6:45pm…We’re here and up and running! A large group of teens are here most likely fired up about the skate park issue. Let’s see if they have any actual knowledge of the issue or if they’re just here to say what the people who used to hold the skate park lease told them to say. A group is here to complain about Pythian Castle.
6:47pm…Bill Cantrell comes over to glance at the answers from the city regarding Pythian Castle that I reported earlier today on this blog. Bill’s a decent guy.
6:48pm…Someone comes walking in dressed as the Grinch. Yeah, I’m sure he’s going to be respectful and not try to disrupt the proceedings.
6:49pm…Someone walks around handing out stickers to “support Pythian Castle.” I ask if they’re going to present all the sides of the issue or just theirs. He responds that he thinks that both sides will be shown tonight. Translation: If it is, it won’t be by us. 
6:53pm…Dan Chiles has a very festive tie. The room is now packed to standing room only.
6:54pm…Some skaters tell me they know the city has the right to do what they’re doing. It’s good to hear that…now those who want to criticize them can’t say the skaters don’t at least know the basis of what is going on.
6:58pm…I don’t think I’ve heard the word “like” used more times in a single sentence when it wasn’t actually being used by its definition.
6:59pm…Councilman Dan Chiles enjoys a serious conversation with a Journal Broadcasting radio host.
7:00pm…Councilman Ralph Manley is still working the room so I doubt we’re starting on time.
7:02pm…Mayor Carlson arrives and takes his seat. I think we’re about to get started.
7:04pm…We’re underway! Ralph Manley prays.
7:05pm…A no show by Cindy Rushefsky.
7:06pm…Two bills removed from the consent agenda to regular first reading bills. Agenda passes 8-0.
7:08pm…Appointments of Bob Scheid to the airport board and Bill Bryan to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Mayor thanks them for volunteering to serve.
7:10pm…City Manager Bob Cumley updates on audit response. Deputy City Manager Evelyn Honea and Cumley are taking it seriously and put together a list of priorities including hiring as a highest priority hiring a city auditor. The top 5: completing software improvements in city loan plan; reviewing announcing controls; reviewing controls of seized property; city service center; city purchasing policies. Asking council for recommendations in changes to those priorities and they will implement changes prior to hiring an internal auditor. Estimate of 60 to 90 days to fill that position.
Cumley promises continued updates to city council regarding the changes made as a result of the audit report. Cumley also wanted to thank the staff for their efforts. He reiterated the employees have been following policies of the council, previous city managers and Cumley himself. He thinks the citizens of Springfield should be proud of our city workers.
Councilman Chiles asked why the police and fire pension plan wasn’t in the top 5. Cumley said it could be in the list and probably could be number one. Cumley said that there are sixteen issues that could be priorities. Chiles asked if Cumley believes it’s a priority but not top 5. Cumley said it’s an item or project they’re working on.
Councilman Chiles asked if the auditor would be a temporary position into a permanent position. The recommendation would be on a contract basis based on the city council’s decision as to give the new city manager a chance to weigh in on the position. (Note: Wasn’t the recommendation of the state auditor that this internal auditor answer to the city council and not to the city manager? If so, it really doesn’t matter what the new city manager thinks about the auditor’s position.)
Councilwoman Collette said that the priorities were set for the internal auditor and not overall. She said that she doesn’t think all of us wouldn’t consider the police/fire pension as the top priority and wanted to point that out.
7:18pm…The Mayor addresses the large crowd that is here about the skate park. The Mayor is suggesting that they take up the skate park bill, Council Bill 2007-365. The Mayor said they had a public hearing two weeks ago and normally they would be voting on the bill tonight. However, the city law department has asked for the bill to be tabled. Mr. Wichmer was asked to explain. He said the R-12 District approached a change that would eliminate the lease and they want a chance to speak to the Skate Park association before moving forward in case this can be resolved through continued mediation. The Mayor said if there was a change from where it is that it would come back to council. Mr. Wichmer said the current bill is really dead and a new bill would be coming to replace it.
Councilman Chiles said that “we’re trying to eliminate some of the issues currently involved in our community.” The answer was they’re trying to simplify the situation between three parties (the city, the school, the skate park association.) Councilman Chiles asked how long it will take and the answer was that hopefully the next council meeting (January 14th) for a first reading. Manley first, Wylie second to table the bill. Unanimous voice vote.
