City Council - Regular Meeting

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Good evening, everyone. I'd like to call the July 13th, 2026 meeting of the University City City Council to order. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?

Council Member Dancy? Here. Council Member Tiemann?

Here.

Council Member McMahon?

Here.

Council Member Brenner? Here. Council Member Fuller?

Here.

Council Member Smotherson?

Here.

Mayor Crowe?

Here. Before you, you have the agenda. Are there any changes or requests for amendments to the agenda? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve? Motion made by Council Member Thiem and seconded by Council Member McMahon. Is there discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. We have a proclamation that we have already signed, I believe, for the University City Summer Band's 30th anniversary. We congratulate them and we will present that proclamation to them at a later date. You have before you the June 8th, 2026 regular meeting minutes. Is there a motion to approve? Motion made by Council Member Fuller, seconded by Council Member McMahon. Is there discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. We have several appointments to be made. I nominate Matt Bellows to the Economic Development Retail Sales Tax Board. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I have to abstain from that agenda. Thank you.

Council Member Brenner abstained from the approval of the minutes. I nominate Matt Bellows to the Economic Development Retail Sales Tax Board. Is there a second? Seconded by Council Member McMahon. Is there discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. I nominate Rich Sorkin for reappointment to the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority. Is there a second? Seconded by Council Member Fuller. Is there discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. I nominate Mike Geiger for reappointment to the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority. Is there a second? Seconded by Council Member McMahon. Is there discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Council Member Tiemann.

Honorable Mayor, I nominate for reappointment Phil Easton to the Stormwater Commission.

Is there a second? Seconded by Council Member Fuller. Is there a discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. We have no swearings in this evening. This is our first section of citizen participation. For those of you who have just walked in, there are sign-up sheets over by the door. If you'd like to speak, please fill out a form either for an agenda item or non-agenda items. This first section is limited to 15 minutes. When you come to the microphone, please push the button down, turn the microphone on, give your name and address, and limit your comments to five minutes. The first request to speak, we are glad to welcome back former Mayor Shelly Welch.

Mayor Crowe and members of council. My name is Shelly Welsh. I live at 7141 Delmar Boulevard. I would like to share some thoughts on the finances of the city of University City. I am here to request that this council ask the citizens of University City to approve a bond issue to pay for the police station project, something I hope you have already decided to do. The approved budget for 2027 authorizes the transfer of $5.5 million from the general fund to balance the budget. That's a lot of money, and as you know, we don't have a lot of money. A member of this council told a mutual friend that it would be too draconian to balance the budget without the reserves this year. I ask that council member and all of you, what do you think is going to change in the next year and the years to come? 1.8 million from the general fund is being used to go towards paying off the certificates of participation, the cops, for the police station project. I believe those cops are scheduled to be paid off in 2052, so that's a charge you'll have to deal with next year and for decades to come. More than $1 million from the Park and Stormwater Tax Fund has been used to create this budget, more than $600,000 for the police station, $400,000 for fleet management, and a bit more than $100,000 for the Third Ward Fund. That is more than $1 million. The residents of this city voted for that tax, believing that the funds would go for parks and stormwater management. Personally, I question the legality of these transfers. As I read the state statute, it says all revenue received by a municipality or county shall be deposited in a special trust fund and shall be used to provide funding for stormwater control or for local parks. Perhaps these are to be loans to the general fund, as has happened in the past. I did not see that in the transmittal letter, but even if it did, where will you find the funds to repay these monies? Other special tax funds are being pillaged, too. Capital improvements, no new projects are planned for the upcoming fiscal year. We have 81 miles of streets. Many of those miles are desperately in need of work. When and where do you think you will find the funds to fix the streets before they all become gravel? Certainly that won't happen by next year. This council approved a capital improvement plan just last year, a five-year plan. In that plan, it's noted that you would spend about $4 million this fiscal year on capital improvements, and yet you are funding no capital improvements according to this budget. Will you keep taking money from all these various funds to help pay off these cops going forward and to keep our fleet running? And when those funds run dry, what's the plan? You are giving raises to staff. Remember each and every bump up costs for years to come, not just for salaries and cost of living increases, but for the pension system. Those costs will continue to accrue year in and year out. Can we afford the raises that have been approved now and in the long term? Mayor and members of council, I believe we're in trouble. The last comprehensive annual financial report that was released, the 2024 CAFR, had a fund balance on June 30th, 2024 of almost 22 million. The estimated fund balance on July 1st, 2024, the next day, the start of fiscal year 2025, was just under 15 million. Somehow, in one day, our fund balance declined by about seven million. The 2026 budget projected the ending fund balance would be about 11 million. We will see when the audit is completed if that's the case. In the 2027 budget, you are projecting a fund balance of just under seven million. So to be clear, the audited fund balance of June 30th, 2024 was almost 22 million. The projected fund balance for the fiscal year 2027 budget is about $7 million. So in three years, the fund balance has declined by more than $14 million. I would respectfully ask that you put a bond issue before the voters. Ask them to approve a tax hike to pay for the police annex project. It may pass. If you are honest with how we got here, you city residents may appreciate your candor. and may appreciate your making tough decisions before the situation becomes even more dire. Please bite the bullet. I will support you. Many of my friends would not. Finally, a member of council, the member of council I referenced earlier, told our mutual friend that Ms. Sharp has done, quote, a great job of work... deal of work unraveling all the issue issues with respect miss sharp you were the assistant city manager when previous budgets were created you should know the issues and not have to unravel them but i know full well that an assistant city manager does not have the power the assistant city manager may disagree fully with what his or her boss is doing and proposing he or she can share concerns but the decisions are the city managers So I would ask you, Ms. Sharp, I would say to you, you have inherited a mess. You have the opportunity now to show real leadership in this position, to present this council with an honest assessment of the fiscal situation of the city and tell them what you believe they need to do to get out of this mess, no matter how difficult that might be. You must know that the city of University City cannot continue doing business as it has in the past few years. Please advise the council to do what needs doing to protect our city's financial future. Thank you. I would like to ask that these comments be made part of the record.

