County Council - Regular Meeting

What's up, buddy? Busy day. It's amazing when you just move an hour 30 minutes, how it changes everything. What? When you move a meeting just 30 minutes, how it changes all of your routine. Oh my gosh. And you remember

who wants to make our motion tonight? I will make our motion. Pursue it too. Yes, pursue it. All right. Says 6:30 on this one. So, um, I would entertain a motion to go into close session. Okay. I like to make a motion to go in close session per state statute RSM 610.0211 and two. Second. Motion in second. Please call the role. Councilman Swanson. Yes, ma'am. Councilman Brazzle. Councilman Hammond. Yes. Councilman Elim. Yes. Councilman Hollander.

Yes. Councilwoman York. Yes. Councilman Baker. We are in close session.

Say I. I. Any opposed? We are back from close session. So, we'll give you a couple of minutes before we jump back into the meeting. in here. It is cold in here. The air condition air conditioner works, says the hockey guy. It's not cold, says the guy who lives on an ice right2.

How are you all? Good to see you. We're going to move you guys up so you don't have to wait. So, yeah. Are you guys good with that? Yeah. Yeah, I think the resolution

so he can get in and out of here. They just motion to It would be

in the morning after roll. Yes, that's what I just pulled out. Excellent. Okay, you were right. You were right. Pretty good. treat you. Yeah, you your next adventure.

Good evening everybody. I know that's loud tonight, isn't it? Um we don't have as many people as we've had for the past few meetings, thankfully. Uh welcome to the April 13th, 2026 St. Charles County Council meeting. Uh we will start off tonight with our invocation. Henry Durst is here from Precious Seed in St. Charles and Councilman Swanson is going to lead us in our pledge of allegiance. Henry, if you would please pray for us. You can move to the middle if you'd like.

Okay. Thank you, Lord. For the benefits of life here in St. Charles County, please honor the intent of the lady and the gentleman of this board. Give them proper insight into the proposals brought before them. Lord, also would you please work on the minds of those who plan crimes here? They will surely suffer in one way or another for speeding, attacking, stealing, and cheating. And of course, the county's board would not be discussing millions of dollars of expenses for more enforcement officers, more judges, more courtrooms, and more incarceration housing. Thank you for hearing that request, Lord, in the holy name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance 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.

Thank you. May be seated. Please call the role. Councilman Swanson, here. Ma'am. Councilman Brazzle here. Councilman Hammond here. Councilman Elum here. Councilman Hollander here. Councilwoman York here. Councilman Baker here. Uh, we have a uh resolution tonight that I think Councilwoman York would like to make a motion on. I'd like to make a motion that we move up the order of business so that we can take care of resolution 2608 at this time. So motion's been made to amend the agenda. Second that. And a second. All those in favor say I. All those opposed. We will amend the agenda and move up uh resolution 2608.

Resolution 2608. Can they come up here? I was going to have her read it first. First. Okay. Yeah. Thank you.

Resolution 2608 sponsored by council as a whole. A resolution recognizing Everett Martin as the 2026 Boys and Girls Club winner of Junior Youth of the Year. Whereas Junior Youth of the Year is part of the Boys and Girls Club of America's premier recognition and leadership development program, Youth of the Year. And whereas since 1947, Youth of the Year has recognized and celebrated the extraordinary achievements of club teens and now Junior Youth of the Year gives younger members ages 10 to 13 the training and practice they need to develop leadership skills and be considered for Junior Youth of the Year at the local level. And whereas the program cultivates junior leaders, giving them the basics they need for more advanced leadership development, academic excellence, and post-secondary success. And whereas the winner of the 2026 Boys and Girls Club Junior Youth of the Year is Everett Martin. And whereas Everett is 11 years old and is in the sixth grade at Jefferson Intermediate School in St. Charles. And whereas Everett was awarded this honor after competing against nine other local club kids and will advance to compete for state junior youth of the year against all the other boys and girls clubs in Missouri on April 14th and 15th in Jefferson City. And whereas Everett is committed to learning and has received the academic excellence Montichello award, plays the saxophone in the school band, and has illustrated the children's book Old Blue Saves the Day. And whereas as a Boys and Girls Club member for four years, Everett participates in Junior Youth of the Year and the Church Torch Club to Revine to refine his leadership skills, public speaking skills, and decision-making skills. And whereas Everett leads by example with kindness and respect and is a role model and ambassador for the Boys and Girls Club. Now therefore, be it resolved by the County Council of St. Charles County, Missouri, as follows.

Section one. The St. Charles County Council hereby recognizes and congratulates Everett Martin as the winner of the 2026 Boys and Girls Club of St. Charles Junior Youth of the Year. So, Scott Meyers is here who is the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of St. Charles County. Scott, if you want to come up, ever, if you want to come up with your parents, uh, and stand up here. Scott, if you'd like to just talk a little bit about Boys and Girls Club and and this award and, um, and Everett.

