teresa McRoy. Or number two, I'm sorry, I said number one. Hi, I'm Teresa McRoy. I own Paradise Bar and Grill in Belton. And you want my address? Yeah, for the record, please. My home address or the home is fine.

908 Harrove Road, Peculiar, Missouri. Um, and I'm here today on the slots. Um, thank you allowing me for to come and speak. Um, I am just asking if you guys would support a path to regulations for the slot machines. Um, the slots have been a big revenue for us, like 15 to 20%. And that's not only slots, it's also food and um, liquor sales and and beer sales. Um, and it's helped tremendously. Being a small business owner, it's really tough out here, especially in this economy. And, um, it's not only gonna, if we have to take them out, it's not only going to hurt me, but it's going to hurt my staff as well because we have a lot of people that are coming that are just coming to play slots and then of course they've started drinking and then they eat, of course. So, it's been a really good thing for Paradise. Um, so I'm just really asking if you guys would take a little more consideration and put some regulations. I'm all about regulations, doing whatever it takes to be able to keep the slot machines. So, thank you.

Thank you. Unfinished business. Item one, motion approving final reading of bill 2025-63. An ordinance approving a reszoning from C2 general commercial to R3 multif family for a 87 more or less acre property located north of B Street between East Walnut and Chestnut Streets. Present. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Council member Lawson. I. Johnson. I. White. I. Richardson. I Davidson. Yes. Brian, I Macllum. I mayor Larkin. I

Thompson. Yes. Motion passes. Two. Motion approving final reading of bill 2025-64. An ordinance adding section 15-187 to chapter 15 of the city of Belton code of ordinances relating to monetary prizes. Present. Second. A motion and a second. Any discussion? Go ahead. I got a question for Chief Lions on this. Um, was it true that we sent people out to see how many of these places we had of the the gaming machines? How many places have the gaming machines?

The police department's not sent anyone out. Okay. So, we don't know any numbers of exactly how many we have in Beldon. Jill, go ahead. Mr. Mayor, um, our community development department did a a factf finding. We don't know that we've got all of them because they're not regulated, so we don't nobody's told us where they all are, but they did go out and I believe they found um, what you was it 13 places. I'll let Matt speak to that.

Yeah, there's uh, 12 businesses and a pro anywhere between 45 and 50 machines is our estimate. We counted 37 machines, but there were three businesses that were inaccessible when we went out. So we based on the nature of those businesses, we anticipate there's probably about three at least in each of those. So estimating 45 to 50 machines total in the city. So we have 12 places.

Yes. Um, I know my deal is I think the regulation is the biggest key and I would like to make a motion to table this to see if we can come up with another way of the regulation and making something work. I just don't like I think the way we went about this I don't like. I don't like that we didn't go talk to these people. Um, nobody knew anything about this until the last second. Um, so I'm making a motion to table this to see if there's anything else we can do.

Council member Richardson, would you like to make a motion to table or a motion to postpone? Obviously with a motion to table is not typically what the Belton City Council does because that involves then a secondary motion later on to bring it back. Table to postpone. So instead a motion to postpone I apologize for the first meeting in say March would that be yes okay that'll work so we have a motion on the t floor second postpone until March first meeting in March and second we have a second now who was the second please thank you

so we have a motion and a second to postpone to the second meeting in March any discussion on the motion to postpone. I apologize. Was it first meeting or second? I believe it was first meeting. First meeting I thought. Is that what you said? First meeting in March. Go ahead. Can uh you kind of I think I understand it. You're wanting us to uh look at other options instead of just banning completely. Yes.

And so you're wanting time to be able to explore that. Is that my understanding? I know there's I mean there's other states around here that have these and they there's some states that do nonprofits have to control them. Um I just think there's I I think we need to look into this a little bit more. I don't like the way we went about doing this. Um you know I I think we should have gone and talked to these companies these businesses that have these and be like hey what you know what can we do to make this work? What can what can we do for everybody to win in this situation? I'm okay at the moment. Go ahead, Carl.

Um, I have to agree with Chris. Um, two weeks ago at the last city meeting, we did not have the number of machines. There was no information, no number of how many complaints. And I also feel we should have been more prepared if we were going to have this change. Um, also I feel this is a state thing that needs to be done. I know it's a gray area, but I I just feel it's a gray area and the state needs to change it.

I would just note on the state regulation, there has been pushes from specifically communities like Riverside and North Kansas City for almost a decade now to make some sort of legislative clarification regarding the legality of these machines. And there has not been one. And given the kind of given that track record, I would say that waiting on the state is most likely we're going to be waiting most indefinitely at this point.

Go ahead. Yeah, just to clarify, I you know, for I I part of the reason I second here is because I think it would behoove us to look into potential regulation instead of um only banning. Understand the position the city's in and I agree completely that this is an unregulated um entity that um is in a business that is typically regulated, gambling, um lottery, etc. Um, so I agree that we do want to have some type of regulation at the very least. Um, so I I guess at this point, um, I think it would behoove us to look at some regulation and then, uh, come back and, you know, maybe we look at regulation, say, "Yeah, this isn't for us," and we come back to this. I don't know. Um, but I I think it makes sense to look at that first.

Mr. Mayor,

go ahead. If I may, I I would make a recommendation from staff's perspective that we would ban these, make a a consideration to bring it back when we have more information on what it would take to regulate them. Um because the these are essentially uh I mean they're gambling machines. You you don't know what the next one's going to be once you push the button. Um you put money in trying to get money back. You'll notice that the two people that spoke in favor of this are not Belton residents, but they're trying to make money on Belton residents doing utilizing these machines. And I think that the city's illprepared to regulate. This is not the city's expertise. I don't know how we would go about, you know, making sure we could enforce that. Now, if if it gambling is regulated at the state level and um heck, even one of the people speaking in favor of the machines called them slot machines. They're they're very different from they're they're very similar to slot machines as it is. I do not believe that it's in the city's best interest to try to regulate it, at least not knowing what we know. They're not being regulated at this current moment. And so um I I would just ask that if you're going to uh consider getting us into the regulation business for this, you give us time to prepare for that. and and so we would ban it and then come back and say, "Okay, if we come up with a way to regulate this adequately, then we can go ahead and allow these to take place."