7:24pm…EDITORIAL NOTE (while the room clears)…it’s great to see that they’re going this direction with this. This is a chance for the community to come together for a solution instead of running something through that causes more division and anger. Let’s hope this works out for all involved as best as possible.
7:25pm…Council Bill 2007-390 and Council Bill 2007-391. Rezoning to allow new accesses for emergency vehicles and for the development (390). Councilman Wylie said he’s supporting it because it’s a good addition to the city. He asked about two issues raised by neighbors and the answer was that they were resolved. Zoning of land to “center city” (391) to allow development. This zoning will allow the development not to put in off-street parking. Councilwoman Collette asked what the major result of the zoning would be and if it is connected to parking. (This is the University Plaza where they’re going to be building the new BKD building.)
7:30pm…Council Bill 2007-392 and Council Bill 2007-396. Promotion of recycling with centralized location and approval of the city manager to get a grant to start the Center Street Recycling Coalition. Included in the Coalition is Drury, OTC, Springfield R-12 School District, Springfield/Greene County Library, Greene County and Board of Public Utilities. Councilwoman Collette praised the coalition and asked if it can be opened up to the surrounding area. The answer is that this is a pilot program and they can look at involving a bigger part of the community in the future. Ms. Collette asked if Drury already had a program like this and Barbara Lutz came to address it. She said that this is a beginning and there is a strong interest in including other institutions but once it’s up and running they will look at it. She was familiar with Drury and said that all of them are in various stages of recycling and that “this is a chance to really kick it in.”
Councilman Chiles asked if this can be expanded to downtown Springfield “where people gather and the senseless trash containers are conspicuous.” Answer was that they have a couple efforts they are looking at for downtown and they hope to roll out a pilot project on Earth Day 2008. Mr. Chiles asked if portable recycling containers could be available and the answer was that there are some already available. Councilman Chiles asked if this is something that could eventually be self-sustaining when it comes to cost. The answer was that they have contracts with vendors interested in materials and that that it’s possible in the future if the market does not bottom out.
The Tindle building is where this is planning to be done because it’s a central location to the entities involved in the Coalition. The idea is that it would be available to students, parents and even people just passing by the site.
The grant would allow the city manager to get 100 recycling bins to place around the city and expand what the city collects. The bill was labeled emergency because of the grant deadline and the city does not have to match anything.
Councilman Burlison asked Mr. Wichmer if he needed to recuse because he was on the committee of the board and the answer was yes.
Vote was 7-0 in favor with Burlison abstaining.
7:40pm…Council Bill 2007-415. A bill authorizing an amendment to the Ground Lease, Operating Agreement and Option to Purchase agreement of May 2, 2005 for baseball parking north of St. Louis and south of East Trafficway. The sale of this land would generate $1.8 million for the city. Passes on 8-0 vote.
7:45pm…Council Bill 2007-401. Seeking authorization to condemn to obtain right of way to construct sewers in the Hunt Branch Trunk Sewer Project.
Attorney John Carnahan addressed the council. He represents the Bryant family who is just south of Highway 60 and just east of Highland Springs. Their office has been working with the city attorney on this project hoping to get final resolution and asks that the bill be tabled because the area in question is very sensitive environmental area. A series of springs run through the Hunt Branch and a large artesian well plus a cave system on the property that includes a spring in the cave. Their concern is if they come through blasting it could destroy the caves and the well. Also, they believe that this is a location of Ozark Cave Fish of which there is only about 20 remaining sites for these fish.
Councilman Chiles said this sounds of tremendous value and asked if the lawyer has hired engineering firms. The answer was that they had not because this was agricultural land and no development was planned and the city has not responded to the requests. They recognize they want to bring the sewer there because of gravity flow but the water also flows that way. Mayor Carlson asked if there was a time frame involved and the answer from the staff was that they want to move forward with this. They said they purposely put the sewer line across the stream from the artesian well and went to the other side of the valley. Attorney Carnahan said they were only about 70 feet from the well. The Mayor suggested that someone address the concerns of Mr. Carnahan and no vote was going to be taken tonight as it was a first reading bill. Action to be taken at the January 14th meeting.