Yeah. I, um, first off, want to thank everybody for this. Uh, Everett represents, uh, to put it clearly, the best of the best that this club puts together. Everett has to compete against his peers, but do so in a way that elevates the academic success, the leadership success, and everything that encompasses what our mission is, is which is to elevate the youth and prepare them to be the best citizens that they can be. And Everett really recognizes that. He competed, as the resolution said, against nine other uh individuals across our two main uh units here in St. Charles County. and Everett was announced at the gayla. He was able to get in front of 500 people to say his speech of what it means to be a part of the Boys and Girls Club. Uh this resolution just really solidifies uh the community's acceptance and and recognizing the importance of this kind of work um and this kind of program. And so I just want to extend my appreciation and thanks to all of you for that too.

Thank you. Every you want to say anything? There's only seven of us, not 500. It's not nearly as scary. Just go for it. Do you want to pull that mic down for him a little?

It'll pick you up. You don't have to get right into it. Okay.

First, I'd like to say thank you to the St. Charles County Council members for inviting me here today. It is a great honor to be recognized. I'd also like to personally thank County Executive Steve Elman, who is a former club member himself, for his continued support of the club, and Council Member Patty York for sponsoring my invitation today. I've been going to the Boys and Girls Club for 4 years. I love to be involved at the club and really enjoy the activities where we learn something. Something that the Boys and Girls Club does really well is teaching each member the building blocks of being a good leader. One of the qualities of a good leader is public speaking. Public speaking was definitely a challenge for me. The biggest challenge. The Boys and Girls Club has seriously helped me in this way. Before I went to the club, I had to speak in front of other people and it did not go well. I froze in front of about 90 people and it was very embarrassing. Thanks to the Boys and Girls Club, my public speaking improved like crazy. The club staff believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. They provided me with many opportunities to speak in front of all sorts of other all in front of others such as people like you and they encouraged me all along the way. I can now speak in front of others confidently and well. The Boys and Girls Club is an amazing program that helps everyone to be the best that they can be. They've helped me in so many ways, just like how they have helped other kids in so many ways. So, as you perform your duties as council members, I hope that you keep the Boys and Girls Club in mind as every opportunity to support the club is an opportunity to support our community. Thank you. Yeah, by all means come on up so we can

you did an excellent job. And I will tell you, I used to sorry I used to teach speech in college and you know like public speaking is like the number one thing people are scared of in the whole world. So you did a good job. Nothing to be afraid of. That's it. Congratulations. Great job. Good job. Good job. be a better artist. I was very nice. I I was I was a boy club member when I was 11 years old. The same same age as he is. St. Charles uh club right here in town. And there's no way I could have done what you just did. No. Thank you.

Hey, don't go far ever cuz we want to get a picture real quick. So, we need to actually make this official because we haven't voted on this yet. So, let's let's make that official. Resolution 2608, sponsored by council as a whole. A resolution recognizing Everett Martin as the 2026 Boys and Girls Club winner of Junior Youth of the Year. Councilman Swanson, yes, ma'am. Councilman Brazzle, yes. Councilman Hammond, yes. Councilman Elum, yes. Councilman Hollander, yes. Councilwoman York, yes. Councilman Baker, yes. Now, if you would come forward and Scott, if you want to come with him, just stand up here. So you

then we can take your picture. Patty going down. She's got a resolution for you. If you want to hold that up, let Patty come down and stand with you here.

There we go. You're going to make the newsletter now.

These are the kind of resolutions I love doing. So, Patty, thank you uh for doing this. Scott, thanks for all you folks do at the Boys and Girls Club. They have an amazing organization. Uh huge alumni group. Yes. From St. Charles. All kinds of famous folks. All right. So, with that, let's uh get back into our original um agenda and go to conditional use permit bill number 5481.

Bill number 5481 requested by Michael Hurlbert, sponsored by Joe Brazzle. An ordinance granting conditional use permit CUP26-02 for a writing stable to Grey Stoke Farms LLC property owner and Jenna Butler applicant. Mike Crobert is going to fill in for uh Robert Myers for it tonight. Unfortunately, Robert had a death in his family and had to be out of town. So, we get the big guy tonight who's stepping up literally and figuratively. And I got to follow that. There you go. Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So, help you add. I do.

Good evening, members of the council. My name is Michael Herbert. I'm the director of community development for the county. And um I present this request for a conditional use permit on behalf of the planning and zoning division. The property in question is located on 16.17 acres at 1872 Chnare Road. It is zoned a agricultural district and a conditional use permit is required for the requested use of a riding stable. Approval of this bill would allow the applicant to build an 8,900 square ft indoor riding arena with a 5700 square ft stall barn for a maximum of up to 25 horses. Additionally, 1.54 acres will be used for the open pasture and paddic areas for the horses. The applicant intends to operate the stable as a private facility with no large public events, competitions, public gatherings, and horse training will only be done by appointment. The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing at its March 18th, 2026 meeting where there was one speaker in support and zero speakers in opposition. There were also no letters of concern or opposition turned in to staff. At that meeting, Planning and Zoning Commission voted eight in favor, zero opposed to recommend approval subject to the conditions that are in your packets. Uh, I am available to answer any questions.

