July 11, 2023 — Meeting Transcript

Now we can really begin. I just want to say a couple of words, you know, the topic obviously is the next recommendation from the landscape task force. And this is a group that I think everybody knows was set up a couple years ago and they've done some really admirable work. I just sit there and sort of see, okay, so when can we get that done? That's my job. But we have just some of the most amazing people on that task force. Jeff Ward, who is a resident of Ward 1, who's a professor of sociology and African American studies at WashU. We have Gwen Moore, who is on loan to us from the Missouri History Museum, and she's doing some amazing work there. And she did the work around the I always get this mixed up, but the work around the soccer stadium with the exhibit commemorating that neighborhood. And she's done so many other things. And then of course we have Chris who has just been an incredible contributor to the group with her skills in terms of writing and her passion about the subjects. It's been terrific. And we have some other guys. We have someone from the Equity Commission, that's you. And then we have Meredith McKinley who is an art consultant who just volunteers her time. I think I've got everybody in there now so it's anyway I just can't say enough about the group and I was just like to remind us how lucky we are to have all these amazing people. that volunteer their time just for the betterment of our city. And so this particular group is obviously looking at things that have been maybe not presented accurately or holistically to the community and changing that, recontextualizing, but also then recognizing things that have been forgotten, erasured, whatever you want to call it. Like, for example, the Black neighborhood that we that we came with the last time. So this time, the recommendation is about the Philippine Village, which was here located partly in Clayton and partly elsewhere during the 1904 World's Fair. And they're going to recommend to you that we do recognize it as a city. And so I wanted to now, if I could invite Chris up to talk us through the recommendation and why it's important why it's important and let me ask is jonna on too okay and so we do have with us uh jonna i'm gonna butcher your last name uh uh annuevo langholz um and she is i'm gonna ask her to talk to you a little bit more about what she does norm you know all the time not just this but she's She's really contributed and helped us write this recommendation. She's basically written it, and we've kind of just helped put it in the format and added some things. And she's done a lot of work on behalf of the Philippine culture in the U.S. So she will chime in where needed, and then I think I'll hope to give her some time to tell you about herself a little bit because she's such an interesting person. Okay, Chris, take it away.

Okay, thank you. I'm going to start by reviewing our guiding principles, which just to focus on what we're trying to do here. Commemorative objects should align with our community's highest aspirations, including as those related to truthfulness, equity, and inclusion. When considering existing or proposed commemorative objects, the City of Clayton should seek to honestly and productively engage history and never to erase it. When considering inherited and new commemorative objects, commemorative objects, both past and present contributions and impacts of the representation must be given careful consideration. Our evaluation criteria, we'll go through these one by one. So we'll just take them as they come and start with the approval process. So as you know, first, the task force identifies the action or opportunity. Then we present that item to CCF history and the CEC for community input during public meetings. and then take that input, add it in, and then present to you all to make a decision. So recommendations on our chart list. As you know, we did successfully relocate the portrait of Ralph Clayton and be able to provide historical context for that. We covered the historically Black neighborhood, and this one is in progress. This is commemorating the Philippine Village historical site. So the next is a picture, a slight photo of where that site was. The Philippine Village at the 1904 World's Fair was also referred to as the Philippine Reservation or the Philippine Exhibit. It spanned 40 acres adjacent to Forest Park and the area covers what is the present day Wydown-Skinker neighborhood from Dumond to Wydown Boulevard, part of Concordia Cemetery in the Dumond neighborhood, which you know so well. going on for there is this the principal legacy of the names to our object subject depicted fundamentally at odds with current community values. So as background, as we said, the Philippine village historical site is not currently commemorated in the city of Clayton. So we're proposing this edition of a commemorative marker at the farmer's site of the village in Whiteown Skinker. And it does align with Clayton's community values of truthfulness, equity, and inclusivity. inclusion. On evaluating the historical site, what was the context at the time and is that something we want to continue to honor and embrace? And in this case, explain. So I always talked about where it was. Point B there, those in 1904, remember the historical context, the Philippines had recently become a U.S. colony following the Spanish-American War in 1898. So the Philippine exhibit was organized by the US government to showcase the people, products and natural resources of this new territory. But really what it was trying to do in support of imperialism, the intention was to portray the Filipino people as savages and in need of the United States to guide them through towards civilization. Later, the Philippines, as you know, was a colony for 48 years and gained independence in 1946. The context at the time, although the Philippine village was expansive in scope and included 70,000 exhibits from agricultural products to art, most ingrained in the public memory to this day were the anthropological exhibits, i.e., 300 indigenous people from the Philippines were put on public display for eight months during the fair. Some of these people got here because they were abducted. Others were promised good pay and great opportunities in America. And some came for the adventure, which sadly turned out to be a misadventure. Over 700 Filipino soldiers then who were affiliated with the US Army were also stationed in St. Louis as part of the fair. And they were intentionally set in contrast to the native villages, right? To say, look what our civilized thing has done a majority of the people who came for the village were young women and men between 18 and 30 years old they lived their lives in clayton for eight months from march to december of 1904. they performed their daily activities fell in love gave birth and died while on display for paying visitors 17 people in the philippine village including two infants died during the 1904 World's Fair due to cold, malnutrition, and suicide. Their memories have become a part of the cultural history of Clayton, and for them, the Philippine Village should always be remembered and honored. The context at the time, again, carrying on with that, the current Philippine Village historical site was established on the death anniversary of Mara, on April 21st, 2021. And this is where we'll talk a little bit about all that Jana has done to bring this history and information to us. Mara was an 18-year-old Igarot woman who died from pneumonia a few weeks after arriving in St. Louis. After her death, her body was kept on display for visitors for the duration of the 1904 World's Fair. Without the consent or knowledge of her family, her brain was removed by anthropologists at the fair and sent to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Prior to 1950, her remains were incinerated by that institution. And although documentation suggests her body was repatriated to the Philippines, Her burial location is unknown and may have never left St. Louis. The United States today is home to more than 4 million Filipinos, which is part of the legacy of the 1904 World's Fair and the history of colonization. With this historical marker, we will acknowledge and honor those who are subjected to the exploitation and abuses of the 1904 world's fair. But we're also going to celebrate the strength, the resilience and the contributions of Filipinos and indigenous people. in both the past and present. I think it's obvious that this, yes, in fact, does make a nuanced complex history accessible to the public and will provide an opportunity to educate people. We want to honor the struggles of those who were here before us and the histories that have been largely forgotten in the city of Clayton. We cannot change the past, but we can do what we can in the present to shed light on those histories in order to prevent further harm from happening in the future. The placement of the historical marker for the Philippine Village would restore a history that has since been erased from Clayton and Forest Park landscapes since after the fair. None of the buildings in the Philippine Village were preserved. No permanent commemorative markers have ever been placed to mark the location of the Philippine Village. The City of Clayton has the opportunity to contribute to the acknowledgement of its history, restoring dignity to those communities in both the past and present, and model respectful and positive representation of the Philippine We all talk about Jana because she is just a powerhouse. If you haven't met her, I encourage you to take a few minutes to try to schedule time with her because she's amazing. She is a Clayton resident and a descendant of the Philippines who were brought here for the fair. She's gained this recognition locally, nationally, and internationally through her advocacy. She has walked around those streets carrying her own little sign to give people tours and tell them the story. I mean, who does that? Jana, that's what I could, that's who does that. So with much credit to her and thanks, we're looking at our recommendation now, which is we recommend The Mayor's Commemorative Landscape Task Force recommends commemorating the Philippine Village through the placement of a historical marker on city-owned land in Whitehound-Skinker neighborhood. The task force recommends developing the marker in collaboration with the existing project Janna's the Philippine village historical site and its community. And in further consultation with other community members and stakeholders such as are listed here. And by the way, this would be great learning opportunity for our captain schools and that part of our community. So with that, I have said all I've come to say, thank

you. You want to just hang out there in case there are questions? Yes, of course. And Janna, are you... on there somewhere. And can you, is she able to talk to us? Okay. Janet, could you just, I want to introduce you to the, to the group. Um, and you've played such an important role here and could you just, would you mind just coming on and telling people, you know, kind of the larger aspects of what you've been working on? I know we mentioned the Smithsonian, and I'm trying to help you with that. But there's a whole lot of legs to the art project, as you call it, of working for the Philippine culture.

