City Council - Regular Meeting

We're live. We're live. Thank you. Good evening everyone. I'd like to call the December 8th, 2025 meeting of the University City Council to order. Madame Clerk, would you please call the role?

Council member Clay, present. Council member Teeman, present. Council member McMahon, here. Council member Brener, present. Council member Fuller, here. Council member Smotherson, here. Mayor Cro,

here. Before you you have the agenda. Are there any uh motions to any changes to the agenda hearing? None. Is there a motion to approve the agenda as presented? Motion made by council member Fuller. Second seconded by council member Briner. Is there discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. Oppose. The eyes have it. We have no proclamations. Before you have the November 24th, 2025 regular meeting minutes. Is there a motion to approve? Motion made by council member Teeman, seconded by council member McMahon. Is there discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. Opposed? The eyes have it. Mr. McMahon, can you have your microphone, please? Stephen.

Thank you, mayor. I'd like to uh nominate for reappoint to the parks commission Amy Gaskin and John Soladar. Is there a second? Seconded by council member Teeman. Is there discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I oppose. The eyes have it. Mr. McMahon.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to nominate for a special and it says one-year term on the agenda, but James uh had a agreed if if appointed reappointed to a full uh term. Uh he has been serving on the parks commission for his two terms. And much like the um some of the folks on the planning commission when we they got to the point of uh doing the comprehensive plan they wanted we kept them on. James has been working uh has been an exceptional member of the parks commission. He's the been voted president just recently. He's been running the meetings. He does a great job. Two things that he's been working on and I I think he would like to see get done. one that's in coming up, but one is they've been working diligently to try to get a full set of complete park policies because over time they've been confusing. Some have been approved by council, some haven't. Some are operating procedures that maybe staff implemented and they're trying to figure out if they are. And James would like I think he would like to get to that completed. And also, as uh Councilman Smotherson pointed out at our last meeting, the He-Man Park master plan is on the horizon. The parks commission's aware of that issue, and I think that's something James would want to see to the end that they've talked about it. Um but because of his uh stellar uh participation, I was hoping he could get another uh another term, and James agreed to that, he was willing to to stick his neck out for another another term. So, that's why it's a special nomination. the long version.

Is there a second? Seconded by council member Smotherson. Is there discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, for you signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. The eyes have it. I I was just going to say that the record will reflect that the agenda has been amended accordingly from a special one-year term to a full term. Is that correct, Council Member McMahon? Okay.

Thank you very much. We'll now move uh you'll note that uh on December the 2nd, Ethan McCullum was sworn into the board of appeals in the clerk's office. We've now we've now come to our first section of citizen comments. For those of you in the audience, if you would like to speak on an agenda or a non-aggenda item, there are signup sheets over by the door. Please pick up a t a signup sheet uh complete it. And if it's on an agenda item, uh then place it in the city clerk's uh basket with the agenda item. And if it's on a non-aggenda item, then place it on a non-aggenda item and also put it in the city clerk's uh basket. And we will get to them as we either move through the agenda or on citizen comments. Our first request to speak during this first section of citizen comments is Carl Chabuka. Uh, I'm sorry. If you could please, uh, there's a button at the bottom and the microphone will turn on. It'll turn. There you go. Thank you. If you're giving name and address, thank you.

My name is Carl Saboka. I live at 1421 Coolage Drive. Uh, that's in the third ward. It is very close to Kemp and Woodson. I'm very very close to Alvette on the other side of the inner belt and very close to Overland on the other side of the I am here to say thank you for removing or uh suspending the uh fee that we have to pay to recycle bags of uh leaf clippings and lawn clippings. Uh, I also wanted to say that I appreciate the effort that UCD gives the citizens the option to recycle. Thank you very much. Uh, thank you very much. Our next request to speak is Tom Sullivan. Tom Sullivan, 751 Syracuse. That Gregory Rose will be retiring is good news. As you know, I think he's been an awful city manager, often refusing to do his job. From the beginning, Mr. Rose has been unable to keep all the street lights working in the city. That's true even today. Four street lights are currently out at Olive Kingsland, one of the most visible intersections in the city. They have been out for months and I have mentioned them before. Numerous other lights are also out and they have been out for months. Though keeping street lights on is city management 101, Gregory Rose has made it clear it is not his job. Also, there have been utility wires hanging down for years and little has been done. One more not my job. There are still tree branches from the May tornado that have not been picked up. With the 2022 flood, the city's long delay in picking up destroyed belongings was the subject of several media stories. There are still numerous dumpsters on the east end of the city that have damaged our missing lids. In some cases, it seemed this could be a

