The Green Park Board of Aldermen met on Oct. 19 for its regular meeting. The board officially passed an ordinance to increase the dollar amount for grant funds that can be given out to city residents for first-time home ownership and neighborhood improvements. Aldermen also spent a sizable portion of the meeting discussing how the city handles contracts — specifically contracts that auto-renew or need to be renegotiated.
Last month, City Clerk Theresa Pfyl brought forward the idea of increasing the amount of money that can be distributed to residents through two city programs: the Neighborhood Enhancement Program and the First-Time Homeowner Payment Assistance Program. Previously, both programs could give out amounts of $5,000 to grant applicants; as of Oct. 19, that amount has officially increased to $7,500.
“When these programs began, the board approved $5,000 ceilings,” City Clerk Theresa Pfyl said in September. “Our program, in my opinion, is (modeled after) community development grants of St. Louis County, and they’ve raised their ceiling up to $7,500 because the cost of everything is so expensive. I’d like to match our programs to them, since we already use their guidelines for income levels.”
The Neighborhood Enhancement Program provides funds for homeowners to do renovations to address code violations and “enhance property values,” according to the city. The First-Time Homeowners Payment Assistance Program, meanwhile, provides a dollar-for-dollar down-payment match up to $7,500 for qualified applicants. Applicants must be first-time home buyers who are purchasing a single-family home and occupy the home for five years.
The goal of this, per language stated in the ordinance, is to encourage and facilitate community and economic development by increasing the city’s population, increasing home ownership and decreasing code violations and unsightly properties.
The board’s discussion of contracts began when Ward 1 Alderman Michael Broughton suggested that Green Park reconsider the auto-renewal clause in its contract with the St. Louis County Police Department.
“We need to have an opportunity to assess what police services we need and what we’re going to pay for them,” Broughton said. “We need to be assessing these contracts — not just the police contract, but all the contracts — year by year. From the time that I’ve been here, we’ve had, with the police contract in particular, (taken) anything the police happen to hand to us.”
The board will vote on this topic next month, after City Attorney Paul Rost has drawn up a letter that could be sent to the county police, asking to remove the auto-renewal clause in the contract. Broughton explained that he hopes removing this clause will push the city into more serious, yearly negotiations with the St. Louis County Police Department, though several members of the board expressed that they did not see a need for this move, since the city currently has the option to cancel its contract each year.
“In the future, here, the money is not going to be rolling in, perhaps, like it did 10 years ago,” Broughton said. “We need to be watching every expense that we have.”
Later in the meeting, Ward 3 Alderman Ryan Massey suggested that the city revisit its contract with Sterling Co., the city engineer. Green Park has not officially renegotiated its contract with Sterling since 2016.
“There’s some things in here that we, as a board, definitely need to discuss,” Massey said. “There are things in here we definitely need to change. Upgrade it, review it, bring it current.”
According to Sterling, the engineering and surveying company “reviews all plans and permits, prepares contracts, assists in selection and supervises consultants, supervises and inspects construction and reviews and administers escrow amounts.”
At the suggestion of several board members, the Green Park Board of Aldermen’s discussion of these topics next month may include a broader discussion on how the city reevaluates its old contracts.