Thank you very much. Our next request to speak is Tom Sullivan.

Tom Sullivan, 751 Syracuse, 63130. I would be one of those people that a former Mayor Welch says would be opposed to a bond issue. At the last council meeting, Councilman Smotherson told the city manager about some streetlights that were out. One was at Olive and Kingsland, which I have been mentioning for many months. It's still out. It was actually one of four lights out at the intersection. Three are out north of Olive. It makes the half block north of Olive completely dark, an unsafe situation for anyone walking on Kingsland at night. Another street light is out in the alley between Syracuse and Kingsland, near what's referred to as Loop North. It's by an apartment building where a Washington University co-ed was once sexually assaulted and beaten into unconsciousness. She was left to die in a basement laundromat, but somehow survived. I don't think the crime was ever solved. That same alley has utility wires hanging down in a dumpster that has a cover missing. A nearby alley that goes from Heman to Leland also has a dumpster with missing covers. A dumpster where Heman runs into Metcalfe Park... has missing covers on a dumpster for probably over a year. There are various dumpsters with damaged or missing lids in Loop North and the eastern end of the Third Ward. City inspectors who make as much as $80,000 a year shouldn't have much trouble finding them. With all that money coming in from Costco developments, funding shouldn't be a problem. Also, there continues to be a problem with utility wires hanging down all over, even more so after the violent recent storms. Most seem to be telephone wires, but it's sometimes hard to say. City inspectors should be able to identify the wires, and a responsible utility needs to be called. The alley in the 6300 block between Clements and Case is an example of numerous problems combined. It has utility wires hanging down, dumpsters without covers, and some big potholes. Across from All Saints Church, on the corner of Clements and Westgate, is a small patch of ground with some park benches on it. The parish installed a plaque on a big rock that says, it is an appreciation for University City police officers, firefighters, and EMS personnel. It sits on the patch, and once a year, the parish held a service. But just recently, the city took out the shrubbery surrounding the tribute and replaced it with wood chips. It doesn't quite look as nice. Across the street at Eckerd Park, there is a growing tree that needs some attention. On the Leland side of the park, there were four trees planted as part of the renovation. All four died for lack of care. Hopefully, the park won't lose any more trees. Thank you for listening to my comments.

Thank you very much. Our next request to speak is Susan Coiner Collier.