Any questions from the council? No. Seeing none, uh, would you please introduce the applicant? I would like to introduce Miss Jenna Butler as the applicant to speak at this time. Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So, help you guide. Welcome, Jenna. Good evening. My name is Jenna Butler. Thank Do you want to pull that mic down real quick? Sorry about that. I know public speaking is scary. I hear it is.

Thank you for your time and consideration to hear my proposal for a riding stable. I am the owner and head trainer of Greytope D LLC, which provides training, lessons, and care for privately owned horses. I have worked with horses my entire life and have been a professional trainer for eight years. It is my intent that my proposed horse training facility be a private, peaceful, and safe place for me to operate my horse training business as well as ride and care for my own personal horses. We initially intend to build a 16st stall barn and indoor riding arena as well as associated fencing and structures for storing equipment and supplies. We have taken great care to design the facility and overall property in a way that maximizes horse welfare. Most things that would bother any neighbors or potential neighbors also bother our horses, including loud sounds, bright outdoor lighting and offensive odors and pests created from waste. In the future, my husband and I will be building our private residence on this property as well. This property is not intended to be a public boarding barn with heavy traffic and associated noise. Our operations, like many agricultural and ecoin businesses, do require us to be caring for the horses before sunrise and after sunset. Horse care is a 247 commitment, especially if the horse ever become sick or injured. But due to the design of the facility, tasks carried out inside the barn and indoor arena would not disturb neighboring properties as they are set back a minimum of 190 ft from the nearest property line. Our main goal with this property is to allow a safe, peaceful place for me to care for my own horses as well as select private clients in a way that upholds the rural character of the area. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. Any questions for the applicant? No, not seeing none. Thank you very much. So with that, we would open up our public hearing. Um, anyone who wishes to speak on this? Arie Dino.

Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So help you out. I do.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, members of the county council. My name is Ari C ACO, county public advocate. Um, I was the lone person who testified at the planning and zoning commission meeting. First of all, I'd like to say to the applicant, um, an outstanding job in your presentation. It was very professional, very thought out, very well planned, and I wish we had a lot more applicants follow these traits. Um, I had no questions um that came up from the applicant, but I have a number of questions about I have a number of questions about I don't know what that noise is.

Okay. Uh, I have a number of questions about the staff's interpretation of our county codified ordinances and um also the conditions that were placed upon the applicant which I hope were worked out. Um I my recollection is I think there were some changes. I really think that staff went way too far on the conditions in the first place. We're talking about an agricultural district. Um one of the contention was um the number of horses. um all farm animals. To my um understanding, to my interpretation of state law and our county charter, if you're in an agricultural district, you can have as many chickens, as many cows, as many horses that you see fit and can afford to feed and take care of those uh farm animals. for staff to put a limit of I believe um it's 20 horses I think is my recollection uh on the applicant I think is totally inappropriate. I think that you should lift any restrictions in the agricultural district and leave that up to private property owner rights and for the private property to interpret what's best for the best utilization of their property. The next issue of contention was that staff felt that there should be a limit on the hours of operation. And I took personal offense to that because I've ridden horses my entire life and I've taken sunset uh rides and um sunrise rides on numerous occasions. To limit this applicant and this property owner to certain hours of operation, in my opinion, is ludicrous, is wrong, and goes against private property owner rights. Again, we're talking about an agricultural district. We're talking about uh riding horse stables and offering public rides for the public to come become familiar with riding and um the various aspects of um

enjoying our rural St. Charles County. So, I would ask the council to number one remove the amount of horses um in case the applicant wants to grow and expand her and her husband's operation. The second issue is I'd like you to remove staff's condition uh on the hours of operation to allow that up to the p uh up to the farm uh the farm owners to decide. In my opinion, staff took the interpretation of our county codified ordinances our codified code and the conditions too far in this one. And I think that we need to have a conversation between you as elected officials and the county uh planning and zoning staff so we don't get embarrassed and don't set ourselves up for failure in the future. It's common sense. This is a no-brainer. I'm in full support of this application and I would ask the county council to unanimously approve the applicants uh conditional use permit.

Anyone have any questions for the speaker? Seeing none. Thank you. Any other speakers? Anyone else wish to speak? Seeing none, I would normally invite you back up to take any questions, but does anybody have any questions for the applicant? So, with that, I won't make you come back and do that again. Uh, so that will we'll close our public hearing. Dave, yeah, I I kind of agree with Arie. I don't know why we set hours on this particular um application. So I I would I would like to remove the hours of operation.