Sure. Hi, Mayor Harris, and hello, everybody. It's good to be here with you tonight. Again, my name is Janna Anyanwevo-Langholz. As Chris said, I've been walking around with a temporary sign since 2021 and that's really given me a way to get to know the neighborhood and get to talk to my neighbors. So it's something that I've really enjoyed over the past couple of years. Let's see. I started this project actually in, 2015 with the Filipino American Artists Directory. And initially I was trying to bring together 1,200 artists to come back to St. Louis and kind of address the history of this site. But after the pandemic, my plans kind of changed and it became what I call it today the Philippine Village Historical Site. And I've also been working to place grave markers at Cavalry Cemetery for six individuals who died and are still buried there. I've been working closely with descendants of those communities to determine how to best honor them, and some of those individuals will also be repatriated to the Philippines. So that's been something that's been long in progress. And then we talked about the Smithsonian. So is there anything else? Does anyone have any questions for me? Well, aren't

you, you are going to be working with the Missouri History Museum on their World's Fair exhibit as well?

Oh yeah. I'll also be curating the Philippine section of the 1904 World's Fair exhibit at Missouri History Museum.

It's a lot. Any questions from the board about the project for Chris, for Jonna? comments

do we know where the marker is going to go or do we have some ideas of where we want it

yeah we we do and it's not quite exactly as it is here we will probably go on concordia seminary property but right next to the sidewalk like right across from caldees at that corner i think everyone agrees that that's a visible site and concordia seems very amenable as long as you know they have some flexibility with it so We haven't signed any agreements yet. Of course, it will be premature to do that now. But once this is approved, then we'll go ahead and move forward that way. I have a question. Oh, Susan, yes.

Yeah, first of all, again, it's tremendous work capturing something that so many people don't know about to bring it forward and to honor and to learn. and move on, but when the marker is placed, is there any way for people who see it to then access a fuller history? How do you link it to the other work that you're doing?

That's a good question. So first, I do have a website specifically for the Philippine Village Historical Site, and that's something that I plan to build out a little more in the future. And then also, I think the Missouri History Museum exhibit is going to help a lot because they are going to have a virtual walking tour that can complement the walking tour that I do on site. And so we're still talking about ways that we can further educate the public about that.

Incidentally, I'm going to tell you one of the, because Jana, I I was fortunate enough for us to go on the tour with Jana. And if you are familiar with the campus, you know those palm trees you see there and you think, why are there palm trees in St. Louis on Concordia? Those are actually remnants from the Philippine village and its time there. So, and as most of you probably know, there was the mascot for Y-Down for a period of time was Igarats and it was not our most shiny moment as how that it was depicted,

but. And just to further add on, you know, I think the plan with most of these markers is to have a Q square there that will lead to information that we post on our website and we'll gather as much as this as we can and have it there for folks. But then on our website, we can also refer people to John's website or, or the MOHIS or whatever it happens to be. So I think there's, there's definitely a, a way to really do some education here, which is great. Yeah. Okay. I think it's, thank you. Thank you very much, Chris. Thank you, Jenna. It's been great to have you here and I'm glad everybody got to meet you.

Thank you.

Okay. So I think tonight we're just hearing about this and in the future meeting, we'll go ahead and vote on it, but thanks for listening. And I'm very proud of the work of this group. All right. So it's time then to begin our seven o'clock meeting. So we will call that to order and if we can call the roll. Oh, we still have a couple of minutes. I'm looking at that clock. Sorry, we have two minutes. And as you know, we must start on the dot like we did for the 6.30.

We're allowed to start late apparently, but not early. Late

but not early. That's how I like it when I invite people to my house. You can come late, but don't come early.

Oh, can I ask you a question? Okay. Thank you so much. to me. Okay.

It's now safely past seven o'clock. So will you please call the roll? Yes.

Alderman Berkowitz? Here. Alderwoman McAndrew? Here. Alderman Buse?

Here.

Alderman Patel. Here. Alderman Gary Feder.

Alderman Patel. Here. Alderman Fader.

Here.

Aldeman Rick Hummell.

Aldeman Hummel.

Here.

Mayor Harris. Here. City Manager David Gipson.

Mayor Harris. Here. City Manager Gibson.

Here.

City Attorney O'Keefe.

Here. Thank

you.

Okay, and welcome to members of the audience. Thanks for coming. Right now is the time for public requests and petitions, so if anyone has something they want to talk to us about that is not on our agenda tonight, now's your chance, or anyone in our viewing audience. Now's the opportunity. Does anyone have a topic or a question? Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to, we have some recognitions and awards. So I'll let city manager take over.

I'll actually turn it over to Chief Smith to present a

life-saving award. Good evening. Thank you for allowing us to present this award tonight. I'm going to ask Sergeant Weinbender to come on up with me here. Today, we're going to award Sergeant

Weidenbender the Lifesaving Award for his actions on May 8th. Sergeant Weidenbenders has been with us for 34 years now. He is the sergeant who supervises our detectives and school resource officers. So on May 8th, we received a call for a missing woman. And it was obvious from her family and her communications that she was in distress and could possibly harm herself. Her cell phone indicated that she was last seen at Newstead and Lindle near the Cathedral Basilica. Sergeant Wydenbenner and Detective Tixon, as well as Captain Thuot and Lieutenant Chabon made their way to that location to try to find her. They located the woman's car outside of an apartment building, a high-rise apartment building right there at Newstead and Lyndall. Sergeant Weidenbender went inside the apartment building, spoke with the security officer, showed a picture of this woman, and the security officer said he saw a woman on the 23rd floor but didn't believe this was the right person. Knowing that witness descriptions are not always accurate, Sergeant Weidenbener went up there and checked anyway. He went to the 23rd floor, found the woman sitting on the floor, and recognized her as our missing person. Sergeant Weinberg tried to communicate with her. She was very uncooperative. He got on his police radio, tried to call for assistance to help take her into custody, protective custody. His police radio didn't work in the building, which is not uncommon in some of these large buildings. He then tried to use a cell phone. In the process of using a cell phone, the woman got up and ran to a stairwell. John followed her through the stairwell, up a flight of stairs, and she made her way to the roof. She started going towards the edge of the roof. John grabbed her by the arm, and she continued to tug John away, and he ended up looking at the roof. And Andrea can show you a picture here of what it looks like up there. So she made her way to that ledge there. That's all right. So she was only 20 feet away from that ledge, and that ledge right there is only a foot and a half high. It comes up under my knee. So it was a very dangerous and precarious situation that John was in with this woman. He took her to the ground, secured her in handcuffs, and we were able to take her to the hospital unharmed and get her help. And I actually went there today to take a photo, just get a feeling what happened up there. And I'm going to tell you, it gave me chills thinking about how this could have devolved and got out of control. You know, these kind of tussles can move rapidly. And he's only seven yards away from that edge. That edge is, like I said, below my knee. Bad things could have happened. But John acted decisively. In fact, I know John could probably tell us that he's probably not as fast as he was 34 years ago when he started. But, but he's got experience and judgment he understood that this was an important critical situation we weren't going to rely on another police department stainless city to find this woman. We were going to go find her ourselves, and john also knew that the security guard, there was a woman up on the floor well that's that's something we need to look into, regardless of what the description. He said it didn't match. So, his judgment. And then when he recognized that she ran, she started to run away. Well, she's going up a fly of stairs. He knew this was bad and he followed her and, uh, took, took decisive actions to, to, uh, bring her into protective custody and, and, uh, make it safe. So John, uh, You prevented the loss of life by reacting quickly and decisively to a person experiencing a mental health crisis. Your safety was also at risk as you struggled with the individual and gained control on the rooftop of a high-rise building. I am privileged to present you with this life-saving award to honor your brave and outstanding

actions. just introduce your

family here. Yeah, my wife, Mary, who's been with me, well, the 34 years here and two years before that. My son, Joseph, who's going to Mizzou this fall. So that's taking up all of our time right now. So that's the big things, important things.