Go ahead. So, you're asking us to ban temporarily while we're exploring the potential of moving to regulation. I'd like to look into what it would take for us to regulate these before we make that, you know, and and again, it's it's we could a business could bring in slot machines and that would be illegal. It would make them money, but it would be illegal. So, I I don't think that we should just allow these just because they're making businesses money because they're very similar similar to slot machines and and I don't I think most people that utilize them may or may not know the difference between these this and a slot machine. And so I think that the safest course of action to protect a our public here in Belton would be for us to ban it now. Look what it would take and then come back and and consider making these legal.

I guess I have a question. Um because gambling is regulated by the state, are they going to regulate us regulating it? No. Uh again, the state has refused to regulate these for a decade. and as a charter city, the city of Belton has all authority of the Missouri legislature when the Missouri legislature has not acted. I understand that part of it, but if we come up with a a list of regulations that we're going to impose on um these machines who are really taking money from the underserved, you know, that that's my opinion. Will they the state come back and say, "No, you can't regulate it that way." Or is this a all hands-off

policy? I mean, no. the Missouri Gaming Commission. There are some opinions of members of the Missouri Gaming Commission that these devices do meet generally a definition of gambling. Um, but at this point, the Missouri legislature and the Missouri Gaming Commission has not acted and unless there is a legislative change will not act in any way, shape, or form regarding these machines. And I do I do appreciate the fact that these both these people had come and spoke. I I appreciate that. But it's not lost on me that neither of them are from Belton. So, go ahead.

Well, I'm just concerned about how much it's going to cost us if we try to regulate as far as additional staff time. How would we even do it? And so, I'm a little concerned about trying to even move in the regulation direction. I understand what what the folks who've testified today or have spoken today have said, and I appreciate that. Um, but I'm just concerned even at and I've read through what was presented to Jackson County and their legislature, but even at the cost of their fees, I'm not sure we can cover what it would take in order for us to regulate as a city. So, I have some concerns about that. Go ahead.

To be clear, I agree. I don't I don't know that the city will be able to do such a thing as regulation. We might not have the staff. We might not have the funds. We might not have the resources available. But I don't agree that we should blanketly ignore and not look into it. So, you know, at the very least we can look into it. If we find out, hey, we don't have the resources to make this available, then we move forward with what we think the best course of action is at that time. I just uh you know, to the point this is not necessarily something new and uh and I think it's worth a little extra time to look at. If if we think three months is essentially what we're talking about here is too long. I mean, I'm okay with us looking at it a shorter period of time to postponement, but I still think it's not a bad idea to to at least give this a once over.

Go ahead. I know you say that both these people aren't from Belton, but one's operating a business in Belton, which is bringing tax money to this city. So, I feel like we should listen to her. Um, my other question, Council Member Thompson, what did you mean by the underserved? Is that I mean are they that's who's playing these machines? Well, I I don't know Chris. I don't know council uh Councilman. I don't know who's playing it, but I just assume that. So assumption I would want to know facts before I assume anything. Well, that that works. Go ahead. Can I ask other council members?

Yeah, you ask whatever you want. So, what are the motion? What are you thinking about Joe's discussion about banning for temporary while there's an investigation? I don't know. You said you were looking to talk to other council members. Who are you talking to? I'm sorry. Councilman Macau and Councilman Richardson. Both of us. Yeah. I'm just curious.

I I'll just Joe and the city like I said that what they've brought before makes perfect sense. I understand the ideology behind it. It's an unregulated, you know, situation and something that is typically regulated. Makes perfect sense. I don't, you know, discredit that. I just also think that it's been in place for a decade or more that these have existed. Um, at least here in Belton for a couple years at the very minimum and, you know, a couple more months uh for us to have a little more look is, you know, okay in my book. I agree with Alex, too. I I think banning them right off the bat, I think they should have probably had a plan in place to to figure out a way to make this work. They've been here for, as Alex says, two years. I know of at least a year. I don't know. Maybe some of them been here longer than that. I don't know. But I've heard at least a year. Um, and I know we're trying to reduce the crime issue if there's crime there, but there was no instances that we asked last week that I asked. There was not a single instance that the police had been called to any of these places that they had a problem. So,

go ahead. I thought Councilman McAllen was aware of one. Not that the police have been not that the police I I believe, you know, that was a self-reported, self uh contained or whatever. I don't we don't know because ultimately, as far as we know, the police were not involved.

Okay. Um he probably didn't intend to do this, but he opened my eyes to two things that have me uneasy continuing right now. And I'd be more for shutting it down now and still looking at it. I'm not saying no. Um but if they closed down all these big rooms in Kansas City, what's to stop them from opening up? We have a lot of, you know, they could open up a warehouse tomorrow and they'd be in place until March. And then that's great. They had extra money to buy really great cameras. Why did they need them? So that that leads me to believe that their crime was up, so they needed better cameras. So I'd rather stop now and address it and then if we decide to proceed, we can. Go ahead,

Patrick. Um, do you have a sense of what other cities have done like what sort of regulations are out there?