Hi, thank you for having me this evening. I'm, my name is Susan Korner Collier. I'm at 7235 Shaftesbury Avenue. I am the mother of a recently finished kindergartener at Jackson Park Elementary School. And last fall, I submitted a request to the Traffic Commission for some pedestrian safety upgrades to a couple of crosswalks near the school. That was initially approved by the Traffic Commission in January. The issue went back to the Traffic Commission in April. It was approved again. It's now July. And I have not been able to get any updates from Public Works. My most recent contact was I left a voicemail for the Director of Public Works on July 1st. So my questions for the council are, what are the steps to have these approved safety features implemented? Who should I contact to get updates? And what are the next steps for me as a citizen trying to get this implemented?

Thank you very much. I'm sure the city manager will have someone from city staff contact you. Our next request to speak is John Williams. Sir, you'll need to hit the button. I think the police officer will help you. They just give your name and address, and you're off to the races.

Okay. My name is John Williams. I'm a retired attorney. I lived in University City for 10 or a little more very delightful years. We lived, unfortunately, too close to River to Pear. And so that's why I'm really out here for it tonight. I believe I'm on the docket. But it would be remiss of me as... as an attorney who did a lot of pro bono work, your signage for ADA is just short of terrible. I couldn't get information over the telephone and my, my cab driver would, would, uh, spoke an inadequate amount of English. So he was not able to get me around. So I had to, I trundled my way all the way around and through this back door over here. My question is this. Is the responsibility for that, I know in the first instance it lies with the city, but I'm wondering if there isn't some secondary liability that lies with your contractor out here.

Sir, this is not a question and answer period. We appreciate your comments, and the city manager had to have someone get back with you.

Well, I have my standard civic response. We'll see. Okay, I'm ahead of my appearance on the docket for the other matter, and I don't think I even have to appear before you on the other matter. But I just wanted to drop in to try to find out what was going on. Thank you all very much for your time. I appreciate it. Have a good evening.

Thank you, sir. This concludes this section of citizen participation. Are there any council comments at this point? Hearing none, we have no public hearing this evening. You have before you the consent agenda with items number K1 through 4, sanitation dump truck, annual cooperative road salt purchase, voluntary acquisition program agreement for purchases of 1079 Wilson and 7442 Ahern, and ratification of the Tyler Technologies Agreement New World Contract. On the consent agenda, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? Motion made by... Council Member Brenner, is there a second? Seconded by Council Member Dancy. Is there a discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. We'll now move forward to the City Manager's Report.

Honorable Mayor Crow, members of the City Council, this first item, Capital Improvement Program Budget Transfer, is asking that we reallocate $130,000 that was intended to go towards our match for the EV charging station grant to our street maintenance program. um last week i learned that there is a very strong possibility that we will not get those grant funds and therefore not get the match um as you all know we were awarded this grant i believe in fiscal year 23 and then um with the new administration it was up in the air as to whether we would actually get the funds uh there's a third party entity that has engaged in litigation to try and get those funds released. However, they have not been successful yet. And they let us know last week that if those funds are not obligated by September 30th, then they're lost. With that in mind and given the situation that we have with our budget, when I gave the budget presentation, I indicated that I would be continuously looking for additional dollars, especially for street maintenance, which you all expressed was a priority. So the city or I'm sorry, the public works director provided me with at least two streets that we could get done for one hundred and nine thousand dollars. And then the rest of the one thirty would go to pothole hatching. Should something change with the EV charging station grant, my intent is to come back to this council and ask for that $130,000 to be taken from the EDRST fund, which, as you all know, these EV charging stations will be deployed in the Del Mar Loop. We actually went after the grant at the request of the Loop Special Business District. So I do think that it would be an appropriate use of EDRST funds if we find out that we'll get the money we need the grant. So with that, I can take any questions you all may have.

Council Member Tiemann.

Honorable Mayor, you mentioned two streets are going to be taken care of. I didn't catch which streets those were.

I'm sorry, I didn't hear you all the way.

You mentioned that two streets would be taken care of. Which streets would those be?

Jackson and Melrose and Jackson, Melrose and Jackson.

And those streets were selected. So our public works director had at the beginning of a budget preparation, she submitted a list of streets from each ward for repair. We were able to get a few of those streets completed. in that CDBG application, the special CDBG application that you all approved a few months back. So those came off the list, but these two were chosen simply because the estimate was within the range. The other ones were about 300,000 and 200,000. These two Third Ward streets were at 109. So I knew that we could cover that with the 130 and then use the remaining funds to do some pothole patching throughout the city.