Thank you so much. Thank

you. We're

very lucky to have you and all of our wonderful officers.

All right.

I guess next is the public hearing on the marijuana dispensary, so I will open the public hearing and request proof of publication.

Yes, Mayor, this is a public hearing to consider an application for a conditional use permit submitted by Bob Pease of Agro Genesis LLC doing business as Sunrise to allow for the operation of a 3,611 square foot marijuana dispensary. The existing building will be renovated to support the proposed use. Sunrise will be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. The dispensary will be designed in compliance with Missouri requirements to include a waiting room, separated sales floor, private employee spaces, and restroom facilities. The subject property includes onsite parking with 23 spaces for visitors and staff. Deliveries, trash and recycling services will be provided using Colorado Avenue. The applicant has stated that any marijuana products to be discarded will first be rendered unusable. Marijuana dispensaries are subject to section 405.350, which is our performance standards and regulations related to marijuana facilities. and also the conditional use regulation of the city's codes, as well as the state regulations and licensing. The applicant currently holds a license to operate a dispensary in St. Louis City, but they are petitioning the state to move to the proposed location. Clayton's municipal code requires that marijuana dispensaries provide adequate security, including but not limited to surveillance, inventory management, the use of a safe, an alarm system, and emergency contact information. The facility operations manual highlights security features in multiple sections. Security features include the following, separated waiting area and access control doors, break resistant film and glass break sensors on all windows, surveillance cameras, secured locking storage for all merchandise, cash vault storage, alarm system and emergency contact, and policies for emergency situations. Clayton's municipal code also requires the applicant provide a plan for mitigation and control of odors and other environmental impacts which may emanate from the facility. The applicant has included a facilities operation manual that identifies odor control measures mitigation measures include sealed packaging storage within a single room carbon filters and odor absorbing canisters. The operations manual and security plan have been reviewed by staff, including the police department and found to be aligned with requirements and best practices. The plan commission considered this request at its meeting on July 3rd and voted unanimously to recommend approval as requested. Staff recommends that the Board of Aldermen approve a conditional use permit for the operation of Sunrise located at 118 South Hanley Road per the conditions outlined in the resolution.

Great Thank you i'm going to open it up for discussion, I know the applicant is here and i'll just see what the questions are and see if we want you to come up and address yeah. So i'm going to first ask for anybody in the audience here or anybody online would do you have any questions or comments about this proposal. I don't see anything. All right, I'll start with the board and I'll go in order of seniority. And why don't you come on up? We're probably going to be asking something.

Yeah, say your

name, please. Okay,

very good. Okay. So we'll just start with the... Can the mic be turned on? Oh, thank you.

Do you want

me to restate my name?

Yeah, please go ahead.

It's Bob Pease. I'm the CEO of Agrigenesis and with me is Bobby Crudy, who's our director of retail.

Thank you. Okay, well, Bob, thanks for your interest in Clayton. I was kind of interested in why did you want to be in that location?

We were looking in Clayton for a number of reasons. I think Clayton is a very unique place within St. Louis. It's a safe and vibrant destination. It has a unique combination of businesses, education, government, tourism. And of course, beautiful residential areas. But I think most importantly to us, as we engaged with the city initially around the request, there seemed to be a willingness to work with entrepreneurs and welcoming business into the city. And at that point, we thought that it was a great place to be. And then it was a matter of finding a location that would be compliant as far as meeting setback requirements, but also that would actually fit in the location without being disruptive to neighboring businesses or residential and would actually be additive to the area.

Thank you. That's it.

Okay. Bridget, any questions, comments? Um, I just had a couple of questions. So I was kind of reading through and you guys, you know, did a great job of, you know, outlining all the different protocols you use. I guess I was curious. So when there is marijuana that is deemed unusable, so you guys seal that up? And then do you dispose of that on your own? Or does that actually go in a dumpster that the city takes away or that

you want to talk about disposal? Sure.

So there's a couple different measures that we use to dispose of the cannabis. Firstly, we use a blender and blend it with either ground coffee or potentially cat litter, two different items that diffuse the smell and ultimately make it unusable. But then yes, it's sealed and disposed of in the trash as normal.

But you blend it with the coffee grounds before you put it. Correct. Probably makes it undesirable to most people. Okay. And then I was kind of curious, you know, I think there's, I think many people on the board, of course, have received emails from people who are, you know, this is a new thing, I think, for people throughout the state of Missouri. Yeah. I do think that we have found a good location. There's plenty of parking that's available. As you said, it's very accessible, but it's not very close to residential neighborhoods. So I do think that it's in a good location. I'm curious, you know, I know one of the prohibitions is people can't purchase something in the store and then go to a parking lot and smoke it. So do you have somebody in the store that would kind of, if that's occurring, do people, you know, rather than call our police department, is there somebody in your store that would actually come out and say, hey, you guys got to go, you can't consume this here?

Yeah, absolutely. So the interior and exterior of the location will have video cameras, which will allow for surveillance. We'll also have posted signage, but the staff would certainly discourage that and try to disallow it from happening. If they can't control it themselves, of course, they would call the police department.

Right, right. And then you said that you are petitioning the state to move your license from the city to Clayton, and you have other dispensaries throughout the state that are already set up?

We do. We have five dispensary licenses. We have stores in Maryville, Kansas City, Clinton, and Macon, as well as the current St. Louis store in Carondelet.

And you feel like you've been successful and able to run those the way they're supposed to be run, and certainly the way that you guys outlined very well in what we received in the packet.

Yeah, operationally, things have been going great. We haven't had any kind of compliance or regulatory issues or sanctions. We haven't any kind of security issues. So operationally, everything's been going very well.

Thank you. Susan, do you have some questions?

I think that most of them now have been answered. The presentation has been very good. Thank you for what you provided to us. The concerns I think we've heard from neighbors tend to be with any increase of crime, and I especially breaking into the store after hours and things like that, and you have some experience in other areas. Have you had any issues with that? Or do you feel that things coming into Clayton will be secure enough that that type of crime will be under control?

Yeah, it's a great question and security and compliance is really at the foundation of everything we do. Your city manager did a great job detailing some of the security measures that we have in place which are a big deterrent from anyone even attempting to break in. I've managed several dozen dispensaries across eight states. I've never had a successful break in into a store. We've had a couple attempted break-ins, but never a successful break-in. Our director of security, who's a former chief of police, did some research around dispensary related crimes in Missouri since the inception of the program. and wasn't able to find any reported cases of armed robberies or things like that. The only attempts were kind of after hours and most very unsuccessful because of the requirements that the state puts in place around access control, security around the exterior of the building, video surveillance, all the things that city manager detailed in the summary.

Yeah. That's great. And the other concern then is, I think what was just raised too by, was that when people buy and then going out and using the product within the area and just hanging out and loitering and things like that, it was good to hear that you'll have somebody on staff who will be able to address those things. And is that a problem that you've experienced at other locations?