The hours were removed at planning and zoning. There are no hours of operation. Oh, okay. The only hours are for lighting. No, no lighting on after 8:00 p.m. Okay. That that's the only hours. Thank you. Any other questions for staff?

Last call. With that, thank you for filling in for Robert. Give our best to his family. With that, we'll close this CUP. We will be voting on that in two weeks. So, in two weeks, we'll come back and do a final. Uh, with that, we'll move on to public comments. Public comments are 3 minutes of piece. The clock in front of Mr. Swanson will go to 3 minutes and we'll countdown. We ask that you speak to stick to the subject that you put on the card uh so we can give everybody a good chance to speak when the three minutes is up. I will thank you for your time and we will move on to the next speaker. Our first speaker is um David Volos regarding bill number 5482.

Good evening. My name is David Volos. I'm with Vols Engineering and our address is 10849 Indian Head 63132. And I want to speak about bill 5482, which is PZ 2601, the Gutmouth Road um resoning. And really, I'm just here to answer any questions, but I would point out that the staff recommended approval and the planning commission uh recommended approval of the resoning, and they actually approved the u the preliminary plat contingent upon the zoning. So, so with that, I'm just here uh to answer any questions. Thank you. And I would like to offer that young gentleman a job, but he left. Uh, next speaker,

Jose Lair Desabo regarding public transportation.

Hello. I'm not in a suit today. All right. So, uh, good evening everyone. My name is Jose Armento Lardis Zabal and I live on Fifth Street near a church, a hospital, and a fire department. I sleep like a baby. So, I'm dressed like this today to talk to you about the benefits of public transportation. It's a me, Metroink. I first rode the Metroink on June 8th, 2025 to get to St. Louis Pridefest. I installed the transit app on my phone and paid $5 for a 24-hour ticket to ride the train. I drove to North Hanley Station, about a 15-minute drive from where I live in St. Charles City, and took the train to Civic Center Station. From there, I walked a few minutes north to St. Louis Pridefest at the Soldiers Memorial Museum. After my first Metroink trip, I rode the train to attend the following events. First was Enchanticon 2025 at Union Station. I took the train once again from North Hanley Station to Union Station. This took me directly to the Union Station parking lot, which was way more convenient than hunting for parking the previous times I'd been there. Number two is was Galaxy Con 2025 to the St. Louis Convention Center. I took the train to the convention center station and then went up the stairs and walked a block towards the convention center. Very convenient and much cheaper than paying for parking in downtown St. Louis. Uh number three was Transworld 2026, also at the St. Louis Convention Center. Um I noticed that parking on that day was $35 next to the convention center and $20 a few blocks away. My friend opted for the cheaper parking at $20 a day. I took the train and saved $15. Uh for those of you who like baseball, you can spend $5 to take the train from again North Hanley station to the stadium station. This takes you across the street to Bush Stadium. And don't worry, there are crossing guards everywhere and you'll be safe crossing the road with like the bajillion other

baseball enjoyers going to and from Bush Stadium. If you like the history museum, the art museum or the zoo, you can get off at Forest Park deba Station. It's a few minutes walk to the history museum and less than 30 minutes walk to either the art museum or the zoo. Well, I don't expect to convince y'all here of the benefits of Metro Lake expansion right away, but I will be back until you see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, it's not a train. Thank you, Mike Loisman regarding the St. Charles County Airport. Miles, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Miles. Sorry about that. It's okay.

Bad pinmanship. Good evening, council. In 1976, you guys acquired maybe unbeknownst to you, a little airport out east of town called Kat. If everything you thought was right at KSET was actually wrong, when would you want to know? right here. We don't do back and forth public comments. Okay, perfect.

Well, you guys are getting ready to get into a high level of litigation over some events that have transpired at St. Louis County Airport within the last year. There is gross incompetence among your former airport manager who has retired and there is obtuse your your your county um employees are very obtuse even to the extent and this will all come out but even to the extent that one of the lawsuits that is filed and Miss York this is in your district uh uh the supposedly person that's representing St. Charles County stated that we'll just wait for this person to die who is 91 years old. So, not only do you have an age discrimination lawsuit getting ready to happen, but you also have discriminated against a Korean War veteran. I will save you guys the details because it will all come out. But I suggest the county get really really familiar with how obtuse some of your people are. Here's a letter from your county person that's actually in charge of the airport. He's also in charge of the parks. And if you want to say govern yourself accordingly. I was discriminated against. And this will all come out in the lawsuits that are getting ready to be filed. The good news, Sam Graves, US Congressman 106 or excuse me, US Congressman 6 from Northern Missouri, he sits on the FAA board. That's his job there in Washington DC. He got an email about this tonight. All the stuff that's gone on out there for the last year. I would have an executive out there tomorrow at

the airport. Get rid of all the abandoned cars. You're not allowed to have in an airport hanger anything that is non-eronautical. I did not know this, but I became an expert on what you can and cannot have in an airplane hanger. And if it doesn't have to do with supporting the aircraft or have to do with airplanes, it doesn't along it doesn't belong there. You guys will be hearing from our attorney, I suggest your attorney reach out to our attorney. You guys make it a great day. Thank you. Thank you. Monica Ballastrai, following up on bill number 5474.