7:54pm… Council Bill 2007-393. Approval of the City of Springfield’s Legislative Policy for 2008. Councilman Chiles asked if the attachment was on the website to show the complete bill with priorities and table of contents. If the council acts tonight, Ms. Cirtin said it will be on the website by tomorrow. Bill passes 8-0.
7:56pm…Council Bill 2007-394. Establishment of a Citizen’s Solid Waste Committee. The committee makes recommendations to the City Council. One of the things considered would be franchising solid waste collection in the city of Springfield. Councilman Wylie moved to delete Exhibit A and attached an amended Exhibit A. The changes are that the committee members were not all confirmed as serving so some names were removed. The motion to amend was approved. Councilman Deaver said they’re using the template that has been used in the past for citizen groups looking at issues that face the city. Many of the people on the committee have served the community in the past on solid waste issues and Mr. Deaver believes this will be a benefit to the city.
Councilman Chiles commended Mr. Deaver for taking leadership of this. Mr. Chiles then said in reference to an issue in today’s newspaper and wanted the city to clear up what was said. The answer was that if the commission decides to look into franchising trash collection that it would be a two year process before they could reach anything with it. Bill passes 8-0.
8:01pm…Council Bill 2007-395. The bill to authorize the City Manager Search Committee. Mayor Pro-Tem Deaver thanked the citizens who applied to be on the board and said the board had a good makeup to represent a wide variety of the community. Councilman Wylie said they had some good sources of information for a starting point for this process.
8:02pm…I’m shown a manila folder that the “Save The Castle” group plan to present to the city council tonight. The owner of the Castle plans to ask the City Council to recind the action of January 20, 2005 to rezone the property from Government/Commercial to Planned Development and also to recind the earlier action of January 31, 2006 to approve the property as an Administrative Subdivision.
8:07pm… The Mayor thanked Mayor Pro-Tem Deaver for his efforts. The Mayor said he was on the search committee who hired Dr. Nietzel at MSU and that the committee was making sure the committee might have face to face interviews with more than five but that they would narrow down to five final candidates. Mr. Deaver said that was the case and that it could be as low as three. However, Mr. Deaver wanted to give the committee as much lee-way as possible. Resolution approved 8-0.
8:09pm…Council Bill 2007-363. Passes 8-0.
8:10pm…Council Bill 2007-364. (These bills are letting park rangers have enforcement powers.) Passes 8-0.
8:11pm…Council Bill 2007-365. This brings in $1.5 million to the city from a settlement with a phone company. $500,000 is going into the police/fire pension program. The Mayor wanted to correct the record in regards to the statement nothing has been done to fix the issue. He said the council over the last two years has done a lot for this issue. That while it’s not been solved it’s incorrect to say that nothing has been done.
“When the situation became as large as it did, the council made several unpopular and tough decisions but they have had an effect,” Mayor Carlson said. “The basic problem of the police/fire pension program was that the money wasn’t being invested the way professional fund managers invest this money across the United States. The members of the board took an overly conservative approach and as a result did not return the same return as other funds in the country.”
The Mayor also said the benefits approved turned out to be benefits that the fund basically couldn’t pay for and that Mr. Cumley mentioned in his article in the News-Leader that there is plenty of blame to go around on that. The actuaries at the time told City Council they could afford the benefits and then came back later and said they could not do it.
The Mayor said over the objections of the police and fire staff the City Council put more professional investment people on the board and that the pension fund is now more aggressive and returning a better yield for investment.
The Mayor spoke of a lot of different funds and then asked if there is enough from what the city puts in and what the fund gets now to fully fund benefits and that it is. The Mayor said he’s not trying to diminish the importance of this but that if the city shut down tomorrow that the police/fire would get their pensions.
“The real question is what is the prudent way to deal with this issue at the present time? Should we panic? Should we act like the little red hen that said the sky is falling?” Mayor Carlson said. “Should we go to the voters and ask if they want to pay a special tax to deal with this?”
The Mayor believes it creates a totally false impression to say it hasn’t been attended to and that it has for the last two or three years.
“And if you were on the council you would know that,” Mayor Carlson said.