We've never encountered that as a problem at our other locations.

Okay, and have there been any complaints at other locations with odors or anything else?

No.

Result of you all being there? No. Okay. Okay, that's all I have.

Thanks. Good questions. Any questions, comments?

I was wondering, I actually have a question for the city manager. David, can you remind me what, if any, prohibitions we have on the use of marijuana in public within the city?

So you cannot consume marijuana. The way we set up the regulation was basically anywhere you cannot smoke tobacco, you cannot smoke marijuana. So within 15 feet of an entrance of a building, certain public buildings and public land, you can't smoke marijuana there. You can't smoke it on the property of the dispensary where it's sold. So those regulations are all in place. And again, mirror what we have for tobacco as far as smoking is concerned.

If anything, they're more restrictive because you can buy cigarettes and smoke them in the parking lot of the place where you buy them. Right. I just wanted to be clear about that. Okay. I have no other questions. Thank you. Alderman Gary Feder.

If anything, they're more restrictive because you can buy cigarettes and smoke them in the parking lot of the place where you buy them. Right. I just wanted to be clear about that. Okay. I have no other questions. Thank you. Alderman Fader.

So I've heard for a few people today who I think don't sort of know the background on the state law and how that impacts what cities can do or can't do. And so those who I communicated with, I said, given what I think are the zoning requirements and criteria, parking, traffic, odor, security, I think you've done a good job in addressing all those. And this is not meant to be rhetorical, but simply repeating some of the things that critics have said, which is it's not a good fit. It doesn't work for our image. It's the whole question of marijuana sale. And I realize that's not really appropriate consideration for us from a zoning perspective. But I'm sure you have that issue from time to time. How would you address those who feel somehow just some discomfort in Clayton about having a marijuana dispensary?

I think there's a lot of education around the use of this product that is necessary. And it's something that we take seriously as kind of a corporate citizen within the communities that we operate in, not just within the store, but also through community outreach. I think that many people that aren't in the industry would be very surprised to learn the demographic of our average customer. I think that some people that don't use cannabis have an image in their head of what a cannabis user is. And if you came to any one of our stores and looked at who's coming in and out of the door, it could be any one of you. At our store opening in Maryville, we invited the city council to come. And after we did the ribbon cutting, which was very nice, one by one, pretty much every one of the city council members, except for maybe two, came up to me on the side and said, don't tell anybody, but I'm a medical patient. And they felt like they had the stigma. They didn't want other people to know, but they were using it to help treat some medical conditions that they had. So Even though recreational use has passed in Missouri, even some customers that don't have a medical card, they're still using it in some ways for medical purposes, whether that's to treat insomnia or anxiety or things like that. Great. Thank you.

Great.

I was hoping that you could spend maybe a couple minutes to talk about your marketing plan and your sales, what you've experienced From a sales standpoint, specifically medical versus non-medical. And I don't know if people present cards anymore. They don't. And then maybe a little bit about your inventory, meaning is it only marijuana and or marijuana infused products? Are there other products that you sell as well?

Yeah, I'll take a quick shot at the marketing question and I'll ask Bobby to talk about inventory. And you can also touch on marketing or add to what I'm going to say. There's very limited marketing, really. Most of our marketing is through social media. And even that is quite limited because of what the social media platform, the restrictions that the social media platforms put in place around cannabis operators. Most of the advertising that we do through social media is more kind of information around, you know, if we're going to be changing our hours or things like that, or happen to be running a sale or, you know, things like that. But again, it's very limited. Most of what we do has to be through text messages to people that have signed up to receive those text messages. So they're basically already kind of coming into the store and aware that we're there. If you want to add anything to the marketing piece and talk about inventory and what we're selling.

Yeah, I think from a marketing perspective, we're pretty limited in what we can do. So we try to be as cognizant of those rules and regulations, but ultimately as effective as we can be with our consumers. So unfortunately, based on those regulations, yeah, the texting and the text club is ultimately our biggest outreach. We're driving a string of sales and promotions. And I think from that marketing's perspective, that's what every business would do, right? Apart from that, from an inventory perspective, We have so many controls in place that we utilize and manage every single day to manage our inventory as per the regulations for the state. And from a compliance perspective, we do cycle counts twice a week to manage our inventory to ensure that we're not missing any product. We do a full inventory every single month to ensure that there's no product missing. And in the event that there is a product that we cannot identify the cause of its loss, we report it to local authorities and ensure we have paperwork to follow the appropriate compliance measures. but from a business perspective absolutely the business has increased dramatically since adult use prior limited to a certain number of card holders medical card holders but once we open it up to 21 and up obviously we're seeing a spike in business which is great but yes we still accept medical cards in the facility and if a med patient comes in we treat them just like anybody else but want to ensure that they have a great experience and that's what it's all about

Great.

Thanks.

One other question, and I don't want you to breach any security here, but I'm wondering how has your business dealt with the banking system? And there is the fact that it's illegal for federally chartered banks to deal with this type of product or cash from this business.

Yeah. So before getting into the cannabis industry, I spent 15 years in financial services with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan in New Jeffery Yorg. And I also taught a class on finance, cannabis finance and regulation with University of Sciences in Philadelphia. So I'm very well versed on cannabis banking regulation. I think that it's a common misunderstanding for people that aren't in the industry. that cannabis businesses can be banked by federal banks. There's just a very long list of things that they have to do in order to do it compliantly. So it keeps a lot of them out because of the additional cost of doing that. But there are a number of legal compliant banking options available. And Missouri was actually a state that adopted Sorry, a number of banks within Missouri got into the cannabis industry very quickly relative to other states that I've been in. So we had a handful of options. In some other states, you have one bank that's banking the space. So most of them provide most traditional business banking services so you can operate with some constraints like any other business. Thank you.

Yeah. So before getting into the cannabis industry, I spent 15 years in financial services with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan in New York. And I also taught a class on finance, cannabis finance and regulation with University of Sciences in Philadelphia. So I'm very well versed on cannabis banking regulation. I think that it's a common misunderstanding for people that aren't in the industry. that cannabis businesses can be banked by federal banks. There's just a very long list of things that they have to do in order to do it compliantly. So it keeps a lot of them out because of the additional cost of doing that. But there are a number of legal compliant banking options available. And Missouri was actually a state that adopted Sorry, a number of banks within Missouri got into the cannabis industry very quickly relative to other states that I've been in. So we had a handful of options. In some other states, you have one bank that's banking the space. So most of them provide most traditional business banking services so you can operate with some constraints like any other business. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Sorry about that. All right. This is my turn. Anyway, I'm impressed with your operation. I looked at your manual. You could kill a squirrel with it. It's good that you've really thought all this out. And you have experience in other places, which is really great. So before you've come to Clayton, you've ironed out a lot of issues, I'm sure. Question about signage. I know your sign is going to say sunrise. Are you going to plaster the front of your building with marijuana leaves? Or are you going to say reefer's on sale this week, BOGO or something like that? How do you deal with all that in terms of what you present to the public face at your establishment?

Yeah, I mean, we don't see a need to do that. We have never done that in any other stores that we've had. I think keeping the signage simple, people that are interested in buying cannabis are going to find us. And there's really, I don't, especially at that location, I don't think that there's really even any benefit or much benefit of doing that type of thing. So yeah, it's just not how we operate.

You know, and we're within the setbacks but we've got a lot of school kids wandering around Clayton, a lot of high schoolers. They're always around, and it's undoubtedly. will happen probably somewhat frequently that they'll come in and try to buy stuff. I know you have a procedure. I mean, are you really strict on that? Yeah, do you want to talk

about the ID? Yeah, absolutely. We check in every single guest regardless of the patient or adult user. So they have to have a valid ID at 21 and up. We have a device at check-in that scans every single ID and then we bring them up in the system to identify. So it's pretty fluid. We haven't had any issues with it.