Yeah, and so I'll I'll also answer this by kind of answering another question whereas, you know, the city didn't act for a year. Um that was because basically everybody was in a holding pattern while the Springfield uh litigation occurred. Honestly, that was when Springfield took the act to prohibit them in the exact same manner you all are and then there was an immediate lawsuit. The smartest thing to do was always to wait to see how that kind of played out because honestly then you're making instead of the Belton citizens having to pay for litigation, the Springfield citizens are having to pay for that litigation and then we'll hop on at the end. But as of basically October, which was when there was a federal case, um civil, not criminal, but a jury did determine that these machines were gambling under Missouri law. Um so again, not criminal, just civil. Uh since that decision came down and since the decision in the administrative review decision for the Springfield verse or torch electronics versus Springfield, most cities that have taken action have taken the action of a complete prohibition. Um and kind of one of the similar things that is giving rise to a lot of these is the increased proliferation um over the past about year. Um, typically we saw these as one or two or three in a gas station. Uh, and then recently there has been the move in focus of seven, eight or nine of these in one facility where it becomes more casino like. Uh, I do believe based on Matt's and his staff's review, there were two different facilities here in town that had over eight of these machines in them. Um but that that those actions and that kind of increased proliferation took this from what a lot of communities were doing which was wait and see sit back to okay now we do have to act and we're going to follow

Springfield's model because Springfield's ordinance was upheld and that is what Kansas City did and like just as council member Pryan said a not uncommon thing in regulation is if you are a city a budding or Kansas City and Kansas City goes ahead and prohibits a use due to some sort of criminality, which is what they did with the um the no chance gaming machines. If you don't then act, what is most common is that they just open in the surrounding communities right at the Kansas City borders so that they can get the Kansas City market but not the Kansas City regulations.

Go ahead. I agree that I would not want a warehouse full of these inbuilt 100%. Um but anybody that's coming knows that we would have regulation coming um that they would be understand that hey there's something coming out and I don't know if we can regulate how many each business has maybe give out so many business licenses for them. I'm just throwing some stuff out there, but I'm like, before we just ban it all together, talk to these businesses. You know, you're going to tell them, "Okay, we're not going to do anything for the next four months." They're going to be sitting there and, you know, they might lose business over it. So,

go ahead. Can we uh I know we've got several things floating out here, but can we put a moratorum on any new ones coming in until we make this decision? Uh there is the potential for placing a moratorum that is not uncommon for newer land uses. Uh you'll see it actually the city of independence the one that just because I litigated it I remember it but they placed a moratorium on marijuana businesses which didn't really make sense because they placed it before the DHS even issued licenses to run them. But it is not uncommon to place a moratorum. I would note that to place a moratorum on them the I guess we could do it by the 23rd but it would be by ordinance and it would require a double read because or else then it's just you're placing a moratorum that doesn't go into effect until January 13th and we're already going to bring it back up at the March 1st the March 10th meeting. So, it's only a about a 30-day moratorum when typically what you see is about 90 to six months is a typical moratorum time frame.

Go ahead. I guess I'll ask a question that I haven't heard clearly defined. What is the similarities and the differences with these machines and a slot machine?

Uh, well, if you look at them, I mean, it is direct money feed into the machine. Um there is on most a small button in the corner where you can press to see whether or not you are going to win or lose on the next spin, but then you do spin. It is incredibly similar in look to a slot machine. There's the wheel spinning. I think even the Kansas City Star article directly pointed out that one of the businesses that had opened one of similar to the I think there's two in town that are full no chance gaming places even had 777 on the look of them. the thing, the argument and the only difference is that button on the bottom corner that instead of not knowing if you'll win or lose your next spin, you can press the button and see if you'll win or lose your next spin before you spin and before you put any money in. Now, granted, the argument against them being gambling is that just because you saw that doesn't mean you go you stop playing. you could then say, "Oh, well, the next one after this one's going to be the winning one, so I'll go ahead and press this one, run that one through, and then check the next one." But,

okay, thank you for that. So, a couple things I know. I have not had any residents reach out to me concerned about these machines. I've also not had any residents reach out to me in favor of these machines. And as much as I like to hear that local businesses are are having increased revenues for them and it's it's supporting them, if you're in something like Paradise Bar and Grill and you're familiar with working in a heavily regulated industry, right, with products that are regulated and a company comes in and says, "Hey, we've got these machines. They're going to help you with revenue. Don't worry about it. It's a gray area." To me, that's predatory. I'm not a big fan of that. So, if we want I'm I don't think we're in the position to fine-tune regulation and find a solution starting here in Belton that the state level, you know what I mean, is going to adopt. We're just waiting into murky waters without a plan. So, um, my biggest hangup here is that I haven't heard from residents in favor of allowing them or in favor of banning them, but just at the surface, I think this is not something that we want to encourage and below to go unregulated is my point of view.

I I would also note uh, Council Member Lawson, you brought up a really good point with the saying that they are legal. That St. Louis County case, federal case that I noted. Um, most of that case dealt with a provider of these gaming devices being found and it is that is being appealed, but being found liable for $500,000 in damages by making the statement that they were legal when the jury found that they were not and that they were gambling devices under Missouri law. Yeah, just doing a quick news search on these types of devices and the companies that are putting them in businesses. Um, it's it's rife with issues.

The Missouri Independent, if any of the council members or members of the public watching, the Missouri Independent has done a very uh good job of covering a lot of these issues very in depth. Go ahead.

I'm not to I'm not uh not to lose your point at all. Um, but just as another point of reference, Jackson County has put in specific regulation. It's actually a pretty interesting read. So, Belton's not necessarily the first looking at it, right? Um, and it's a it's a pretty interesting read because they through their ordinance uh mentioned several things I think that we've talked about. Um, but al ultimately, you know, it's not a full ban, it's a regulation. I I would just note that Jackson County's authority on most of that extends only to unincorporated areas of Jackson County. So most like Kansas City's Bandom. So half of Jackson County already has a complete and total prohibition. Jackson County, the Jackson County legislaturator's ordinance, even if it is regulated, there are decisions coming down from other municipalities in the Jackson County area that the affected business of th those regulations would almost probably be in population size smaller than the city of Belton.