Councilman Chiles that said within our lifetimes, all of our federal tax dollars will go to entitlements, pensions, payments on debt and Medicare/Social Security because of over-promises. Mr. Chiles said that we need to take care of our police and firemen and that we need to try and work through the difficulties now. Councilman Chiles said that no one’s in the mood for a tax to fund this and that it’s not a good option. He said that they need to look through every nickel in this budget and find a way to fix it. Plus, Mr. Chiles said that they’re working under a mandate from the state government where they have to make a mandatory contribution or the state will seize the city’s sales tax revenue to pay for it.
Mr. Chiles said going forward they need to make sure this covered so they don’t face that in the future.
The bill passed 8-0.
8:27pm…Council Bill 2007-387. Transfer of funds in the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau budget. Passes 8-0.
8:28pm…Council Bill 2007-388. Sale of land to the Jordan Valley Community Health Center. The L.E. Cox building is being sold in part to JVCHC at the appraised value of the property. The city is doing environmental work on the building to make sure there is no lead paint or other environmental issues. This bill says if issues come up in the next six months that the city would work with the previous owner to correct those problems. It also gives the JVCHC the right to purchase 20,000 additional square feet in the building that would house the Crime Lab.
Councilwoman Collette said that she hoped that local advocates were as happy now as with the changes as with the previous bill.
Mayor Carlson asked how much the city paid for the building when bought. Answer: About 2.2 million. The Mayor asked what they’re getting back with the sale of this portion of the building. Answer: 1.64 million. (Note: this isn’t the entire building…there is still 20,000 square feet left to sell at $22 a square foot which is $440,000.)
The Mayor said they bought the building with a federal grant and spent a few hundred thousand to clean up the building. The result has been that Missouri State brought new jobs to downtown that increased city revenue. (Mayor Carlson sent this correction: “I was talking about the old MFA building that we clean up and then sold to Missouri State University to put in the JVIC technology center that eventually resulted in $30 million in downtown development.” I apologize for having that wrong.)
The Mayor said the long term plan was very successful and that $6-8 dollars of outside investment went into development for every dollar the city spent.
Councilman Chiles asked if these deals give the city something to do with the furniture that the auditor was critical of and the answer was that this money would go to start Phase One of the training program facility. Councilman Chiles asked about the location of the morgue and if this is a place to put the morgue. The answer was the Medical Examiner’s office is looking at alternatives but that everyone agrees it should be as close to the crime lab as possible. Discussions are ongoing. Passes 8-0.
8:40pm…Council Bill 2007-389. This enforces a boundary agreement between the city of Springfield and the city of Willard. Also speaks to all claims related to the City intervention in a matter between Willard and the Missouri Public Service Commission. Passes 8-0.
8:46pm…Various speakers and the Mayor wanted to group them by subject. Five speakers were here for the Skate Park and the Mayor said they were welcome to speak. The Mayor moved to have the Pythian Castle issue addressed.
8:47pm…Judy Friend spoke on her disappointment that her group couldn’t hold a fund raiser at the Castle because it was shut down. She talked about contributions made by the owner of the Castle to charities and said that the owner has done a “brillant job of restoring the castle.” Ms. Friend claims that there has been improper administration of Planning and Zoning codes and employees have placed roadblocks she feels are unacceptable. She asked the City Council to move to reopen the Castle. She claimed there were heavy handed tactics by city employees. She claimed that the building is a castle and should be treated differently than other buildings because it was a “unique treasure.” She said it is a historic building and therefore exempt from rules.
8:51pm…Neva Schroder of Marshfield. “We are not knights but we are here to defend the Castle.” She said that even though the city zoning ordinance is 437 pages it is impossible to write codes that perfectly describe everything. She asked the rules be interpreted in a fair and impartial manner and in the “spirit of the code.” (Note: Doesn’t a “fair and impartial manner” mean treating this the same as anything else?) She spoke about how well the Castle fits in a GI zone and that they could have issued a variance or special use to allow dancing knowing that it was an activity at USO dances dating back to 1913. She mentioned property owned by Council Members that have the same zoning code. (Mayor Carlson corrected her that he didn’t own what she claimed.) She claimed the city wanted the owner to require the city to approve if she sold or took a loan on the property and when she refused they shut her down.