Okay. good and then my last question uh is really for chief chief smith um just you know because we have gotten actually we've gotten i've gotten quite a few emails for the past couple of days and concern about increasing crime around dispensaries does that happen And I just thought I would ask you to tell us, you know, in your experience, and I'm sorry, I didn't prepare you for this question. Have you seen a lot of that or is there any cause for concern that you can think of? I don't believe so. I

think when the dispensaries first opened up and including some that were just medicinal, there were some attempts at some of the local dispensaries to break in, but the security is pretty strong in those locations. And I think once they get into there, they quickly realize they're not going to get to the product or to the money. So I don't believe there's been any successful burglaries of these locations but yeah there's been a few attempts I haven't heard about any recently. Correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe the groups that tend to do this kind of crime probably learned that's probably not gonna be a successful operation.

Okay, great. Just wanted to kind of get that out there from you. Okay, so great. So you can everyone sit down. I want to say before I close the public hearing we have had, and I know you've received some I think I've received everyone that you've gotten plus my own. So I've gotten quite a few emails over the past couple days on this topic of, and all all negative. and really much for the reasons, Gary, that you identified. It's just people are wondering if it's a fit. So my only, and I've heard from a couple of you on this, I just want to make sure that we really haven't heard from anybody until like yesterday and today. And I want to make sure we all feel comfortable voting on this tonight, that we don't need to give public more time to give input. And I'm not saying, I'm not advocating that. I'm just asking you all to make sure that that's how you feel before I close the public hearing. If anybody doesn't want to vote tonight, just raise your hand.

I guess my take is, and I'm not at all opposed to the application, I think it makes a lot of sense, but it does occur to me. I didn't hear anything on this until the last day or two, which leads me to believe that it's taking a little while to percolate in the community. And I don't think the outcome will change, but I think in fairness to... to the community we ought to give people a little more time at least to weigh in on this and be able to get them a better understanding of of the parameters so to that extent I I would think if it's at all possible we would do well to just defer it and vote on it at the next meeting

I would like to I'd like to find out if the applicant has a time schedule issue before we do that but Otherwise, if there's no issues, then I think I would be, yeah, I mean, I don't think it makes any difference. I

agree with Ira on that. If we're creating some real hardship on the applicant, that I don't want to do, but I also want to be fair to the community.

I think it would, come on up if you want, it would give us, and I've seen some very nice responses from y'all to these people, and it would give us an opportunity to kind of educate those voices that are worried about So I don't know, would it create a big hardship for you to wait two weeks?

I mean, it could have a meaningful financial impact on us. That shouldn't necessarily drive, I don't think, the decision of the board. But yes, I mean, two weeks in delay ultimately of approval for us and ultimate opening, assuming that that two weeks would kind of flow through to the opening, that could have a very meaningful financial impact on

So essentially two weeks of sales, you're saying for that year.

I'd like to understand... because I know we received emails, we responded to them. There are certainly folks who seem to be present who are here potentially for this topic, but who've chosen not to speak. And I guess I don't see any grounds under which we could deny this. And so given that, I guess my preference is would be to approve it like and and maybe i'm missing something but um you know

well we you know i agree with that too um but again you know it's just a way a balancing of things i i don't want to i don't want set you guys back and no one here does and i don't think it will change the outcome Um, but I do, I do kind of feel, I'm, I'm concerned about people's just now, and it's not, it's not your fault. It's not our fault, but people sit up and pay attention when all of a sudden that day to see it on the agenda. And so, you know, to the extent that they will write to us and we can educate them, um, might actually work in your favor. Um, Can I ask a question?

Sure. So the city has a process in place for this type of approval. We learned of that early on and were, as I said in my answer to the earlier question, we were excited about coming to Clayton because it seemed like it was very welcoming and fostering for a new business to come in and the process seemed like it was I think we've met all the criteria. As you said yourself, you don't think it'll change the outcome. We could certainly commit to, if the board approved us for the conditional use permit, we could certainly commit to having some type of public forum like teach-ins or kind of open house Q&A, things like that, if you think that could help address some of the public's concerns or help educate them to understand not only the program better, but also us as operators and that specific location. We'd be happy to commit to doing that.

Seems like that would be a good idea.

Michelle, can I

add

something? Yes, you may.

Thanks. Yeah, when the emails all started coming, and I was concerned whether there was enough time in the community, but the concerns that I heard were around that security and the safety of the community, as well as public nuisance standards. And I think that in looking at it, all those concerns have been fully addressed. But as Becky said, I'm not sure. Everything has been All standards have been met. Sorry for that noise outside. Or exceeded. Or exceeded. And I don't know that we have a lot of room not to allow this to proceed. And again, the concerns that I heard, which are very real concerns, seem to have all been addressed. The public forum idea may be great to give that education because this is something new. But I'm comfortable with going forward tonight, though certainly whatever the board decides is great.

Okay, good. No, it's just the idea of are there other people out there that will feel like they haven't had time to respond? But certainly, again, as I've said, that's not really on us, but that happens to us a lot.

I have a quick question. It The summary indicated that you're still in the process of seeking the transfer of the license from the city to this location. Is that something that's going to happen tomorrow if we approve it or what's the timing on that?

There's no certain timing, although we've gone through this process multiple times with the state and it usually happens relatively quickly. We've actually received approval from the state to change the location from where it currently is already, but not to this specific location. So we feel confident that we'll be able to get that approval relatively quickly.

I was just trying to get, because I think you suggested you'd lose two weeks of sales, but I'm wondering, can you start selling if you don't have the license at this location?

No, you can't start selling if you have enough confidence in the state approving the change of location. If we received the conditional use permit, we would embark on the design and development of the store without that approval.

What I'm hearing is that until you get the location, you can't then get the transfer from the city to the location until you tell them what the location is?

No, the city, or sorry, the state is aware of this location. We've submitted for that change of location for the specific location. And you can get that approval from the state before you receive a conditional use permit.

But you haven't gotten it?

We haven't gotten it yet.

You don't know the timeline on that?

We don't.

That's

what

Gary was asking.

I

mean, I would tend to probably agree with Becky and Susan. I don't think it's really going to change the outcome, which I know, Mayor, you have said. I think the education can continue after tonight. But I think, again, if other people feel strongly and delaying two weeks, that's fine with me. Okay.

Okay.

Anybody

else want to?

Well, I would just weigh in. I think we have a process. The applicant is complied with the process. I think it's met or exceeded. And I think that our challenge of educating our constituents will be ongoing irrespective of whether we wait two weeks or not. And so I think that's incumbent upon us all to have to do that all the time. So I just don't see delaying it as being a benefit really.

Okay. All right, so in that case, I think I understand what's gonna go down. So thank you. You know, I hope you all just appreciate that. I mean, I just wanna make sure before we move forward on things that everybody's comfortable and I view that as kind of part of my job to check in before we haul off and vote. So, okay, so with that, I will close the public hearing and Alderman Berkowitz.

I move to approve resolution 2023-23 granting a conditional use permit for 118 South Hanley Road for a marijuana dispensary doing business at Sunrise.

Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, very good. You're good to go. Good luck. Keep us posted. And we might, I think that open forum might be an interesting thing to do. Yeah. Okay. All right. All right. Next on our agenda is our consent agenda approval. And so I'll open that discussion. Are there any questions or comments about what's on there? Okay. Alderman Berkowitz.

I move to approve the consent agenda with the items listed.

Second. Any discussion? Second. Yes, thank you. Stop

me in my tracks. Go ahead to Alderman Berkowitz. Aye. Alderwoman McAndrew. Aye. Alderman Buse.

