The Aldermen Meeting began at 7 p.m. Mayor West, Aldermen - Bradley, Hendrich, Karrenbrock, and Schneider, City Attorney; Steve Martin and City Clerk; Marcia Gay were all present.

Open Forum:
Editor's note: Due to an oversight, New Melle Sports and Rec’s request to be on March’s BOA Agenda was inadvertently left off, so there was a discussion, but no voting could occur.
As discussed last month, New Melle Sports and Rec wants to improve the land owned by the City at the corners of Hwys. D & Z. NMSR would like to use the lower half of that property that is on a downhill grade. NMSR, at their cost, would like to bring that piece of the property up to grade so that it can be used for overflow practice fields for softball, baseball and football. NMSR noted that due to the growth in the area, there is not enough space for all of the kids to practice. It would be a minimal cost for NMSR and would improve the land at no cost to the City. NMSR would shoot lights from the exiting lights to provide just enough light for practice. Mayor West referred NMSR to Cochran Engineering, the City Engineer, to verify that there are no violations or issues with their plan that would cause concern.

NMSR also wanted to discuss its shared maintenance agreement with the City. There was some confusion at the beginning of the season last year, and NMSR would like to review all the items that the City requires.
The Mayor and City Attorney reminded the Board that there is a P & Z Meeting on April 6 regarding the application from Luciann Lisi Hruza and Sanford Sachtleben. The application requests to rezone 5.5 acres from R1-A (Single-Family Residential District) to AG (Agricultural) and 5 acres from Parks and Recreation to AG (Agricultural,) a total of 10.5 acres. The property is at 554 Foristell Rd., Wentzville, MO 63385. For detailed information, visit https://cityofnewmelle.com/news-and-events. Attorney Martin said that this application is in reference to the Sullivan Case, and it will go to P & Z and then the Board of Aldermen, and if it is passed, the Sullivan lawsuit should be resolved.

New Ordinances:
Ordinance No. 454 - An Ordinance of the City of New Melle, MO, amending sections 405.520 (Screening and Transition Strip Requirements,) 405.530 (Materials) and 405.550 (Examples.) The Board of Aldermen has determined that it is in the public's best interest for the City of New Melle to establish additional clarification to its screening and transition strip requirements and materials by deleting and amending its Zoning Ordinance. There were no changes other than rewriting portions that needed additional information for clarification. Bill No. 469 was passed unanimously by the Board and is now Ordinance No. 454.

New Business:
The city Engineer recommended that the city pass a motion to add an option to use a concrete surface in lieu of asphalt for the current Peter Street bid proposal. This motion will allow them to have an additional option since the price of asphalt is based on the price of oil. The motion was made and approved unanimously by the Board.

The Board and the Mayor discussed the pros and cons of signing the Kennel Service and Enforcement of St. Charles County’s Animal Control Ordinances agreement. There is no cost to the city for this service because the fees and fines paid by animal owners recover the cost. The city can always cancel the contract with a 45-day notice. The concern was about aggressive animals or other special situations that the City is not equipped to take care of themselves. The Board unanimously agreed to sign the agreement.

A complaint was filed by a citizen with the City concerning the condition of a sidewalk. The concern is along the north side of Highway D, continuing west from New Melle Automotive to the bottom of the hill. The sidewalk is covered in mud and gravel, making it difficult to use the sidewalk. After some discussion, Karrenbrock Construction offered to send someone down to clean that section of the sidewalk to solve the problem for now. The City will discuss adding this duty to the shared maintenance agreement they are working on with NMSR.

The next Board of Aldermen Meeting will be on April 14 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.