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? Motion made by Council Member Brenner. Is there a second? Seconded by Council Member Fuller. Are there additional questions or concerns? Hearing none, all those in favor please signify by saying aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Ms. Sharpe.

Okay, this next item is a request from Agudas Israel of St. Louis to have an extension to their conditional use permit, which was granted initially in 2024. They have received one extension to date, so this would be their second. And I would ask that Director Craig Chandler come up to present the item and answer any questions you all may have.

Good evening, Council. Thank you, City Manager. So as City Manager, as Brooke stated, Gudis Israel is requesting an extension on their conditional use permit that was issued in 2024. Last year, they received a one-year extension in 2025. Attached in your packet is a letter that came from the architect of record for this project. making that request on behalf of um israel gudas and there is a member of of the church that's here to answer any questions if you have any staff is recommending approval thank you councilmember brenner thank you mayor just because i was not here when it was originally approved what is the project just so i know i could not hear i couldn't hear the question i'm sorry

Because I wasn't here when it was first approved, I just wanted a brief overview of what the project is. That's all, just for information.

Yeah, and in terms of the specifics of the project, I'll turn to the leadership of the church to provide. What I'm aware of is that a conditional use permit was required for that work in this zoning district, general commercial district, places of worship are conditional use.

Good evening. Brian Glazer. I'm the president of A Good Israel of St. Louis.

My address is 8142 Lane Avenue.

Councilwoman Brenner? I'm sorry. Okay. I'm sorry. My eyes are getting old. We are at the southwest corner of Old Bonham and Del Mar, and we are seeking to... expand our synagogue and build that. And this conditional use permit was part of the process to move that forward. And we are still in the internal processes of fundraising and planning and trying to internally get that done so that we can move forward with the project.

Any other questions? Council Member Fuller.

Thank you, Honorable Mayor. Rabbi, is there a... projected groundbreaking set forth?

I do not have a projected groundbreaking as of today.

All right. And I'm going to maybe talk to Director Chandler here, but in past projects, how many extensions do we usually provide? I know in other projects... we said this will be the last extension after two. Is that possible going forward or is that based on when they will get their funds? That's my only question.

Yeah, there is not a code standard per se that limits the number of extensions that can be requested. I'm aware of one conditional use permit that was issued actually in 2018 that's been extended a number of times and is still active. But outside of that, I don't have any reference, similar reference.

Thank you. Yeah, I think my only comment would be I just want to make sure we're consistent with everybody on this so that when we give the extension that we're consistent so we don't hold everybody to different standards. So it's amazing that we've had one since 2018. Yeah.

Honorable Mayor Crowe, members of the City Council, since I've been here the last five years, there is at least one that we've extended four times. So there is no number. There is no limit in the code. There is one we extended four times with that fourth extension. You all said that would be the last one. So when... When this came up, I feel that we would have to give them at least four. I'm not advocating for you to continuously ask for those, obviously, but we've done, for at least one entity, we've done four extensions.

Council Member Smetherson. Thank you, Mayor Crowe. Just to be clear, and I'm just looking and reading the letter here, and it says that the delay is in reference to design. But you're stating that is it more about fundraising? Is that what's happening? Or is it about design? I'm just trying to determine which one it is.

Yeah, it's a great question. It's it's basically on trying to fundraise because costs have gone up so much with everything that's gone on in the world. So we're not going to be able to raise as much as we need to, you know, so we're trying to downsize I think a little so design and fundraising is a more accurate. That's correct.

Council Member Tiemann.

Honorable Mayor, just to, I just want to say that, you know, presuming this gets done with a certain amount of alacrity, I don't think there's anything particularly outrageous about this act, ask. We've extended at least, and I'm a relative new guy, but I remember several times extending CUPs one time four times for a church. So I don't think that there's anything inordinate in this ask.

If there are no other questions, is there a motion to approve? Motion by Council Member Fuller, seconded by Council Member Tiemann. Is there discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. We'll now move on to unfinished business. We have before us bill number 9583. Madam Clerk, will you give us a second reading? Oh, hang on one second. Madam Clerk, I got a signal over here from the gentleman to my left. Yes, sir.