Aye.

Aldermen Patel. Aye. Aldeman Gary Feder.

Aldermen Patel. Aye. Aldeman Fader.

Aye.

Aldemann Rick Hummell.

Aldemann Hummel.

Aye.

Mayor Harris.

Aye. Thank you. Okay, city managers report and starting with the SRO for this school district.

Yes, since 1997, the city has had agreements with the school district to provide school resource officers or SROs at Clayton High School and Whiteown Middle School. In 2009, an amendment to the agreement was approved requiring the school district to pay 75% of the salary and benefits for the officers at each school. The agreement has been renewed every three years since that time with no material changes to the terms. The current agreement expires on August 31st, 2024. The city and school district have been discussing the possible addition of SROs to other facilities within the district. The Clayton Police Department is currently staffed at the appropriate level and any additional officers would only be added to assist the district. As such, the district has agreed to take on a higher percentage of the cost burden of the SROs. The attached police services agreement would replace the current agreement and contains the following key provisions. First, the city will provide at least two but not more than five SROs. SROs can only be added through mutual agreement by both parties. The city is required or the district is required to pay the following portion of salary and benefits for the officers assigned to SRO duty. For the first, second and third SROs, the school district will pay 80%. And for the fourth and fifth SROs, The school district will pay 100%. The district shall reimburse the city the sum of $200 per month per officer for general use equipment, $500 per month per marked police vehicle issued to officers assigned to the district and 50% of all training expenses incurred for SROs. Staff recommends that the Board of Aldermen approve the ordinance authorizing the city manager to sign the police services agreement.

Very good. I'll start to see if there are any comments or questions from the audience. Okay, and then I'll just go in order of seniority. Any comments or questions from the board? Susan, anything? Okay, over here.

I would just want to add, I think two things that I... that I think are really good about this proposal. One is that I talked to some young people in our schools about their impressions of their school resource officers, and there's... I think it can be highly variable by school district in terms of what that experience is like. And just, I'm looking at the chief to acknowledge that the impression seems to be quite good. the part of the students and in terms of like what the role is and, and I think that's good and it's a good opportunity for on both sides for the department to know, you know, and sort of like have access and communication with young people. in our community and vice versa for the young people to have that positive impression of our police department. And also that I was very heartened to hear from the chief that there are a number of officers that are interested in this position and that we can actually even view this as a really positive opportunity, not just for the school district, but also for our department and our people to have like a different option in their career path and things like that. So I'm glad that we were able to work this out.

Alderman Gary Feder, anything?

Alderman Fader, anything?

Nothing, thank you. Nothing.

Okay. All right, Alderman Berkowitz.

I'd like to introduce Bill number 6983 to approve an agreement with the School District of Clayton for school resource officers to be read for the first time by title only.

Second. Second. Any discussion? All right, Mr. City Attorney.

Bill number 6983, first reading an ordinance approving a police services agreement for school resource officers with the Clayton School District.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed?

All right. I move that the board give unanimous consent to consideration for adoption of bill number 6983 on the day of its introduction.

Second. All those in

Aye.

Opposed? All right, let the minutes reflect. The board has given unanimous consent.

I introduce bill number 6983 to approve an agreement with the school district of Clayton for school resource officers to be read for the second time by title only.

Second. Any discussion? City attorney.

Bill number 6983, second reading and consideration for adoption. An ordinance approving is police services agreement for school resource officers with the Clayton School District.

Alderman Berkowitz. Aye. Alderwoman McAndrew. Aye. Alderman Buse.

Aye.

Alderon Patel. Aye. Aldermen Gary Feder.

Alderon Patel. Aye. Aldermen Fader.

Aye.

Aldeman Rick Hummell.

Aldeman Hummel.

Aye.

Mayor

Harris. Aye.

Thank you.

Okay. Last but not least, the Waste Collection Financial Assistance Program. Yes.

Beginning October 1st, 2023, Clayton Residence will be responsible for the cost of waste collection services. The cost for single family waste collection will be $53 a month and the first year of the new waste hauling contract. The Board of Aldermen recognizes that this additional monthly expense could have a significant negative financial impact for some property owners. In response to that concern, the Board of Aldermens is establishing the Waste Collection Financial Assistance Program. The program covers 100% of the basic waste collection service fees for qualifying properties by making direct payment to the hauler on behalf of the property owner. Participation in the program is limited to those residents with annual income at or below 80% of the median household income for St. Louis County as published by HUD. Applicants must submit certain documentation to demonstrate that eligibility. Program participants will be required to recertify eligibility on an annual basis. Staff recommends that the Board of Aldermen approve the attached resolution establishing the City of Clayton Waste Collection Financial Assistance Program. I did receive a couple of questions from Aldermen on this. One that was consistent was how much are we going to put into this program up front. I want to let you all know, I'm going to go ahead and put $3,000 in the proposed budget. That's $600 a year for five households. We don't know what the usage of this program will be like early on with the county program as we talked about they had very few takers for a very large area that had a lot of population that met these requirements. So I feel like five is a safe number to begin with. If we end up getting more applications than that, we can always do a budget amendment at any time and appropriate some more money towards that if needed. But that will be included in the annual budget for fiscal year 24. The second comment came from Alderman Gary Feder on the signature line at the bottom of the form. to go beyond saying I certify that all documents submitted are true and accurate, to go on to say, and that my direct payment of voice collection service fees would have a significant negative impact on my hold. And he took language directly from the resolution itself. So I'll let you all discuss that. But those were the questions and comments that I received after this had been put in the packet. And I'm happy to address any more.

Beginning October 1st, 2023, Clayton Residence will be responsible for the cost of waste collection services. The cost for single family waste collection will be $53 a month and the first year of the new waste hauling contract. The Board of Aldermen recognizes that this additional monthly expense could have a significant negative financial impact for some property owners. In response to that concern, the Board of Aldermens is establishing the Waste Collection Financial Assistance Program. The program covers 100% of the basic waste collection service fees for qualifying properties by making direct payment to the hauler on behalf of the property owner. Participation in the program is limited to those residents with annual income at or below 80% of the median household income for St. Louis County as published by HUD. Applicants must submit certain documentation to demonstrate that eligibility. Program participants will be required to recertify eligibility on an annual basis. Staff recommends that the Board of Aldermen approve the attached resolution establishing the City of Clayton Waste Collection Financial Assistance Program. I did receive a couple of questions from Aldermen on this. One that was consistent was how much are we going to put into this program up front. I want to let you all know, I'm going to go ahead and put $3,000 in the proposed budget. That's $600 a year for five households. We don't know what the usage of this program will be like early on with the county program as we talked about they had very few takers for a very large area that had a lot of population that met these requirements. So I feel like five is a safe number to begin with. If we end up getting more applications than that, we can always do a budget amendment at any time and appropriate some more money towards that if needed. But that will be included in the annual budget for fiscal year 24. The second comment came from Alderman Fader on the signature line at the bottom of the form. to go beyond saying I certify that all documents submitted are true and accurate, to go on to say, and that my direct payment of voice collection service fees would have a significant negative impact on my hold. And he took language directly from the resolution itself. So I'll let you all discuss that. But those were the questions and comments that I received after this had been put in the packet. And I'm happy to address any more.

So that would be, would that be something we'd actually have to consider as an amendment to what was submitted? I could add that to the form.

It's not material.

Okay.

Okay. I'll open for discussion. Anybody in our audience here or at home that wants to comment on this or ask a question? Okay. All right. So I'll go around in order of seniority. Alderman Berkowitz. Comments or questions? I don't have any

questions.

I don't have any questions. Gary, what was your reasoning for adding that additional language? What were your thoughts?

