BELLE — Belle Mayor James (Pudd) Mitchell on Oct. 15 introduced Ordinance 668, which allows law enforcement to ensure condemned buildings are vacated before demolition begins.
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BELLE — Belle Mayor James (Pudd) Mitchell on Oct. 15 introduced Ordinance 668, which allows law enforcement to ensure condemned buildings are vacated before demolition begins.
“We’ve got a lot of buildings here around Belle that are not livable,” Mitchell said. “We met with MRPC’s Chuck Cantrell, and he told us our ordinances are perfect, but we need one for when a structure has been deemed non-livable and condemned.”
The new ordinance adds enforcement language to the city code, stating that “any person refusing to vacate the premises is subject to arrest, forcibly removed and prosecuted.”
The ordinance passed after the second reading with a 4-0 roll call vote.
The board also renewed its membership with the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) at the “prime” level, granting 27 hours of service time for projects and grants. Mitchell said the membership saves money compared to paying hourly for individual assistance. The cost of $1,898.76 was considered marginal compared to the service.
“You take 30 times $85, that adds up,” Mitchell said. “You compare that to the basic membership — it would eat up all of that and more. For what we’re trying to do and get done, it’d be my recommendation to go with the prime membership.”
The the board approved purchasing the MPRC prime members with a 4-0 vote.
Jeff Meadows with Archer Elgin Engineering presented Task Order six, authorizing updates to the city’s sewer and wastewater management plans. Both updates are required under state operating permits. This is a strategy plan that creates a timeline of improvements which will be made over the course of several years to bring the city up to par with state codes.
According to Alderman Seth Klein, this also covers certain equipment and sewer operations at the city lagoon. Including operating directions.
“The last time the instruction mannual was updated was in the 90s. Update everything, then I could go read the steps,” said Alderman Seth Klein.
“It’s important to get that updated and try to get everything in compliance and keep up with stuff,” Mitchell said. “It’s something that we really don’t have a choice on.”
The task order was approved with a 4-0 vote.
