02/14/2005 Regular - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regular Meeting February 14, 2005 put Mr. McCarthy’s suggestions onto a Study Session agenda. Ms. Welsch asked about Mr. McCarthy’s suggestion relating to limiting cost and he explained posting a fee on the website for the homeowner to advise the cost of sending an assessor, and indicated the sequence of steps for the process his envisioned. Ms. Brungardt asked if he had consulted websites of other municipalities, too, and he said yes. Mr. Sharpe commented on behalf of citizens who do not have computers and are not on line and said they will need to have information communicated to them some other way. Ms. Brungardt thanked Mr. McCarthy for bringing this information to the City Council and commented upon making the lateral sewer issue more “user friendly.” Richard Dockett, 6844 Crest Avenue, commented about a news release from the City of St. Louis and their proposed budget cuts which would damage community block grant programs and how this money could be phased into other programs. Mayor Adams said University City is aware of these problems. Then Mr. Dockett mentioned a forum to be held on February 28, 2005 to examine options for education and school choice. It will be held at Julia Davis School on Kingsland Avenue. He provided additional details relating to this forum. He asked that the meetings be listed on the marquees. Ralph Bowser, 8050 Teasdale Avenue, came to comment upon the renovation of City Hall. The Historical Society received plans to review and found two concerns: the glazing of the building and what will happened to the one hundred year-old glass and whether it will become a topic of discussion; and what will happen to the City Council chambers, which has not been made clear in the plans. There needs to be discussion on the available options before decisions are made. Another issue is the public art project. One proposal is to wrap statues on top of the lion gates in fabric. He pointed out that the lions were restored and public money was raised to pay for this. The fear is that wet fabric can damage the restored lions. Lastly, he called for a demographics discussion to be held relating to the schools, asking what is actually happening in terms of numbers. There is a need to communicate the numbers, the implications, and the policy relating to this issue. He wanted to bring this need before the Council before th much else happened. He also commented that it was the 85 Anniversary of the League of Women Voters today. Ms. Welsch asked Mr. Bowser if the Historical Society had spoken to the Arts and Letters Commission about their concerns for the lions and he responded no. He explained the sequence of events which led him to come to the Council, explaining that it was too late to do anything when they learned about the plans. She encouraged him to attend the next Arts and Letters meeting to express his concerns there. BILLS FOR SECOND AND THIRD READING 1. BILL NO. 8754 – FIXING ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION TO BE PAID TO CERTAIN CITY OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES FOR THE PERIOD FROM THE Page 8