Follow the question. We have a call for the question. The current question is the motion to postpone. Yeah, I'm just making Yeah, the current question is the motion to postpone until the first meeting in March. All in favor? I? Any opposed? No.

No. Motion passes. So since we made a motion to amend and the motion to amend pass to to postpone, we are done. Item three, motion approving final reading of bill 2025-65. An ordinance amending chapter 13 article 12 parades and processions and appendix A schedule of fees and charges of the code of ordinances to update and improve the effectiveness of the parade code. Present. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion hearing? None. Roll call.

Mayor Larkkey. Yes. Council member Johnson. I. Prian. I. White. I. Richardson. I. McCllum. Hi. Lawson. I. Thompson. Yes. Davidson. Yes. Motion passes. Item four, motion approving final reading of bill 2025-66. An ordinance approving the Belton, Missouri Police Department Municipal Jail 2025 housing contract for inmates of the Lake Wnebago, Missouri Police Department. Present. Second. A motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Council member Richardson. I. Thompson. Yes. Brian. I Davidson. Yes. Johnson. I White. I Lawson. I McCallum. I

mayor Larky. I. Motion passes. F. New business. One motion approving the first arena bill 2025-67. An ordinance approving a final plat for GP Investments, a two lot subdivision on 11.88 more or less acres located at 17327 South Outer Road in the city of Belton, Missouri. Present. Second. We have a motion, a second. You're up.

Yep. Thank you, Mayor and Council. Before this evening is a final plat for GE Investments, which covers the existing Trans West property at 17327 South Outer Road and the cell tower at the northeast corner of the property. Uh the purpose of this plat is to replplat the property to add a second lot to allow the cell tower to be separated from Trans West. Uh, this will allow the cell cell tower owner to own the property outright and no longer lease, which protects the cell cell tower's long-term interest in the site since it accommodates five carriers. Access to the cell tower is accommodated through an access easement to Belray Drive to the north. And the cell tower is planning to modify their access drive to better align with the easement after ownership after ownership change. Uh, the planning commission reviewed the final plat on November 18th and recommended unanimous approval of the plat. Staff also recommends approval. And if there are no outstanding questions or concerns this evening, staff requests a second reading to allow the final plat to be signed for final recording and the ownership change to take place for the cell tower.

Go ahead. Uh, okay. I know I asked about this during the work session, but I'm still a little confused at which area we're specifically talking about. I'm familiar with that area as a whole. when I look at the map that provided is there what spec can you give me a little more detail on where what's being carved out because I understand the cell tower is being carved out. I just want a better

Yeah. So on page 13 of the agenda packet is the final plat document. Um it's really just that northeast corner where it says lot 1B and then you'll see a line going to the west. Um so it's roughly a 20 it looks like 26 ft um strip that then connects to that access easement. So essentially it's the cell tower and then the access drive that gets to the access point to Belray Drive. Okay. So it is almost with the exception of that small strip of driveway essentially. Yeah. It is uh it is really just that cell tower.

Yes. It's a it's a small piece of property. Okay. And uh well actually I have another question but I will hold on that for a more appropriate time that will likely come in a minute. Anybody else? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Motion for a second. Second. We have a motion and a second for a second reading. Any discussion on the motion for a second reading? What is the purpose of the second reading?

Uh we have the final plat. Um they also are hoping to get this done soon so they can start with the access drive and take ownership of the cell tower itself. Uh Mr. Mayor, if I may. Go ahead. And this is up to you guys to decide, but this is the this one motion is the difference between having a meeting on December 23rd and us being able to cancel the meeting on December 23rd and being able to come back in January. I'm just putting it out there. Well, you should have led with that.

So, I understand that. That is a that is a very good point. It's especially a good point for not only everybody sitting in this room, um the city staff and and us as council and all that. Uh however, we have seen residents, people who live here bring forward um you know, amendments to subdivisions and those things and those those had to wait on their second reading two weeks later. You know, whatever the situation is. Um I just don't think the cancelling of one meeting close to Christmas is a really good reason for us to move forward with a double reading on a reasonzoning that, you know, for all I know, there's something out there. somebody the purpose of that you know two readings over time is to give somebody an opportunity as we experienced tonight to come talk I just don't think this is a good reason not to

uh I would note for the council this is actually the approval of a plat this is not a reasonzoning plat are ministerial there is nothing that a member of the public could say to you that would legally allow you to vote no sorry I misspoke on the zoning touche thank you please don't ever vote no on a plat that meets all of our requirements go ahead So that was my thing was it is one person's land. They are breaking off the antenna in case they ever want to sell the rest of the land and just keep the antenna or the cell tower. Um it doesn't affect anyone. It doesn't hurt anyone.

So I guess on that that note then I have a question. If I look at recent things that we've looked at from a resident perspective in Ward One, um we had a we had someone was that not just a replatting that was a subdivision. Was it something more than that? I'm not sure which one you're I can't remember the name, but it was it was out on I think it's off of Kentucky,

but yeah, I mean any plat makes a ton of sense from the city council's perspective because it is purely ministerial. I always give the same speech. Uh there was a case in the city of Kansas City furongver city of Kansas City involving a plat for a McDonald's, a burger, a Burger King, a Sonic, a BP gas station, and a car wash on miner and homes. The city of Kansas City turned down the plat even though it met all of their requirements. Uh the end of that lawsuit is that I filled up my car at that BP gas station. I've eaten at that Sonic. I've eaten at that Burger King. And I've washed my car. and the city of Kansas City had to pay him $900,000. So when it comes to plats, if they meet our requirements, we have no ability to say no. And

I I understand that is a subdivision. So that was a subdivision, right? That was taking two that was taking one property, turning into two. Is that I believe the property you're talking about was on Kentucky and there were some other ordinances along with that because there was a a water agreement with the city of Raymore. So there were some additional um documentation that came along with that. Okay. I just I I just I just don't like double readings, but okay. Anybody else? Hearing none. All in favor? I. All opposed? Nay.