Well, you know, I guess my basic thought was that the purpose of this is, as stated in the resolution, to sort of address people for whom this payment would have a significant impact. it seems to me that it's appropriate if someone is going to apply, that they acknowledge that they believe this will have a significant impact. Otherwise I think it simply becomes an arithmetic test. If someone is willing to submit their tax return and say, this is my tax return, that's all that's required. I think it's reasonable that if the purpose of this is to directly impact people, um, for whom this would have that kind of negative impact. They can't get a prescription that's due. They can't buy their groceries. I don't think it's unreasonable for us to ask if we're going to offer a stipend of $600 for someone to say, my paying this bill would have a significant negative impact. It seemed to me that's a reasonable request. It no longer has the language, which I think was fortunately deleted when you sign this, that's under penalty of death or perjury. I'm exaggerating, but all that traditional language um it's simply a statement that when someone submits this that they are acknowledging that they fit into this category i think that's a reasonable requirement

okay

yeah and i mean i don't i guess i'm not against adding the language i think by applying for this program there telling us that so I don't know it seems a little bit duplicative and maybe it's this just seems like a relatively simple form and it's some pretty formal language to add but I I'm not gonna I'm I'm not opposed to it per se it's just seems you know a little bit extra um that's maybe not entirely necessary but I'm if everybody else is in agreement I'm certainly not opposed to it so

I didn't address that. I just don't see a need for it. I just, you know, I mean, I just don't think we need to be having them specifically say, yeah, my resources are so bad that this will really, I mean, Maybe in a year we do that because we see, you know, we've got 500 people applying for this thing and it's gotten out of hand and people are not, you know, necessarily taking it seriously. But I don't think at this point it's necessary. So that would be my position.

Okay. Alderman Buse.

On the language issue. My initial reaction is I'm okay with it. I need to think about it if it unduly causes people not to apply who should, but I'm okay either way on that. Otherwise, everything looks good. And I think it's within our mission that this board and our community members brought up that this was something that we needed to address. So I'm proud of us about that. So thank you.

Good. Good comment. Old woman Patel comments.

Yeah, I appreciate David and staff putting this together and support the program. I would be inclined not to add any language that um requires people to tell us that they really feel poor when we know they're at 80 or less of the median income um as determined by hud so that would be my position on that recommendation okay any comments alderman Gary Feder

Yeah, I appreciate David and staff putting this together and support the program. I would be inclined not to add any language that um requires people to tell us that they really feel poor when we know they're at 80 or less of the median income um as determined by hud so that would be my position on that recommendation okay any comments alderman fader

The only thing I would add is, first of all, we talked at the last meeting and I'm not suggesting that there are people who will do this, but we talked about the fact that part of the reason we're asking for additional documentation is because someone's tax return from 2022 doesn't necessarily reflect change of circumstances in 2023. We recognize that there are people senior citizens whose principal income is simply based, it appears on their tax return based on Social Security payments, but they have separate trusts that report separately tax returns. So I'm not suggesting that These things couldn't happen. I hope they wouldn't happen. But I think just, again, in fairness to all of our taxpayers who are going to pay this amount, it seems to me if someone is asking for assistance, you know, we're not publishing this list anywhere. It is simply, I think the person who I think signs the document should acknowledge that this is the reason they're doing it. I understand implicitly they wouldn't be filing it, but frankly, I think there are people who may not be happy with the fact that they used to not pay for trash collection. And would someone say, Hey, all I have to do is file my tax return and say, this is my tax return. And now I'll have the city pay for it. I'd like someone who signs and asks for this to say that the reason you have this program is because it has a significant impact on my household economically. I'd like to say that when they apply for it, I don't think that's unreasonable.

Okay.

I think that Alderman Gary Feder makes compelling argument. I think it makes sense to me to add that language overall. I think the program is fine. From an occupational standpoint, my background is for any applicant of any kind of program in the banking world. having to make some kind of a certification or attestation to what they were doing is consistent for whatever that program is. So I find that to be an alignment here. And so I would be supportive of the amendment.

I think that Alderman Fader makes compelling argument. I think it makes sense to me to add that language overall. I think the program is fine. From an occupational standpoint, my background is for any applicant of any kind of program in the banking world. having to make some kind of a certification or attestation to what they were doing is consistent for whatever that program is. So I find that to be an alignment here. And so I would be supportive of the amendment.

Well, I guess I will just say, I do support adding the language. I just think, I know it makes an extra sentence on the form, but I do think there may be some people that just really don't think they should have to pay for trash and they might, you know, do it for that reason. And I know there's the media, the income requirement, and they can hopefully substantiate that but I think it's, it's okay to have people take it seriously, you know, and to kind of just reinforce that so I would support adding the language, so we can we can just vote on that and we can vote the way you want and we'll see. So

point of clarification, would adding language like that, that someone would sign to like what, I understand like the psychology potentially of it might, I mean, if someone is looking to defraud the city, I'm trying to figure out like what, like, like, is that actually going to stop them from doing it? Even if they have a million dollars, they might think 600 is a significant financial. And if in fact, what we're trying to do is ensure that people have like, um, I mean, is the goal accomplished more clearly by adding language about like that I actually have income at or below 80% of the average median versus, I mean, because otherwise it feels like a little bit of a judgment call. um and something that someone who's actually interested in defrauding us about isn't gonna care about defraud us about that too um

that's all um i don't know if we want to spend a ton of time wordsmithing it um i think it is it procedurally can we can we what do we have a separate vote on whether we like we want to add that language to the forum or not that the way to go.

Like I said, it's not a material change.

So we can just

vote.

I mean, this is going to be mixed. Agreement to change it, then

I'll go ahead and add the sentence. If it makes people more comfortable, then if you want to include that in your motion, you certainly can.

So I'll just say anybody that wants to amend it or doesn't mind amending it, however you want to say that, just raise your hand, nod, do something.

Let me say something. I'm trying to read the language again. I'm trying the language quickly again because I think the one thing is if you think of somebody else is paying their rent for them because they're a graduate student or something, so this is a great thing to use, but it really doesn't impact them or that type of situation. I'm trying But then, yeah, I'm really torn on it. It's not that much language that I do think is not unusual in other, when you're applying for other programs, you have to certify that the purpose for the program applies to you. So it kind of, it makes sense to me, but I also don't want it to be something that discourages people who need the program from applying. So at this point, I would suggest we do add it, or maybe we can wait and see what our experiences is and if there's a problem. So I'm okay either way, quite honestly.

Okay.

Then how much does it?

Can you make a motion? That's what I was asking. I'm not a parliamentarian.

Respectfully, the way to get this decision is either somebody makes a motion to do something or no motion is made. So we need a motion and a

second. Okay. Does someone want to make a motion to add that

language? I would move that the proposed City of Clayton Waste Collection Financial Assistance Program form be amended with the language previously read to us by the city manager as an addition.

And I'll second.

Okay. All those in favor?

Aye.

Okay. All opposed? Nay. Okay, so two nays. So we will add it. And now we can move on to do the approval of the resolution. Alderman Berkowitz.

Move to approve resolution number 2023-24, establishing the City of Clayton Waste Collection Financial Assistance Program.

Second. Any discussion? All those in favor?