Good evening. I'm Monica Balisteri, candidate for St. Charles County Council, District 7. I'm here to comment on the passage of Bill 5474. I'm disappointed, not only disappointed in the policy, but especially disappointed in the process. I believe good governance requires accountability, transparency, and decisions that are grounded in data. I watched this council vote on the ICE agreement with no debate, no answers, no cost estimate, no legal review, no accountability plan, and no acknowledgement of the residents that showed up and wrote letters. You voted and moved on. That's not government governance. That's a rubber stamp. My first question is simple. What data did the council evaluate before voting on the ICE agreement? Every policy decision of this magnitude should be based on facts because it affects public safety, public trust, and the people who live and work in this county. Before the vote, why did the council not require the chief to present supporting data, not subjective endorsements from other agencies? What is the actual scope of the problem being solved? How often are officers waiting on ICE and for how long? What is the documented cost per incident? What outcomes have compar comparable counties reported, including any civil rights complaints or racial disparities in enforcement? If the data supports this agreement, then show us, publish it. I will point out that in January of this year, based on public comment from just one citizen, the council spent 5 minutes in public session discussing short-term rental regulations. You asked county attorneys to further research the matter. That approach was appropriate and responsible. But I have to ask, why was that standard of due diligence not applied here? The ICE agreement has far broader implications for this community than a short-term rental ordinance. If short-term rentals warranted a legal

review, then it certainly warranted one here. I'm asking the county to set aside politics and emotion and make decisions based entirely on facts. That's what this community deserves. First, release the data and legal analysis you reviewed before the vote. Second, release the outcome of this agreement at a minimum on a quarterly basis. Third, assess public cost and liability. And fourth, commit to a formal one-year review with a recorded vote to continue or terminate it based entirely on that data. Leaders in this community must be able to represent all residents, not just the ones they agree with. This means public discussion before consequential votes. It means presenting data that supports your decisions and it means being transparent about the outcomes afterward. That's what leadership looks like. This council still has a chance to demonstrate it and I hope you will. Thank you.

Thank you. Bob Eno regard regarding short-term rental ordinances.

Hello, my name is Bob Eno. I live at 4129 Stafford Woods off of Dingle Road. This is a perfect Sudgeway, I'd say. You know, so anyway, about six months ago, I brought short-term rental to the county council. U it was an issue, something I was concerned about in my neighborhood and several other neighborhoods. And um uh we had a start stop to address the ordinance to address it. Tim Patty York, thank you so much for jumping in. Rory O Sullivan, thank you. Mike Hbert, thank you so much. We have a document and u just want to compliment everybody. I like the document. It looks very good. It covers all the bases, I believe. And uh I understand that on April 27th, there's going to be some kind of a working session to address this and try to get something, you know, something accomplished. So, I urge you to get it done. It is an issue. We're going into summer months. Uh we've already had some issues on my street. I know we've had some issues over in Heritage. Um, another friend of mine in that lives in the uh, Defiance area, uh, she said there's been a problem down there as well. So, they need to be addressed. We need to address them. There needs to be a tax on this. There needs to be inspections and there needs to be a license uh issued for the residence for that building uh to that company and make that company responsible because at this point there really isn't unless you call the police and uh typically that's a short-term fix and really doesn't fix it the issue. So once again I thank you all for uh taking taking this under and uh and doing it. So thank you all.

Thank you.

Arie Dinov regarding the consent agenda. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, members of the county council. My name is Arie C, AC Dino, um county public advocate running in August for uh county executive. The first issue is under highway. Why are we buying again another six halftonon, four uhwheel drive pickup trucks from Don Brown Chevrolet in the amount of $261,000? Why are we investing in the economy of the city of St. Louis and not investing in our Chevy dealerships right here in St. Charles County that employ our neighbors and our family members and local businesses that support that? I I I just don't understand. So, um I'll keep bringing it up as long as I have to bring it up. The next issue on the consent agenda is the appointment of Kurt Goodwin. You know, it's an election season and Steve Elman is running for his job once again, although he said he was going to retire and um hopefully he doesn't fall asleep during any public meetings any longer. Um, but the appointment of uh Kurt Goodwin, I think he's trying to get votes and he's bringing up only because it's an election season. Kurt Goodwin is a business representative, a local 57 electric union uh on the Mid American Carpenters Regional Council. So, that's very sub uh interesting that this would come up. Now, bill number 5478 on the agenda. is an agreement for an instructor reimbursement to the St. Louis County uh police academy. And I don't understand why we're not investing in our own county. Once again, we have a very highly accredited Eastern Missouri law enforcement academy right here in