Motion passes. Motion approving the second reading of bill 2025-67. An ordinance approving a final plat for GE Investments, a two lot subdivision on 11.88 more or less acres located at 17327 South Outer Road in the city of Belton, Missouri. Present. We have a motion and a second. Any more discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Council member Richardson. I. Thompson. Yes. Mayor Larkkey. Yes. Davidson, yes. Prian, I White, I Lawson, I Mallum, I Johnson,

I. Motion passes. Two. Motion approving resolution 2025-92. A resolution approving a billing services agreement between the city of Belton Fire Department and EMS Management and Consultants, Inc. for ambulance billing and collection services. Present. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Go ahead. You're up. It's getting cold in here. It is. That's wouldn't work.

Thank you, council mayor. Uh, so I as stated this resolutions for billing services for our EMS service that we provide to the public. Currently, we've been using the the billing service that we have since 2019. We just thought it would be a good idea to make sure that we're getting the best deal possible for what we're getting. and we went out and looked at a couple other companies and as well as reaching out to the current company to ask them to resubmit uh a proposal to us which they didn't actually ever get back with us. And so we are choosing to change it out. We feel it's going to be a better deal. So I'm going to turn it over to Assistant Chief Chad Wright just to kind of hit on a couple of those highlights and then see if you have any questions.

Good evening. Thanks. Um yeah, just to highlight like he talked about several months ago, we started the valuation process for our EMS billing and um other things that come could come with it and ultimately uh what works best for us, the city. And a couple things that we we found that we found we identified several areas that EMSC could benefit us in. Um, primarily we're able to through this um add to our reporting software program through their partnership with image trend or a relationship with image trend. Um, but also by doing that it rolls that into this agreement and so that ultimately eliminates it from our line item budget. The biggest selling point to it is they came back at a rate of 5.65% where we've been paying 5.95% since 2019. So on our estimated revenues, it's a pretty significant savings with added benefits. Um some of the other benefits is an improved uh public facing portal for citizens to utilize. There is better um management dashboards and tools for finance and for us. Whereas we can also see um performance insights both um through billing but also on the calls. Um with that and part of the image trim package that um is getting added to it is we'll have both internal and external public facing facing dashboards that can um you know paint a picture of what we're doing real time data um adding those insights uh they have significant partnerships with other um uh companies and uh PWW is one law firm that specializes in EMS nationally that they utilize to um um help build their compliance um with all the CMS regulations as well. So, those are just a few of the highlights. Um

probably most importantly, aside of all the benefits is it's a it's a pretty decent cut in the rate. So, if there's any questions, be happy to answer them. Go ahead.

Thank you for that uh work you did on that. That sounds like a needed change based on our current provider not even responding back to us. Um, and in regards to I'm always looking for efficiencies, right? I know that there's a reason and I'm your but can you help me understand the reason behind why we have two different systems uh for handling of billings you know why why we would need it different for the fire because maybe we could all be get it all on the same with the city based on what you're describing we could get some better rates

I can't answer to the city in in the other areas but as far as EMS and ambulance billing uh having it outsourced if you will there is significant gain to having that power as a group but also staying on top of the everchanging landscape of medical billing um which gets more and more complex every day and so uh someone like Casey could probably I know I did it specialized and so there's a lot more liability in how you build things like Medicaid and Medicare a ton of liability on us and if you don't know medical billing it's yeah for the for the record I did ask the question at at you Chad but I was also you know, looking at Casey sideways over there too when I said it, but

I looked. Uh, but basically, you know, if if there's ever an opportunity for increased efficiency, if there there's probably not even a program out there that would do both um you know, and in terms of efficiency because I understand like you're saying, highly specialized, but just just food for thought. Do you want to get into the medical billing? Actually, that went the wrong way.

Yes, it did. Well, Chief Sap and I did talk about that. Um, and I crunched the numbers and it really would not behoove us to get into the medical billing. I know that we a long time ago billing was done in city hall and there was a reason that they outsourced it. Um, I I don't want to I don't want to do that.

Yeah, there was approximate I mean there's approximately 4,200 runs last year that we sent out for billing. and when you're dealing with insurance and then all the compliance that goes with it on the medical side that um yeah so the other thing I did want to add sorry is just I think it is important is like we always try to look at industry standards and what other people are doing too and this this company is one that Lee Summit city of Lee Summit's using Johnson County Kansas uh Raytown Fire South Metro uh just here and a large portion of the St. Louis Metropolitan agencies as well. So,

I'll just add I'm actually really glad I asked the question then because it sounds like it is something we looked into and it's not something that makes sense at this current time. So, I'm actually really glad to hear that response. We had those discussions and if you look at what we have to compensate them, we're compensating them 90,000 and you want to hire somebody that knows exactly what they're doing in this and you're not going to save much. And then on top of that, you're going to have to invest in the software for the billing and the connections. And so really, it probably would actually cost us more. Perfect. Thank you. That's what I needed to know. Go ahead.

And this is more directed at the city attorney and as part of the the contract. Um, it states that we can do arbitration, which I've already expressed my opinion about arbitration, but that it would take place in North Carolina, shall take place in North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, and then any other location is mutually agreed. And then also any arbitration award would have to be enforced through the Western District of North Carolina. Is there a reason that we're going to North Carolina when the contract does specifically state Missouri law applies? Uh, yes. And that is because this was done via cooperative purchasing. So, the city's ability and authority to tell them to amend or change the contract was significantly limited. Thank you.

