Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:08 PM CST

The Farmington City Council worked through a list of six bills and a resolution when it met late last week. The resolution was the council’s response to an Missouri Department of Natural Resources proposal to include St. Francois County in the St. Louis Nonattainment Area — a designation pertaining to air quality — and was perhaps a topic which could have long-ranging effects.

If the county is included in a Nonattainment Area it could mean stricter guidelines for industry and other emissions, including automobile and powerplant emissions. The city’s resolution is informing the DNR that it opposes being included in a Nonattainment Area at all, but if it must be listed in a Nonattainment Area the city officials would like to see a new “area” developed to include St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Perry and Cape Girardeau counties.

Under the current DNR proposal, the four counties would be lumped into the St. Louis Nonattainment Area by the Environmental Protection Agency. That means restrictions and regulations would be imposed equally in St. Francois and the other affected counties just as they are in St. Louis. That could mean new industry would have to meet much stricter guidelines for emissions. Motorist could be required to have regular emissions testing done on automobiles in addition to the state vehicle inspections. And businesses such as hospitals and larger retailers could have to bring backup power generators in compliance with emissions regulations in a nonattainment area.

The council approved the resolution to be sent to Jefferson City and placed in the public record during a Dec. 4 hearing on the matter.

Earlier in the evening the council took up a matter which had a profound effect on a group of residents. LAM Properties, Inc., owner Larry Minkel had attended previous council meetings in October asking to be allowed to use the council’s “special use” provision to effectively spot zone an area in the Westmeyer Meadows subdivision to allow him to build duplexes to be rented out.

Many of the 18 homeowners already living in the subdivision reportedly opposed the addition of multi-family rental properties to their neighborhood. Residents turned out at multiple city council sessions in recent weeks to share their displeasure for what Minkel was proposing.

Many voiced concerns over falling property values, increased traffic, and other concerns relating to rental properties. Several times it was said that a homeowner respected Minkel’s quality craftsmanship, or his entrepreneurial spirit to spend his money to build a development. Still, the majority who addressed the council said they didn’t want him to be allowed to build rental duplexes near their homes.

Under the council’s “special use permit” process, a series of six questions are asked of the council members prior to taking the actual vote on the bill proposing the special use. The questions include such things as “will the proposed use create traffic hazards,” or “will it overtax utilities,” or “will it create a fire hazard,” or “will it adversely affect the city’s comprehensive plan?” A majority “yes” vote on any of the six questions can rule the “special use permit” unpassable — and it effectively goes away prior to an actual vote on the bill.

Oftentimes the council has had split decisions on one of more of the six questions, but rarely does the group of eight council members overwhelming agree on any one of the six leading questions. This time that happened on four of the six questions, causing the special use request to end before it was voted on.

A round of applause went up in the council chambers from several residents of Westmeyer Meadows when the failure of the bill was explained by City Administrator Greg Beavers.

In an unrelated matter, Councilman Larry Forsythe said the Public Works Committee was passing along a proposed city ordinance to restrict the use of “jake brakes” on large diesel trucks while traveling city streets winding through downtown. The ordinance will be reviewed by the city legal counsel and will likely make it back for a vote of the council at an upcoming meeting.

Forsythe also proposed the city moving ahead with ordering $25,000 in solar panels to be installed on a city building. The panels, a budgeted “renewable energy” item, would be used as a learning tool for Farmington residents. The panels would provide a portion of the power needed to operate a city building, and a monitoring system could be accessed by way of the city’s website to allow anyone to track the efficiency and energy savings of the solar panels.

And the council had one public hearing during the work session. A hearing was held as part of the process to start steps toward creating a Community Improvement District, or CID, for the Gundaker Development at the corner of Maple Valley Drive and Maple Street. The developer is asking to implement a CID sales tax of one cent per $1 only within the shopping development to help offset costs of building the center.

CID laws allow for special “zone” taxes for a 20-year maximum. A spokesperson for Gundaker said the developer would consider eliminating the tax once the related development bonds had been repaid, even if that was prior to the 20 year life span of the tax.

The council will take up the CID bill during its regular monthly session Nov. 24.

Archives Web Site Marketplace Obits Babies Jobs