2006-03-20 Regular - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regular meeting March 20, 2006 Michael Jurries, 6616 Pershing Ave. Mr. Jurries has been a Trustee for Ames Place for the past two years. He was present to express his dismay with the City. In the previous two Council meetings, there was an agreement that the Intergovernmental Agreement would be tabled until Ames Place’s litigation was ruled on by St. Louis County Circuit Court. Mr. Jurries stated that two Memorandums were filed by the City last week against the wishes of this Council. Mr. Jurries said he knew that Councilmembers Mr. Wagner, Ms. Brot and Ms. Welsch were unaware of this. Mr. Jurries said that just this past week, Metro along with University City, asked the court to vacate its amended order of condemnation declared, January 14, 2003. Mr. Jurries claimed that Metro had alleged some outrageous, untrue claims, such as Ames Place was seeking up to 5 million dollars. Ames Place is not out to win the lottery nor bury Metro. Mr. Jurries said that all Ames Place asked was that its subdivision receive a fair equitable hearing for the land that was being taken. What disturbs Mr. Jurries even more was the claim of the City of University City accusing Don Singer of unethical behavior. Mr. Jurries stated that he had previously written to the Mayor and the City Manager asking for a meeting to discuss Ames Place’s concerns. He informed them that he would have Mr. Singer present to answer any legal questions. Mr. Singer was accused of unethical behavior by the City but the City’s attorney was not present at the meeting, even though the City Manager had been asked to do so by the Council and by the Ames Place trustees. Mr. Jurries said that the Judge ruled that Ames Place has done nothing wrong to show that it did not own the property, and any motions to take back the judgment have been denied. Under the Sunshine Law, Mr. Jurries requested an accounting of the monies the City has spent in legal fees, in the process of aligning itself with Metro, in its fight against Ames Place. He asked the Council to supply this for him and post it for the public record. Mr. Wagner thanked Mr. Jurries for coming up and speaking forcefully on behalf of the trustees of Ames Place. Mr. Wagner stated frequently at meetings that he had never been convinced that University City owned any of the green-space. Mr. Wagner was glad the ruling favored Ames Place. Ms. Brot spoke of her disappointment in learning that her City went to court on behalf of NOT Metro instead of our citizens and that the Council was informed. Ms. Brot said that she was very disappointed in that the City Manager did not follow her request to have a meeting where both the City attorney and the attorney from Ames Place were present. She was also disappointed in that our City did so little to help its own residents of Ames Place do the research to find documents showing ownership. There was a seven to zero vote to table the Intergovernmental Agreement. Ms. Brot thought that such a vote would have been enough to prevent the City of University City from becoming involved prior to a ruling on the suit filed by Ames Place in the St. Louis County Circuit Court. Page 4