Anybody else? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Three. Motion approving resolution 2025-093. A resolution approving the master services agreement between the city of Belton fire department and the Fairley Consulting Group LLC for professional services related to the preparation of reports for the Missouri GMT Medicaid managed care program. Is that second? Motion and a second.

All right. So, we've talked a few times about GMT. That's a it's a a supplemental payment program that we participated in since 2018. Um it gives us a fair amount. It's gotten us anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000 uh a year on that. This is actually a new portion of the program that honestly nobody knows much about. Um and so the managed care and Medicaid is a very it's a very consistent source of payment for us, but they tend to be the lowest payment. So that's why the supplemental program is nice. We have to turn in a whole bunch of data showing what it costs us to where we can come up with a per call cost on the ambulance service itself and then we get reimbured so much a call on the number of Medicaid calls but it excludes managed care Medicaid and so this new program will include that which is going to add a significant number of calls which by fairly consulting who we've used for multiple different things over the last two or three years for GMT it will also make and a a significant increase in the amount of money we get back. Um it's going to be a new venture. We're going to try this out for a year uh to see how it goes um because they haven't even finalized the way that we're going to actually submit that data and what that report looks like. But uh we're using him for that compilation of the data and turning it in just because he's got a lot of uh he's got a lot of background in that and has been very successful in some of the issues we've had with our current GMT.

Happy to answer any questions. Any questions? You don't have one hearing. None. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Dang, got me speechless. Four. Motion approving resolution 2025-094. A resolution creating a travel, training, and economic development advisory committee for the city of Belton. Present. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? You're up, sir.

Mr. Mayor and Council, before you tonight is a resolution uh to kind of formalize what we discussed during work session last meeting, which would be to essentially create a kind of a committee of uh three council members or a mayor and two council members and the city manager, economic development director to kind of formulate a travel training and economic development um policy for the city. We don't really have an established policy for deciding who goes to what training, what kind of um uh tra travel rationale we utilize, um who goes to vet economic development possibilities, those types of things. And um as our city continues to grow and as there are many training opportunities available to the council, um finding a way to formalize that um could be of, you know, it's just another way for us to be accountable to the residents. So, um, that's essentially what's before you and so I'd be glad to stand for any questions.

Go ahead. You got any? You got it? Yeah. Um, maybe not so much a question, but I am interested in forming this as kind of a check and balance on these types of decisions. Um, and I would be very interested in serving on this committee. Um, that's who needed to hear that. So, Right. I'm taking notes. Thank you. Okay. You all heard that dibs. Okay.

And just just for just for clarification, this is not appointing the committee. This is essentially the resolution which would allow us to form form it. And in a future meeting, we would have a potential process for getting onto the committee, which I assume would follow most of the other committees um that we have for the city, which would be a mayor appointing with the council approving. Patrick, is Dibs legally binding? Uh, unfortunately in this in this circumstances, Dibs is not. Um, the mayor has significant discretion in his appointment authority. Go ahead. Yeah, I'd like to volunteer, too. You're talking to the wrong person. He told us that, but didn't stop me. Anybody else?

All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Consent agenda. One motion none to be able to approve the recommendations noted. Any member of the council may ask for an item to be taken from the consent agenda for discussion and separate action. Present. Second. Have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Communication from city council. What? He didn't pull anything. Oh, Council Member Johnson,

I attended the uh mayor's uh Christmas tree lighting. I thought it was a great event. Um I think things went very well. I think the choir was wellreceived. Uh I think everybody had a good time. Um and we're the coalition is is still having events um next Saturday and the 20th as well or this coming Saturday and the 20th as well. There'll be a Wasa walk and then a cardinal scavenger hunt with a prize at the end for the person who finds all of the cardinals. Um, and that's all I've got and wishing everybody happy holidays. Council member McCllum. So, I guess before I go, I want to double check. Does this mean we are officially not having a meeting on the 23rd?

This means we are likely going to cancel it. I don't want to formally say we're going to cancel it yet just to make sure that there's nothing that comes down the pike that's emergency in the next 10 days or so.

Sure, that's fair. Okay. Well, let me start then by saying I wish everybody a merry Christmas and a happy holidays um and uh happy new year and hope it goes well uh for everybody as they um enjoy this holiday time. I also uh I so we I' I've been loving the fact that we have so much going on on Main Street around the holidays. Um the light parade was a lot of fun and there was a lot of people that came out despite the chilly weather. Uh the carolers were absolutely fantastic for the mayor's Christmas tree lighting. The the and which by the way the tree looks great and just downtown looks great and I just you know it's just a wonderful time to be in Belton. Um the TDD board is taking Christmas off as well. Uh so the next meeting will be in January.

Um and I do have a lot of updates from parks but I'm going to stick to 2025. So, they have a lot of stuff coming in well mostly stick to 2025. Uh, they have a lot of stuff coming in January. I will hold most of it until January to talk about, but um this next weekend, so not this weekend, but next weekend the 20th, there will be um picnic with St. Nick uh on Saturday uh the the 20th. Then, um then that same day, kids can shop for presents um at High Blue. Uh um and then on January 6th uh which will be before our next meeting is a benefit bingo taking place on Tuesday from 1 to 3. Uh bring shampoo, deodorant, body wash, and you can get a bingo card. And the more items you bring, I guess the more cards you get. So just a fun event that will be taking place before we meet again. And then just expect my we'll have a long list come January. All right, that's everything I got.

Council member Richardson, I was not able to uh go to the mayor's Christmas tree lighting. It was a long work weekend. Sorry about that. Um I was at the uh Christmas light parade. Um being that it starts at our house. Um it was cold. Um we had a lot of floats in there. We had a lot of lot of vehicles in there. Um police started it off there. Uh fire parks was in there. Was public works in there? I didn't see you guys. I'm not sure if they made it or not. I was unable to be there.