our own county. Um educating people in law enforcement at the lake in the city of Lake St. Louis at the Meadows. Why are we taking a police officer when we don't have current manpower to fill all the police positions that we currently have in our department of police? Why are we taking away and removing a police officer from our neighborhoods to go teach school in St. Louis County for $126,611 salary and overtime uh of $20,000 plus fringe benefits and pension contributions. It makes no sense to me. The next issue is the drone bill number 5483, drone first responder partnerships. Why aren't we joining with the city of Ofallen that just invested millions upon millions of dollars in a real-time crime center? Um, they have stationed drones that are deployed throughout the city of Fallon and can get to a call of a scene within 30 seconds. Why are we reinventing the wheel and why aren't we coming to intergovernmental uh cooperation and cooperation among our own municipalities and Piney Road, Piney Road, it's the worst road in our county and it needs an overhaul from safety to sidewalks to uh all kinds of things.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I ask that we finally take it up. Thank you. We have any future speaker? The final speaker.

That will wrap up our public comments and get us to oral report from the county executive. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the council. Um, as you may all remember at our last meeting, it was quite quite a long meeting and when we got towards the end, one of the last things on there was the resolution that the state statute requires us to pass every year indicating our intentions with regard to tax rates and u our intention with regards to tax rates. It's a non-binding resolution and it uh it was Senate Bill 7-Eleven. Gee, must have been 16 years ago. Uh it was an attempt by the legislature to do something about property taxes and it required us to basically send a message to the folks whether we had an intention of raising taxes or lowering taxes or keeping them the same. So, we have been doing that. We all we had to do was a resolution. That's why it wasn't read twice, but we had to go ahead and pass it the other night because uh by today it would have been beyond the deadline of doing that. But uh I I think uh there's heard a lot of questions about that since and I just want to clarify some things. There's um in some cases we're eliminating taxes, in other cases we're freezing them. The freeze, as you know, is on the personal property tax for the alarm and dispatch and road and bridge. And we for the last three years have gone ahead and frozen the amount of money that the county collected. Remember when we had that that that year where everybody's used car went up 20%. And rather than take the windfall, we decided we would just freeze the amount

we and then we would lower that amount uh that we uh lower the rate so we collected the same amount of tax. And that's what we did again at the last meeting. And I think you received a letter from Rory this week. We actually uh had our calculation a little bit long, a little bit off. If we meet our goal, we're going to have to actually lower it a little bit more to not collect any more than we've been collecting the last three years. So, those are those are the the freezes. Then there's a question of of eliminations and um every I'm going to use uh some some tax numbers both mine and and yours if you don't mind uh just to give people an idea not only of of who is is getting these uh this tax revenue but more uh importantly the fact that almost none of that property tax revenue is going to the county. Now this is uh this is my number here uh Gan and I and we pay a total uh property tax of 444 um county general revenue fund zero. Okay. Councilman from the from the first uh district pays 3620. County general revenue fund zero. Councilman from the second district pays 17,685

but he pays zero. Congratulations.

I wish I had your taxes. And last but not least, Mr. Elum here on the third on the third council district. He pays 4672, but again, what he pays to the county general fund is zero. All right. And I just want to make sure people uh I wish there was some way we could highlight that when we send this out to them when they get their their tax bill. uh because I'm very proud of the fact that for the last 10 years now our property tax rate has been zero. Now we still do get a little bit of money. We still get a little bit of money from the uh road and the dispatch and alarm and the road and bridge. And for that I'm going to pick on Mr. Hammond. And he pays $73 in personal property taxes. Okay? Hey, you know how much he pays to dispatch an alarm? $3.58. Mr. Hollander pays $321. How much does he pay to the county for dispatching alarm? $1.68. Okay. Then we've got the uh and the thing about dispatch and alarm, you know, that's that's for our police, but it's also for all the fire departments and the ambulance district. So, you know, we're getting a little bit of money uh to pay for that, but it's not just for us, it's for a lot of other folks, too. Uh and then finally, we have the uh for the sixth district here. Let's see. $2,127 in in personal property tax

and Councilman York pays to the road and bridge fund $55.40. But guess what? The county just gets half of that. The other half gets distributed to the cities. And finally, from the seventh district, Mr. acre $516 pays $1480. Now having gone through that those last four next year when it comes to the personal property tax should be zero because what what we projected and hope that we can do in September is to take the personal property tax which we simply have have frozen take the personal property tax from those alarm and dispatch at road and bridge and make it zero. Okay. So uh again that's our intent. I hope we can do it. Uh I think we can unless we have some unforeseen economic catastrophe or recession or something like that. But uh point is there's been a lot of discussion and there will continue to be a lot of discussion about property taxes. I just want I just want you all to understand and and hopefully your constituents to understand that uh we're a very small part of the problem but I think we have already been a big part of sol of the solution. So thank you.