Mayor, if I may address this one. Thank you, Mayor, members of council. So this is an amended bill. And in your packet, the Human Resources Director basically described the amendments being made to this bill since introduction at the last council meeting. And so if the council's inclined to accept these amendments in the bill, I would recommend that there be a motion made to amend bill number 9583 by making the changes incorporated in amended bill number 9583 in the city council packet for this meeting and on file in the office of the city clerk.

Thank you very much. I believe we had this conversation earlier. Part of the last meeting as well. Is there a motion to make the amendment? Motion by Council Member Brenner. Is there a second? Seconded by Council Member Fuller. John, are we voting on the amendment first or as amended? It's all together. It's all good.

We vote on. You can do a voice vote on.

Okay. Amend the bill. Okay. Then go on to this.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. So we have a motion on the floor to amend bill number 9583. Is there a discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. You now have before you amended bill number 9583. Madam Clerk, may we have the second reading?

Bill 9583 as amended, an ordinance fixing the compensation to be paid to city officials and employees as enumerated herein from and after July 13th, 2026 and repealing ordinance number 7384.

We have the third reading.

Bill 9583 as amended, an ordinance fixing the compensation to be paid to city officials and employees as enumerated herein from and after July 13th, 2026 and repealing ordinance number 7384.

Is there a motion to approve? Motion made by council member McMahon. Is there a second? Seconded by council member Fuller. Is there a discussion on bill number 9583 as amended? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?

Council Member Tiemann.

Aye.

Council Member McMahon.

Aye.

Council Member Brenner. Aye. Council Member Fuller.

Aye.

Council Member Smotherson.

Aye.

Council Member Dancy. Aye. Mayor Crowe.

Aye. The bill is passed. We'll now move from unfinished business into new business. We have bill number 9584. Who would like to introduce? Council Member McMahon. Madam Clerk, may I have the first reading of bill number 9584? Aye.

Bill 9584, an ordinance amending Schedule 3, Table 3E of the Traffic Code of the University City Municipal Code relating to parking restrictions, parking prohibited on certain streets at all times by adding therein the east side of Trinity Avenue from the alley at 524 Trinity Avenue to the driveway at 510 Trinity Avenue.

Thank you very much. We have bill number 9585. Who would like to introduce? Council Member Smotherson. Madam Clerk, may we have the first reading?

Bill 9585, an ordinance amending Schedule 7 of the Traffic Code of the University City Municipal Code relating to stop intersections by adding therein the intersection of Central Drive and Stanford Avenue.

Thank you very much. We'll now move forward to council reports and business. Are there any members of council who have a report during this section of the agenda? Hearing them, Madam Clerk, do we have any further requests to speak?

There are none.

Thank you. Are there any council? Just so the protocol is that you're welcome to take you, but just for future reference, the protocol is to have it in the basket ahead of time.

Thank you.

Please give your name and address.

Yes, my name is Joel Pugh, and I am not a university city resident, but my address is 3341 Marshall Ave. I live in Overland. Okay, so as most of you know, my name is Joel. I'm the executive director for Shed. So I just wanted to briefly take up a few minutes to give you a very brief update of the progress, current progress for the city home repair program. So currently, I meet once a week with Stephen Franklin, the Third Ward Coordinator. When we meet, we work through various scenarios and present any concerns with the process. We're just looking at the process as we are working through it. To date, I've submitted timeline considerations. We've worked through some workflows. We've delineated responsibilities. And we have submitted what we believe will be SHED's responsibility towards a new program. and a potential partnership. But I just want to say that and we look forward to continuing partnering with the city and potentially partnering with this program. So that's all I got.

Thank you very much. Are there any council comments this evening? Hearing no council comments, I would welcome a motion to go into closed session according to Missouri Vice Statute 610.021, Legal Actions, Causes of Actual Litigation involving a public governmental body and any confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental body or its representatives or attorneys and individually identifiable personnel records, performance ratings, or records pertaining to employees. Is there such a motion? Motion made by Councilmember Tiemann, seconded by Councilmember McMahon. Is there a discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll?

Council Member McMahon. Aye. Council Member Brenner. Aye. Council Member Fuller.

Aye.

Council Member Smotherson.

Aye.

Council Member Dancy. Aye. Council Member Tiemann.

Aye.

Mayor Crowe.

Aye. Thank you very much for joining us this evening.