Okay. I didn't see them, but I know you guys usually do, but I think Parks came in second. Is that right? Well done. So, and I appreciate all the police being there manning the uh barriers and doing that. And uh great night. So, thanks and merry Christmas to everyone out there. Echoing all of that. Um, but a special shout out to the snow machine parks breaks out because that is very fun. Um, and the high school choir sounded really good at your tree lighting. So, happy holidays everybody.

Uh, I would like to thank Councilman McCullum for the chance at no meeting in two weeks. So, thank you very much. Uh, I will echo yet again because they were they were that great. The choir really stood out. I thought they were awesome. Um, I was sorry I couldn't make the lights parade. I was out of town, but I did make it to the mayor's Christmas tree lighting and it was pretty good. The guy flipping the switch was questionable, but he had helpers. So, I had helpers. Yeah, the helpers bailed him out for sure. And happy holidays to everyone. Member Davidson.

Um, we actually had a homeless committee meeting um to discuss the warming shelters again for Heart and Hand. It's a great thing to be involved with. It's It's very rewarding to be there. You guys can even donate four or five hours of shift would be great. Um, I did go to Blue Wellness for Bingo with my granddaughter. She won

and I also was at the light parade and I was happy to see all the TV coverage. We had coverage in the morning. We had two news stations that night. There was lots of people even though it was it was cold but a lot of people came together, the different groups and really helped the Bel and Welfare Association out. Thank you.

Um I was uh I've been at the train, but I I have to say thank you to Hi and QT for the hot dogs, for the Christmas tree lighting. I really want to thank the city and Andrea and all the stakeholders that made us um available to give a very generous check to the Bel and Welfare Association. I we had 70 people ride on two different trains this last weekend in miserably cold weather and I asked most of them if this is the first time they've been in Belton and it was and a lot of them came to the mayor's Christmas tree lighting so I know that that's a reciprocal thing for us to have for people riding the train to come over onto our main street so I really appreciate that and I would prefer 65 degree weather for the next two weekends if no one minds

and um But Andrea did excellent. The the water hauling job was monumental, but I thought it turned out real nice. Council member White, I don't have anything. Thank you. Merry Christmas to all.

Uh, all right. Uh, first of all, I want to thank Andrea and her husband and her son for everything they did the other night at the mayor's Christmas tree. Uh, thank you. Tell them thank you. Uh, kudos to what everybody else is saying about everything. I mean, the parade and everything was great. Uh, we received an award today at the chamber award. Uh, so anybody can come look at this. I don't know where we'll put it, but we received an award for excellence presented to the city of Belton who provides outstanding service in the community of Belton, Missouri andor Cass County, Missouri and recognizes making a significant contribution to the well-being of the community and its citizens 2025. So, we received that today. So,

very good. One other quick thing. Go ahead. Go ahead. Um, the Lions who cooked our hot dogs, it was what group? The Belray Sunrise Lions. Yeah, they excellent job cooking 450 hot dogs. So, so anybody else, Mr. City Manager,

Mr. Mayor, just a couple procedural things. One, uh, obviously if we do cancel the 23rd meeting, which is highly likely at this point, the next council meeting would be on, uh, January 13th. So we would have a nice big bit bit of a break there um for everybody. Of course thereafter we will also have a a work session for budgeting. It's that it's that time of year where in the in the mix of the budget um I know our finance department's been working hard on it for the last you know so many months even and uh trying to get that into shape so we can get it out to you guys individually before the end of this calendar year so you guys have time to review it before we get into our workshop. And so that's that's shaping up nicely. Um, and then also the city hall, city hall annex, the city offices will be closed uh as a holiday for Wednesday, December 24th, Thursday, December 25th, obviously for Christmas, and then Thursday, January 1st. So that's it.

Anybody else? All right. Items for review and discussion. Item one, municipal separate storm sewer system. You would have to run our night, wouldn't you? So, this is our annual storm water management program update. I know you guys all look forward to this meeting because this is the time I make the presentation. I've done it several times and you've heard it many times. And so, I'm sure some of you can just run up here and say, "Boy, I'd like to do that for you, Greg." If you want to step right up, it's the same information. It's just part of what we do is we give information over and over again to keep educating people to remember about storm water. Storm water is very important. Uh believe it a lot of people have a hard time believing that storm water is actually per permitted but Missouri Department of Natural Resources. So the city of Belton does hold a permit for storm water. And so we are required to check every outfall during our permit time and every year we have to check so many. This is the year that we are actually going checking them all. There's two individuals out there looking at them right now and trying to get them all viewed. The best time is of course in the winter time when all the leaves are off and the snakes are gone and so but it is something that's important for us to do. We have to hold a permit. Any violations of permit is something that we get fined for. Uh so our permit is uh going right now. It actually ends uh this next year and we're going to go start the renewal process in April and we'll go through about August before we get ourselves a new permit. All the outfalls, there's 500 outfalls are going to be mapped. We're going to look at them. We're actually finding ones we never knew existed. And that's basically a location where water leaves someone else's property and goes into a creek or a stream that we have to uh look at. It may not even creek or stream that we own, but it's still something where it leaves one person's property and goes into these creeks. We have to actually go and inspect them all. Um, and part of what we do is we also hold events