Thank you. Um with that that will wrap up the oral report from the county executive and move us to the consent agenda. Any items to be removed from the consent agenda? Motion approved. Motion to approve from Mr. Brazzle. Second. Second uh from Miss York. Um all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? The consent agenda is approved. We have already done the resolution. Thank you again, Miss York, for bringing that up. Uh now we'll get to bills for final passage. Starting with bill 5476.

Bill number 5476, an ordinance authorizing the county executive to execute an amendment to the 2017 agreement entered into between St. Charles County and the St. Charles County Soil and Water Conservation District. Any questions or comments on this bill? Seeing none, please call the role. Bill number 5476, an ordinance authorizing the county executive to execute an amendment to the 2017 agreement entered into between St. Charles County and the St. Charles County Soil and Water Conservation District. Councilman Swanson. Yes, ma'am. Councilman Brazzle. Yes. Councilman Hammond, yes. Councilman Elim, yes. Councilman Hollander, yes. Councilwoman York, yes. Councilman Baker, yes.

Bill 5476 passes. We'll move to bill 5477. Bill number 5477, an ordinance approving a first amendment to the intergovernmental agreement with the city of Flint Hill for highways P and Mexico intersection improvements. Any questions or comments on this bill? Seeing none, please call the role. Bill number 5477, an ordinance approving a first amendment to the intergovernmental agreement with the city of Flint Hill for Highway P and Mexico intersection improvements. Councilman Brazzle, yes. Councilman Hammond, yes. Councilman Elim, yes. Councilman Hollander, yes. Councilwoman York, yes. Councilman Baker, yes. Councilman Swanson, yes, ma'am.

Wanted to work at the end there. Bill 5477 passes. That gets us to 5478. Bill number 5478, an ordinance authorizing the county executive to execute a contract between St. Louis County for and on behalf of St. Louis County and municipal police academy aboard of managers and the St. Charles County Police Department for purpose of providing basic training and continuing law enforcement education to police officers throughout St. Louis County. Questions or comments about this bill? I got a question. Um, will you pull that mic closer to things? Um, I guess Brian, are you doing this? Um, yes, sir. Um, why are is this is this have something to do with the academy thing that we're doing?

Yes, sir. This academy, this basic training academy will be the academy that that transfers into the new facility once it's built. And I'd also like to add one thing. One of the public speakers mentioned the cost to the county. This is reimburseable. So, this agreement, St. Louis County pays salary infringe for this officer to be an instructor there. Okay. All right. Thank you. Yes, sir. Any other questions or comments? Seeing none, please call the role.

Bill 5478, an ordinance authorizing the county executive to execute a contract between St. Louis County for and on behalf of St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy Board of Managers and the St. Charles County Police Department for purpose of providing basic training and continuing law enforcement education to police officers throughout St. Louis County. Councilman Elim, yes. Councilman Hollander, yes. Councilwoman York, yes. Councilman Baker, yes. Councilman Swanson, yes, ma'am. Councilman Brazzle, yes. Councilman H. Councilman Hammond, Bill 5478 passes, gets us to 5479.

Bill number 5479, an ordinance amending section 130.110 of the ordinances of St. Charles County, Missouri, regarding the employment benefit of the educational assistance program. Any questions or comments on this bill? Seeing none, please call the role. Bill number 5479, an ordinance amending section 130.110 of the ordinances of St. Charles County, Missouri, regarding the employee benefit of the educational assistance program. Councilman Hollander, yes. Councilwoman York, yes. Councilman Baker, yes. Councilman Swanson, yes, ma'am. Councilman Brazzle, yes. Councilman Hammond, yes. Councilman Elim,

yes. Bill 5479 passes. Our final bill for final passage 5480 bill number 5480 an ordinance amending section 115.335 of the ordinances of St. Charles County Missouri regarding the county employee career development program. Any questions or comments on this bill? Seeing none, please call the role. Bill number 5480, an ordinance amending section 115.335 of the ordinances of St. Charles County, Missouri regarding the county employee career development program. Councilwoman York, yes. Councilman Baker, yes. Councilman Swanson, yes, ma'am. Councilman Brazzle, yes. Councilman Hammond, yes. Councilman Elim, yes. Councilman Hollander,

yes. Bill 5480 passes. That wraps up bills for final passage. Gets us to bills for introduction. Starting with bill 5482. Bill number 5482 requested by Mike Herbert, sponsored by Mike Elim. An ordinance amending the zoning district map of the county of St. Charles, Missouri by reszoning land from R1A single family residential district to R1D single family residential district per application RZ26-01. Any questions or comments about this bill? Mr. Swanson, if I could, Mr. Volos, would you get up for this one? Sure. Uh, just a question. How many uh lots are you proposing for this now? There will be 19 lots.

