VIENNA — The Vienna City Council at its Nov. 4 meeting reviewed the list of properties under consideration for a city demolition grant application.

During the city’s August meeting, city officials met with Maries County Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman and Meramec Regional Planning Commission Project Development Manager Kelly Sink to discuss the possibility of pursuing a Community Block Development Grant through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for demolishing nuisance properties within the city limits.

The first step in the process was making a list of structures in town that violate the city’s dangerous building ordinance and had been vacant for at least 12 months leading up to the grand application. Then, the city could contact the property owners and invite them to participate in the program, which is voluntary.

At the November meeting, the city had compiled a list of four properties that could qualify for the grant. The list included a house on Eighth Street owned by the Vienna Fire Protection District, the building purchased earlier this year by Maries County at Third Street and Coffey Street, an uninhabitable residence at First Street and Vienna Rolla Road owned by Tom Evans and an uninhabitable residence on Highway 63 owned by Alan Fick.

Police Chief Shannon Thompson said the city would want to confirm whether any of the properties qualified for protection under the State Historic Preservation Office because when the city obtained a demolition grant in the past, historic designations prevented the grant from leveling at least one building.

City Clerk Davis said she had not yet confirmed the number of buildings the city needed to qualify for the grant. She said if anyone knew of someone in the city limits with a nuisance property, they could talk to the city about possibly signing up for the grant.

At this time, the city is only in the information-gathering stage of the process. City officials are not committed to applying for the grant until they have confirmed enough property owners are interested in the project. Davis planned to share more details about the grant requirements during the Dec. 9 meeting.

Also during the November meeting, Davis said she had completed reconciliation for several city accounts since taking over as full-time city clerk earlier in the month. On her first day, she completed reconciliation for the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) account, the community development account, the debt reserve account and the performer and MDA account.

The city’s cash account still needed work. Davis asked the aldermen for permission to work with Graves and Associates CPAs to ensure everything about the account was correct. She said some electronic deposits had not been logged into the account. Davis hoped to have everything sorted by the January 2025 meeting.

Davis plans this month to get started renewing business licenses for next year after many businesses were slow to renew their 2024 licenses. She said she would use the existing list of businesses to send letters to ensure the accuracy of the information on file. The letters will also include the cost of renewal.

One change Davis is making to the process is the issuance of new licenses each year instead of renewal stickers to put on existing licenses. Each year, license numbers will begin with the year and ascend as the city receives renewals.

The Maries County Assessor’s Office contacted the city with concerns about the property description given for the part of Second Street that the city vacated by ordinance during the September meeting. The city contacted Show-Me Land Surveying to provide a more precise description of the vacated area to provide to the assessor’s office.

Thompson planned to contact City Attorney Todd Smith to send a letter to a residential facility in town to express concerns after Vienna PD responded to 11 emergency calls at the facility in October. Smith had offered to draft the letter during a discussion of the city’s concerns during the October meeting.

Internet issues at City Hall have been minor over the last month. The city plans to work with Remote Computer Services in Westphalia on cybersecurity upgrades. Thompson said he had found a U.S. Department of Homeland Security cybersecurity grant in which he was interested in possibly using to pay for some of the upgrades.

Davis plans to attend virtual training in January and in-person training for new city clerks in Columbia in March.