throughout the year trying to get people to clean up streams. So, if you ever want to go clean up streams, just let us know and we'll get you signed up to do it. Um, there are six uh controls that we always look at. These are the things that DNR requires us to do. We're going to just step through them real rapidly here for you because I'm sure you know them all really good. The first thing we do is public education and outreach. Uh we go through and we tell everybody about how they're supposed to do storm water, how they're supposed to take care of whether you're a homeowner, whether you're a contractor. If you like us to come out and do outreach for you, we'd be more than happy. We have a young man who goes out and is training all the people who work for the city right now to make sure everyone in the city has heard the same speech. His speech is about 30 minutes long. We're going to try to make this about five minutes long. Right, Casey? Uh it uh but we teach about BMP's best management practices. How do you handle water? So, one of the things is if you come out to our lot, you'll notice that we do have an island that's got holes in the curbs. It's a place for water to go to. So, the oil that comes off your car can go into these spots. We have natural plants in them to absorb the oil so the water leaves cleaner. So when a developer comes in and says, "Why do I have to put these BMPPS in? Why do I have to do these things?" I'm doing it myself on my lot. And so we're an example of what you do so no one can say, "Well, the city doesn't do it." Well, I've done it to our lot. Um, second thing is always uh uh public participation. Public participation and and this is always really good. It's uh if anybody ever has a comment, we have a place where you always can comment for our MS4 permit. you can bring it in. We make presentations to everybody, anybody who ever wants one. Uh we used to do one live. Uh and I think Council Member Lawson is the only person who's on it when we did about four years ago. She listened to us actually presented, I believe. Uh but it's another thing that we do to track involvement and try to get the public involved in doing it. Uh elicit discharge. Elicit discharge is a big item for us. We haven't done as much tracking and enforcement in the past as we have. this next year, we're going to

have to be more involved and more diligent in it. Uh we had one person who was a big illicit discharge person in town who was changing oil on the street and dumping oil in the street and it was going into our storm water which goes into creeks which go where all the fish and all the wildlife are. And so u but it also includes people who decide to scrape paint off their houses or cars or anything else and just drops paint on the ground. You can't do that. You can't have oil dropping off your vehicles. All these things is things that we're going to have to be more viligent in trying to get uh get clean and make sure people aren't doing it. We've had businesses have discharges out of their businesses and they dump stuff out and we have to uh go and talk to them and get them to stop doing those items. Uh if anybody ever sees them, feel free to contact us about that. Uh construction site storm water runoff. Uh this is another one that you may get calls on. This is where we make them put silt fences up, put the gutter buddies in where we stop the silt from leaving people's sights. Erosion is a big deal. We don't want water to leave the ground that you're working on and go into someone else's pond or creek and fill it in and silk things in. It also destroys our storm water system because it goes into our pipes and then we have to spend a lot of money trying to clean it out, get that dirt out and put that dirt back somewhere where it belongs. And so we have to inspect these things, verify them and stay on top of them. It also includes them dragging mud out of their sites and putting it onto our streets. So that's how come we're always after people who are uh doing construction work and we're not favorites. So a lot of contractors in town. Uh we also do post construction. So a lot of times we uh have detention ponds in neighborhoods and those detention ponds become the ownership of the HOA. Uh those ponds have to be maintained in perpetuity. They they will always exist. A lot of HOAs want to dissolve and say we don't want to be an HOA anymore, but they forget they own that pond. Someone has to own that pond. Someone has to maintain that pond. The city does not maintain those. They have

to maintain those ponds. And so we have to regularly check them, see what's going on, and then get back to HOA to make recommendations to have them cleaned out. And that is something that we do get calls on. Uh then we do uh pollution uh prevention at our own facilities. Part of what we do is we go through and inspect all our facilities, make sure that we're not in violation, that we don't have cans of paint where it can leech out and go into a creek or, you know, even our own salt building. We make sure the salts pushed into the building so no salt's leeching out into out into the uh into the waterways. And so inspecting our buildings, an ongoing process is something that we continue to do every year. Uh this is basically what our storm order process is. We have to have a permit for DNR. Anytime there's a violation of it, um if someone else is at fault, they uh can get fined for it. If we're not taking action against it, then DNR finds us. Uh it's something that DNR is on very hard. It's something that's very difficult to keep track of because it's even if you look at business that have u their trash can and the trash blows out of their trash can and goes into a creek, that is a violation. And so we have to stay on top of all our creeks all the time. Make sure they're clean of waste and debris. Happy to answer any questions that you have about it.

Go ahead. Can you remind us where we're at with the street sweeper? Wouldn't we want clean streets with all of this? Uh clean street sweeping is one avenue that you can use to uh to get points or uh in your plan. It's not a requirement to be in anybody's plan for an MS4 permit. So, it is not included in our permit. Okay. But our street sweepers broken. Correct. We don't have a street sweeper anymore. It's gone. Oh, okay. Go ahead.

Uh I got distracted by the street sweep. Oh, do we have a I mean, do we have a map of all of our creeks or what counts as a creek? Is it Is it a have to be an officially recognized like I'm because we have a lot of little creeks, right? That right. So, basically what we're talking about is any place where if you think about a parking lot in any business you go to if it doesn't have some sort of storm sewer that hooks up and goes to it, you'll see some place where the concrete the curb has like a little outfall like a little like waterfall out where that water leaves that property and goes into a common property. That is a considered a creek. That's an outfall. Boy, we got a lot of those.

Yes, we do. And I got two staff members that think that there's a lot more than we ever thought. Anybody else? All right. Thank you, sir. All right. Uh, I would Nice job. What I said? Nice job. I would entertain a motion to enter an executive session to discuss matters pertaining to legal actions according to Missouri State Statute 610.021.1 021.1 pertaining to the leasing purchase sale of real estate according to Missouri state statute 610.021.2 pertaining to negotiated contracts according Missouri state statute 610.021.12 021.12. It's the record to be closed in the meeting. Adjourn from there. Presette. Second. Motion in a second. Roll call, please.

Council member McCllum. I. Johnson. I. Lawson. I. Richardson. I. Davidson. Yes. Brian. I. Thompson. Yes. White. I. Mayor Liy. I. Motion passes.