Aye. Any

opposed? Okay. We have completed that task. without further ado you have nothing else for the agenda right no other business okay so um we'll just have our round table if we will start with alderman berkowitz

thank you mayor um we had a parks and rec commission meeting last evening um uh alex from ccf came and spoke to the commission and uh went through some of the projects that they are supporting and working on. And one of them that struck me was this, they have this, I guess, this artwork that they're looking to do in the east side of Wydown. Some of you may have seen the posters that are on Wydown when you enter the city asking about art and what kind of art would you like to see here? I found it interesting because what they're doing is they're actually going to create art from scratch, whereas we have the bolero that sits on the west end that anchors way down from Hanley Road, and that was already in existence, and we got that on loan, and I think that's I think that's probably no longer alone because it's been there forever, but still on loan. Yeah. Okay. And anyway, so the, the idea is to create art on that other end. And I'd like to see how that operates in the city of Clayton in terms of people deciding on what it is they'd like to see created as art. It's a whole new thing. Um, And so he talked about CCF's desire to do that, talked about some of the issues at Oak Knoll and Maryland Park, but I found the Whiteown most important. There was some discussion too about whether we want to see Whiteown Boulevard maybe come under the jurisdiction of Parks and Rec Commission. It comes up periodically and I think it's something to be always considered. because it really is, it is a park. I mean, in many ways people, there's recreation on there and there's, you know, there's people enjoy the green space and the trees. And so it's something to consider at some point in the future. It's

interesting, maybe something to talk about more, the way they're finding out what kind of art our community wants on Y-DOWN. I don't know how they're collecting the info or how they're getting the word out other than the signs. I have no clue. Maybe they're doing a big survey for all I know. But I think it's worth bringing up and how do we make sure that whatever comes out of that, their effort is somehow validated in the community more broadly.

Right, and keep in mind also there are homes along the way there. Anytime we have raised the issue of art on Whiteown, it's met with a tremendous amount of resistance because people want to keep the green space and they don't want a piece of art getting in the way of green space. um and so there's that other obstacle to the whole issue of what will people want to do there if and maybe maybe it's really if anything you know so but we'll see

yeah okay all right okay uh bridget anything

uh not too much there was a plan commission i was not here for it because i was on vacation but it was a pretty quiet i think probably the most exciting thing was the dispensary that was on it so

they're saving it up till you attend next time

Right. I'm sure that, yeah, I haven't seen that. The agenda looks a little bit bigger, but not too bad. I just wanted to compliment you and David, especially on, and I know I'm sure Ana did a lot of work too on the WashU and Concordia and big presentation. I'm glad I went to the meeting. It was nice to hear from all the different institutions. I thought it was a, seemed like a really good start. I know there's a long way to go, but it was just kind of interesting to hear about the project from all the different entities. So And then there is an Art Advisory Commission meeting next week, I think. And on the agenda is the art for the Forsythia condominiums project.

Thank you. Alderwoman Buse.

Thanks, Ira, for the Parks and Rec report. And I agree with Bridget as well that the presentation, you all did a great job on that. And I think the ongoing communication effort that the outline provided looks really promising to get the input and include the community in moving forward on this. That's all I have.

Good. All right, Becky. I don't have anything. You don't have anything? Okay. Alderman Gary Feder.

Good. All right, Becky. I don't have anything. You don't have anything? Okay. Alderman Fader.

Just also kudos to the staff and everyone from Wash U and Concordia. I think part of the reason, not only was it a big crowd, but it was generally a pretty friendly crowd. Obviously there were concerns about traffic and kinds of issues you would expect at a typical zoning hearing, but given the very broad nature of what Concordia and Washington U were doing, I think the fact that it was a pretty positive evening was in part because it was really a good example of transparency and getting out in front of an issue. So I think that was great. Tomorrow, the Chief Smith and some members of the CEC subcommittee on housing are meeting over at Washington University at the Brown School with some people from their staff to talk about housing instability and mental health. And I think we're all hearing more of that now in terms of how we're dealing with that. And so hopefully maybe there will be some good ideas coming out of that.

Yeah, Rick.

I would echo the sentiment regarding the community meeting on WashU and Concordia. I was pleased to see the attendance. I thought it was a great turnout and I was happy to see there was a lot of participation as well. So I thought that was great. I would add that I was unaware and pleased that we've created this new website called EngageClayton.com where all this material is. And so then I became more aware of where our master plan documentation is going to be. So I'm looking forward to, I've registered for that. I'm anxious to see how that interaction is going to work, what kind of feedback we get for it and how that can become a more useful tool for us.

Very good.

Mayor, can I just too, because I meant to say, Ira mentioned like the kind of yard signs that are like alerting people to art on Y down. I just think that that's a really good tool that we should use like all the time, like in ways, like just to stick stuff in neighborhoods when there's like, you know, I mean, I just think it's really important. I hope as the comprehensive plan goes on and the parks and rec, the livable communities master plan. I just feel like it's so important to stick. Cause I just think people, people don't always get emails, but they see those stupid signs. So I just hope that we can find a way to,

we've been talking about that for a while. I know. And it's actually happening with the WashU project.

So we'll, so now next week, so we're going to roll them out for the WashU project, we are going to use them for the cop plan and other plans. And again, the Engage Clayton website is going to be the clearinghouse for everything. So QR codes on the signs that drive everybody back to the website to get all the information they need. yeah we it's excellent good technology and we're going to utilize it and um the signs are going to be helpful it's like

simple it's like simple stuff well i mean the website no

the website's not high tech part the

signs will get people there right

signs wrong approach right we need a breakthrough on that

yeah we go from all this electronics that we have and we go back to old school you know sell the electronics right you

know it's good well so i i uh I appreciate the kudos, but really Anna and David really mapped out that meeting with our partners. And I want to say that they worked very hard to come up with the zoning strategy that is unveiling to the public, which I think would be so beneficial going forward to the whole community. So really kudos to them on that because that was complicated and hard. but you did it. And then beyond that, this morning I attended the swearing in of our new prosecuting attorney for the city and that was kind of fun and exciting and he's very excited. So that was fun to see. And then also earlier today, you may not have been following it, but Governor Parson approved a piece of legislation that freezes property tax for seniors and all seniors anyone over 62 that qualifies for social security, you don't have to be getting social security, just qualify. And so, and that through my work with the municipal, 62, yeah, 62, I'm sorry. So through my work with municipal league, we've dug into some of these numbers and it really will be quite a revenue drain for all cities in the county and the county itself. when the county is facing over $40 million deficit

annually.

And the school district gets hurt the most, probably. So I did go to their committee meeting today and testify to that fact. And it's not that we don't want seniors who really need it to have a break. That's not it. It's just that the broad scope of this bill doesn't... it just leaves a lot of questions unanswered. There's a question of whether teachers could qualify for this because they've completely left out because they don't really pay into social security. So there's that, that's just one thing. There's like a myriad of things. And so they voted on it tonight. I don't know, or maybe they postponed it. I've got a text. I don't better things beyond this board. And that was an important one that would really impact obviously the city of Clayton's revenue stream. So, all right, that is all I have for me. So anything else, anyone? All right, thank you guys for your time. It's been a great meeting and it's been even greater because it was short. Oh, do you... Okay, but you raised your hand. I'm sorry. Did you want to address

us?

Oh, oh, I'm so sorry. That presentation was at 630. I'm sorry, part of our discussion session. And that was on our agenda. If you didn't see it, read it that way. I'm so sorry, but you know what? Do you want my copy of the presentation? You have it. Okay. So, and tell you what, any questions you have, please just reach out to me. I was very involved. I know I can answer most of your questions. And if not, we can get you to others who can. Well, the recording will be on YouTube. We do post

all of our meetings to YouTube as well.

You can listen to it on the recording. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. I forgot about that. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Thank you. No, sorry. I didn't. I kind of looked at you during the trash. comment. I thought maybe you're here about trash. You weren't here about marijuana, but maybe you're here trash.

Okay.

Okay, good. Wonderful. Well, I'm glad you're interested and thank you for coming and hopefully it wasn't too boring for the rest of the meeting. And so, you know, yeah, reach out to me if you have any questions. Okay. All right, we need a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Okay, all those in favor? Aye.

Any

opposed? Okay, good night.