health hazard. This has gone on for years. Worst of all, some covers for the openings at the bottom of street light poles creates a situation where someone could be electrocuted, most likely a youngster. Some have been taped over, but not all have been checked, which shows real neglect on the part of the city. Of course, the crowning achievement for Mr. Rose has been the destruction of the west end of the city. It was supposed to provide all this funding to improve the third ward. That looks to be another big lie. Total improvements so far in the third ward, zero. It was interesting that at a meeting of third ward revitalization committee, the board members were told to stop contacting the city manager with questions. He did not want to be bothered. And after destroying the west end of the city, the loop is next on the destruction list. Of course, Mr. Rose is playing a big part in that. Also, he played a big role in the unlawful campaign that failed to pass Proposition F. As you know, almost every elected official in the state is subject to removal from office for a neglect of duty. But it's a pretty high bar. A pattern of neglect has to be demonstrated. Just a few instances aren't enough. I believe the situation in University City has reached the point where elected officials can be removed. I've put together a considerable amount of evidence and and we'll be looking into that more next year. Thank you for listening to my comments. Our next request to speak is LOL Martin. Please

then give your name and address. Thank you.

Uh L Martin Jr. 6915 Raymond Avenue. Um the purpose in me being here um is to discuss the leaf collections on the east um end of city. Um this is the second year in a row that for whatever reason my street was missed um during the first collection period. I called city hall and I was told that this was contracted out to a certain company and I was given that phone number and I called them. Um the response was the supervisors went through all the areas and made sure all the leaves had been collected. My response was is Stevie Wonder one of the supervisors because my street was not touched. Um, so in in the meantime I was told that once they finished doing the West End again, because I think they started with the West End, they were going to come back to the East End. Well, that's right on schedule with the second pickup. And we all know there's a lot of trees in U City, so there's a lot of leaves. No one has parked in front of my house for the last 2, three weeks. Uh, luckily the house across the street from me is vacant. So, I've kind of been borrowing their driveway with one of my vehicles. So, I just wanted to make sure someone knew that whoever that company is that that's contracted, this is the second year in a row that they missed the 6900 block array. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Mr. Brick, you're wanting to speak on a consent agenda item that's going to actually just fly through. So, would you like to speak on this at matter now? Because since it's on a consent consent agenda, it's probably better if is that if that's okay with you? That's okay with me.

Uh Liam Brick, uh resident 1079 Wilson Avenue. Uh Mr. Mayor and city council members. Uh we want to just express our gratitude um especially with manager Gregory Rose as well as economic development planner, excuse me, Becky Alvin as well as the city city's legal team for their work to approve the agreements to appraise and title services for the HMBBGP FMA flood bio program. We understand the complexities of coordinating so many individuals and offices which were required to make this step in the buyout process. We were also very grateful to the members of the city council for their anticipated formal ratification at tonight's meeting. This is an exciting step for what for us and what will still be a long process. We are waiting to hear from Becky with information on what to expect and any additional documentation we may need to provide for the appraisal of title processes. We are hopeful that the individual's task with the details of the buyout will remain diligent and committed to the work through the holiday season. As you aware of any delays in the process extend the time we must spend in a house which does not meet our needs and carries many reminders of the trauma we experienced in many flooding incidents over the last few years. Being the last city council member or meeting of the year, we want to share our hope that you and your families enjoy a peaceful holiday season and the new year brings you many blessings. Our wish for the new year is to have the opportunity to move on from this saga. And we place our hope and trust in our representatives and neighbors at city hall and on the city council to bring this project to fruition. Thank you.

