Belle aldermen review ordinances, approve bid

By Roxie Murphy, Staff Writer
Posted 4/22/20

BLAND — Belle aldermen listened as Mayor Josh Seaver gave the synopsis of a correspondence letter at the April 14 meeting that addressed ordinance complaints and suggestions for an …

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Belle aldermen review ordinances, approve bid

Posted

BLAND — Belle aldermen listened as Mayor Josh Seaver gave the synopsis of a correspondence letter at the April 14 meeting that addressed ordinance complaints and suggestions for an ordinance-in-progress.

The city asked prior to the meeting that correspondence be submitted in writing to a city employee and that the public watch the proceedings of city business from Facebook Live. The board’s request stemmed from a Stay-At-Home order that requires “gatherings to be limited to 10 or less people” set by the Missouri Department of Health. The limit was set in an effort to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Maries County Advocate recorded the event on Facebook Live. Alderman Courtney Abel along with department managers were not in attendance.

Belinda Branson was the only person to submit a correspondence, which included three pages of written complaints about properties surrounding her own. Seaver consolidated the letter for the board.

“The yard at 312 Apple needs the grass cut again,” Branson wrote. “Trash cans off the street, they don’t have trash pickup. The stucco house on Apple needs the trash and junk cleaned up around it. A limb that broke away from the tree is wedged up between the tree and the shed and is dangerous and needs to be taken care of.”

Branson said she spoke with the property owner with the concerning tree limb a week ago.

“The property on Eighth Street is disgusting, cars sitting around, blocking the alley,” Branson said, adding if the person works on cars, the property should be zoned commercial by the people’s vote. “If they don’t, then lose the scrapyard.”

Branson also addressed a mobile duplex on Apple Street.

“In regards to the recommendations by the Belle Community Betterment Association (BCBA) brought before the city council, I’d like the council to consider adding brush piles, piles of dirt and gravel piles being left not dealt with. The association recommended molding, mold on siding be dealt with — I’d like the council to consider chipping or peeling paint be taken care of as well. Window coverings should not be blankets, quilts, sheets, etc. Especially if the window doesn’t have a screen on it and the blanket blows out the window. Thanks for wanting to make a Better Belle.”

Seaver said a third page from Branson addressed the ordinance that BCBA submitted in March to help regulate home upkeep in Belle and consider 312 Apple as it’s first project.

“I’d like to submit the house at 312 Apple to be considered to meet the requirements. It needs gutters across the front porch, torn screens need to be replaced and put back on, screen doors replaced, the south side of the house at least be painted or have the whole house resided,”

Branson said and went on. “Garage door needs replaced — it won’t close, the house door on the garage is green with mold — needs cleaned, siding on the bottom on the north side of the garage needs repaired and matched color.”

Branson wrote that five years ago when the house was purchased, it had gutters, good screens on every window and storm doors. The garage door worked, garage siding did not have holes in it and shingles on the front weren’t working. She wrote that the damage is not from wear and tear, the property is just torn up and the landlord does not care.

Seaver passed Branson’s letter to Alderman Tony Gieck, to be passed to other aldermen after him. Alderman Courtney Abel along with department managers were not in attendance.

The board began by adding code violations to the agenda before approving the previous meeting minutes cash summary, bills-to-be-paid and added Treasurer Michelle Jones to the MasterCard account. 

They moved onto old business, starting with an ordinance amending Chapters 40 and 405 of the municipal code of the city of Belle, and Chapter 20, Planning and Zoning manual for the city of Belle, regarding medical marijuana.

A committee was appointed around February to find a suggested ordinance for the city in regards to medical marijuana. The committee presented their suggestions in March via a draft and were supposed to resubmit a corrected version with the board’s recommendations in March for the April meeting. Seaver began reading the ordinance.

Aldermen Ken Stanfield read a few of the first lines and said he wanted all required distancing to be 1,000 feet away from the required buildings.

“This is not the ordinance itself, it’s the section on offenses concerning drugs,” Seaver said. “It’s about medical marijuana ID cards and consumption of medical marijuana in public.”

Seaver said he is assuming the committee president is still reviewing the other ordinance.

“Mary (Weston, city attorney) has already approved this part, so we are waiting on the other part,” Seaver said.

Gieck made a motion to table the discussion until next month and Alderman Jeanette Struemph seconded. The measure passed with a 3-0 vote.

The board moved on to code violations, which was added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. Stanfield asked about a yellow house in his neighborhood that had overgrown grass.

“He (the owner) gets a warning year after year,” Stanfield said. “At what point does he get a fine? The next time Joe (Marshal Turnbough) or whoever shows up, will he get a ticket?”

Struemph mentioned the vehicle on Eighth Street that has a car on blocks preventing people from using the alley. Gieck added that some people around town have already mowed their grass four or five times already while others have not touched theirs.

Neither Turnbough nor a representative from the Belle Division at the meeting due to the attendance restrictions. The board agreed to revisit the discussion next month.

Barb Schaller, the city’s court clerk who was also not in attendance, left her report with the board that local court closures have been extended out to May.

Public Works Director Nathan Abel’s report included a request to approve bids for a patchwork project around the curbs on Johnson Avenue.

“The whole street?” Stanfield asked.

“Just the curbs,” Gieck clarified.

The project needs to be completed before the city can close the Johnson Avenue sidewalk project grant. The only bid they received was for $20,715 from Pierce Concrete.

“Normally we would bid out several streets that need to be done,” Gieck argued. “We didn’t we bid them all out?”

Seaver called Abel and put him on speaker phone.

“When we did that bid, we was trying to get the job closed out,” Nathan said. “We approved $36,000 to do it. The bid came in at $20,000.”

Gieck made a motion to approve the bid and pay for it out of capital improvements, informing the board it would drop their capital improvements budget into a negative balance.

“We just got more money in March and in April,” Jones said. “We got about $3,000 and will have another $3,000 for May and June each.”

The motion passed with a 3-0 vote.