8:56pm…Bill Schroder of Marshfield. A former Marshfield council member and planning and zoning board member. He said P&Z is not treating the castle like an existing structure that has been designed, built and previously occupied. He said they are requiring things that only make sense in new construction. He spoke of the driveway issue (which we obtained an answer from the city on and posted earlier today) and the capacity issue (also addressed earlier today.) He said the city is not being welcoming to business and needs to put a better attitude on their “to do” list. He claimed the city has not given usable permits to make the improvements they require. He said that Tamara was publicly discredited and that the city needs to rescind earlier actions.
9:01pm…Tamara Finocchiaro, owner of Pythian Castle. (Some of her complaints can be seen here.) She spoke about the castle and how contractors are awed by the unique design. She claims Nick Heatherly said “This project is simply new to us. We were confused by it.”
“Just because it is different does not mean it is unsafe,” Ms. Finocchiaro said. “Just because it is not common does not mean it is not current.”
She asked for a list of items that I will list in a blog that will post later today.
She asked why the city took the path of most resistance labeling the castle a “dangerous property” and why they wrote non-negotiable agreements restricting her rights to sell the property.
“I’m a professional dancer,” she said. “Believe me when I say I could jump through hoops. But I can’t jump through the hoops of red tape put up by this city.”
Applause began and the Mayor asked people not to do that and to show decorum in the council chambers. He asked Mr. Cumley to respond to how the issue can be dealt with and he said it’s up to the Mayor.
9:08pm…City Staff responded by saying they want to respond but they don’t have time to do it. “This isn’t about little girl’s dreams or orphans or soldiers. It’s about process which the owner of Pythian Castle refused to follow.” He said she operated without permits and she didn’t submit plans for final approval which means she didn’t get the permits. She did not have a business license.
The agreement was addressed. “We were going to allow her to operate without a business license and a certificate of occupancy if there was an agreement to finish the three years of projects that have not even been started.” They said she was booking events with people beyond her own stated occupancy levels. He said the city was told by her attorney that she was ready to sell or shut down. He said she refused the limited use agreement and with that the city told her to shut down. They allowed a fire marshall for events so they could stay open when they didn’t have approvals for fire exits.
He also said that while her plans talked of a room on the first floor for 60 people she advertised on her website a theatre on the second floor that was not approved for use by the city. He said she had a road that the fire department said was not usable. The fire hydrants in question: one is old and needs to be tested and the other is on the armory property and they put up a fence after 9/11. “If she can get the armory to cut a hole in their fence that’s fine with us.”
He said that eventually this had to come to an end without permits and this fall was this time. Even after they said they were shut down, the city came out and found a tour on a floor that people should not have been on and that’s when the city shut her down. The city staff said they would prepare a full report for council. He said they were sorry it came to this point but there are several issues involved.
The Mayor asked about the Zoning issue that they wanted recinded and asked if the owner doesn’t like the present zoning if there is something that prohibits her from filing for a change. The answer was no, she can file to change the zoning.
City staff added that they are using International Building Codes and that some of the issues related to her Castle the city will not budge on because it affects “life safety.” The Mayor asked if someone didn’t like the building code what they can do. The answer was the staff didn’t think there was a way to get around it. They did concede an engineer could come in and show something different than the city has seen now.
The Mayor said “OK, so if you’re going to make a change on the fire code for one person it has to be for all people?” The answer was they couldn’t speak for the fire department but that if they changed for one person they would have to change for all people. The Mayor asked for a letter from city staff on the issue. The Mayor said they do not have the authority according to city charter to act on this. All the council can do is change the law. They can ask the city manager to look into the matter but that’s all they can do.
“We can’t just say ‘cut ‘em a deal over here’.” Mayor Carlson said. “It would be unlawful if we did.”
Councilwoman Collette asked if there is a way to get the info the City Council will receive to the people in attendance who are supporting the Castle. (This blog will try to get this information as well.) She wants to know if they can make some considerations and still protect public safety. She asked Brenda Cirtin how that information can be released to the public. Brenda Cirtin said something would have to be on file and the city clerk could release that information. She also said people could give their address to the city clerk and have the information sent to them.
Councilman Chiles asked if there was any provision to provide mediator who can sit between two parties and have them work through issues. The answer was there is nothing in their process to allow for mediation.
9:24pm…Ronald Ard spoke about fixing a sidewalk.
Council went into a closed session.