Thank you very much. That concludes our citizen comments. We'll now move forward. Are there any council comments at this juncture of the agenda? hearing. Then we'll now move forward with the liquor license for the passport cocktail and wine bar 6275 Delmare Boulevard. I will open this hearing at 6:41 p.m. Madame Clerk, do we have any requests to speak on this matter? There are none. Madame Clerk, do we have any written comments proceed prior to noon today? There were none.

Thank you very much. If there are no further comments, we will close this hearing at 6:42 p.m. We'll now move forward with the consent agenda where we have items K1 through 7. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as provided? Motion made by council me, excuse me, council member Teeman. Is there a second? Seconded by council member Clay. Is there discussion hearing? None. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. Opposed. The eyes have it. We'll now move forward to I believe according to city manager Rose, we do not have a city manager's update this evening. Am I correct? That is correct.

Thank you very much. We'll now move forward to unfinished business. Madame clerk, may we have the second reading of bill number 9577? Bill 9577, an ordinance amending section 130.580 of the municipal code of the city of University City, Missouri, relating to non-uniformed employees retirement system benefit adjustments by increasing monthly benefits to retirees and their beneficiaries other than children by 1%.

May we have the third reading? Bill 9577, an ordinance amending section 130.580 of the municipal code of the city of University City, Missouri, relating to nonuniformed employee retirements system benefit adjustments by increasing monthly benefits to retirees and their beneficiaries other than children by 1%. Thank you very much. Is there a motion to approve? Motion made by council member McMahon, seconded by council member Teeman. Is there discussion hearing? None. Madame clerk, would you please call the role? Council member McMahon. I. Council member Briner. I. Council member Fuller. I.

Council member Smotherson. I. Council member Clay. I. Council member Teeman. I. Mayor Crow. I. The bill is passed. We have no new business this evening. Are there any reports from members of council regarding the uh commissions uh to which they are the liaison hearing? None. Madame clerk, do we have any further requests to speak? There are none.

Thank you very much. Are there council comments this evening from members of council? Hearing none. All I would say on behalf I I believe of all of my colleagues, we'd like to thank everyone for the work. if you get a chance to see the new plaque that will be for the dedication of the of the of the renovated annex. I'm just trying to make sure that we have everybody's I'm sorry I can't hear. Okay, you didn't Well, it passed. Do you need Yeah. Ju just letting you know if I if I were giving you if I were giving you Yeah. If I were giving you advice from sitting up here, I'd let that one go. Um it's always nice to end the note on end the end the night on a fun note. Uh to everyone, I hope you get a chance to look at the work in the annex and the uh Trinity building as they move forward. The plaque was dedicated this afternoon for our new police station, which is to me an incredible use of a historic building with a brand new state-of-the-art police station inside of it. The new municipal court building will be in the Trinity building. That dedication will come along pretty soon uh thereafter. Rumor has it that we're on channel 5 at 6 and at 10 this evening. And to everyone, this is our last meeting of 2025. So to all of you uh uh whichever of the holidays you celebrate, I hope that you have a wonderful holiday season. We know that we are all very fortunate. We are very blessed to be living in University City. And with that, I would accept a motion from one of my colleagues to go into a close session according to Missouri Vice Statute 610.021 021 legal

actions, causes of action or litigation involving a public governmental body and any confidential privileged communications between a public governmental body or its representatives or attorneys and individually identifiable personnel records, performance ratings or records retain pertaining to employees. Is there such a motion? Motion made by council member Fuller. Is there a second? Seconded by council member Briner. Is there any discussion hearing? None. Madame clerk, would you please call the role? Council member Briner. I, Council Member Fuller, I, Council Member Smotherson. I, Council Member Clay, I, Council Member Teeman, I, Council Member McMahon, I, Mayor Crowe, I, thank you very much for joining us this evening.