Okay. Because before, if I had it right in my notes, it was at 64 back in 2024. Is that correct? Uh, I don't think so. Okay, then I was going through the the site is 9.4 acres and we're proposing 19 lots which is two per acre. Okay. So, I must have been looking at old data there. Sure. Just wanted to make sure I had my numbers right. Thank you. Thanks. Any other questions or comments about this? Uh, seeing none, that gets us to 5483. Bill number 5483 requested by Chief Kurt Frizz, sponsored by Mike Inam, an ordinance authorizing the county executive to enter into a memorandum of agreement between the county of St. Charles on behalf of the police department and selected private and public entities.

Any questions or comments about this one? Mr. Swanson, I'll hit that one as well. Um had a long conversation with Chief um I guess it was Friday. Uh he's out of town right now. That's why he's not here. This is a really interesting program. As one of our speakers said, of already doing this. Um, we will be partnering with them. They've got to figure out how long these can fly the distances. So, they'll be able to get on scene sooner to be able to redirect our officers in a much more safe manner. So, if traffic's backed up, they'll be able to have eyes in the air to tell them, hey, this is where you need to go. Partnering with all of our other first responders, this is going to be a really unique tool. Kind of get into the science fiction world now that we're going to have eyes in the sky doing this. But, uh, I think it's going to be really good for us overall.

Councilwoman York. Yes. I think Matt took said everything that I wanted to say. I think it's a great program and I would ask the sponsor if I could add my name to this bill. By all means, then I can tell my grandkids drones. Brian, so just to be clear, you have already approved the contract for these drones. What this does is an agreement to put the drones in the locations where they're going to be housed. So, this is a separate agreement from approving the program. You already did that. These are the agreements that we need to be able to put them in places like Quick Trips or schools or things like that where they're actually going to be housed. That's great. Cool.

Any other questions or comments about this? I think this is a really cool idea and I love the fact I know Matt talked to Chief, but just how our law enforcement is using technology these days is really amazing and doing things to use technology so our officers stay out of harm's way.

And it's really cool from an EMS standpoint as well how they can have eyes on the scene before they get there. they know what they're walking into and they show up better prepared, ready to take things on. Uh it it's just amazing. So, I applaud everybody who is making use of technology to keep our folks safe and to get us on site faster. Uh let's go to bill 5484. Bill number 5484 requested by Chief Kurt Fris, sponsored by Mike Elim, an ordinance amending the 2026 budget adopted in ordinance 25-082 to convert an intermittent computer forensic investigator to full-time status.

Any questions or comments on this bill? Mr. Swanson, you don't want to keep the Nope. Okay, I'm good on this one. Uh I I will tell you um we continue to talking about technology, we continue to make investments in this area uh with law enforcement as well and we had a number of crimes that have been solved uh that without these investments just wouldn't have happened. So again, I want to applaud everybody for continuing to lean into this and uh getting some great results for our citizens. Uh, bill 5485.

Bill number 5485 requested by Sarah Ever, sponsored by Mike Elim, an ordinance amending the 2026 budget, adopted as ordinance 25-082 as amended by transferring unencumbered appropriations between line items in the general fund budgets of the St. Charles County Public Health Department. Questions or comments on this bill?

Seeing none, we'll wrap up with 5486. Bill number 5486 requested by Dr. Mary Casease, sponsored by Mike Elim, an ordinance authorizing the county executive or his designate to execute amendment number one of program services contract number KQ2600-58058 with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services for violent death and overdose death surveillance reimbursement. Any questions or comments on this bill? Seeing none, that will wrap up bills for introduction. All those will be voted on in two weeks. Um, that gets us to announcements and miscellaneous. Mr.

Start off here. Uh, it's sad news. Wentzville Fire Captain Tommy Shine uh, passed away. He was out there doing stuff every single day. Last election day, April 7th, he was actually standing at the polls um, promoting the fire, EMS, uh, attacks and everything else. um real tragedy. Um so we'll have more information coming forth with that. Yes, sir. Yeah. I I heard this on the news when I was coming over here. He's also the person that was responsible for saving the young man, John Smith,

who if you remember was at the bottom of Lake and Lake St. Louis, you know, 15 minutes. And you know, he was a movie made. Uh I actually he was actually at Christian High when I was out there. John Smith was. So this this officer is the one that was actually responsible. I think that was 10 12 years ago. Yeah. The movie was breakthrough. Breakthrough. Correct. Yeah. Yes. But so it's sad. And um how his wife's handling it all is really kind of special. She's a strong lady. Mr. Baker.

Well, I was going to I was going to make the same announcement. I wasn't sure Matt was. So thank you. So that's I was true hero. I always like to recognize when we lose one in our community and we just did. So thank you. Any other announcements? Uh, with that we will get out of here at a much earlier time than we have the last three meetings. So, thanks for everybody who came. Motion to adjurnn. Motion. Second. All those in favor? We are adjourned.

See you later, ma'am.