Like countless get-togethers over the past several weeks, the May 11 Ballwin Board of Aldermen Meeting was solely available for viewing through ZOOM video conferencing.
Modern
technology aside, the first half of the meeting was representative of how the
city has conducted its business over the long term. It was audit presentation time.
Rich Gratza
and Allison Weems, of the accounting firm Kerber, Eck and Braeckel, took turns
praising Ballwin and its finance committee, led by Finance Officer Denise
Keller. Their major points reflected
Ballwin’s continued progress in multiple areas while maintaining balance sheets
where expenditures are consistently exceeded by revenues.
Due to COVID-19,
Ballwin is set to be even more stringent in its spending in the last half of
2020 while balancing health concerns and future fun.
In answer
to emailed questions after the meeting, Keller provided a wide variety of
updates.
“Concerning
upcoming events, we have cancelled our Ballwin Days Festival and our Memorial
Day program,” Keller replied. “We are
working on plans to schedule an event in the fall that has some of the elements
of Ballwin Days, but on a smaller scale.
Our Summer Concert Series has been pushed back to the fall as well. We
anticipate still holding our Craft Beer Festival in September, but with
modifications. New events we are adding
include a Celebrate Summer Drive Thru Parade and a Virtual 5K Run.”
Keller also
said the city will consult more with St. Louis County before deciding when to
reopen The Pointe at Ballwin Commons Recreation Center, North Pointe Aquatic
Center and its summer camp programs. Each
of those opportunities will also include modifications.
Increases
in the admission fees/membership rates were decided upon several months ago to
help offset some of the mandated minimum wage increases the city expected to
incur as a result of primarily summertime employment. Since they have already been implemented,
Keller said the city would take a wait and see approach for any potential fee
adjustments based on factors such as when venues might open and what allowable
capacities will be.
“The city
is reducing costs when and where we can to offset the revenue shortfalls we are
experiencing from our closed recreation facilities and the anticipated
reductions in sales tax receipts,” Keller said.
“We have a strong reserve fund balance which is enabling us to maintain
our full-time staffing level, although we have implemented a hiring freeze for
full-time positions.”
A few other
COVID-related items were revealed at the Board meeting.
A motion was
passed unanimously for Ballwin to go to what Mayor Tim Pogue described as a
‘summer schedule’ for near future Board meetings. The first meeting of the month will be
cancelled for June, July and August, with meetings taking place only on the
fourth Monday of those months.
“Hopefully,
we’ll be able to hold those meetings in person with social distancing instead
of these ZOOM meetings,” Pogue said.
Another
item that was unanimously agreed upon was the extension of the end date for long-time
City Administrator Bob Kuntz’s final term of office from May 31 to June 30.
Keller said
the Board was in the process of interviewing candidates for the position so
Kuntz could retire, again. Interviews
are currently being conducted through ZOOM, but finalists will be interviewed
in person after restrictions have been relaxed, she said.
Ironically, Kuntz
was in the limelight just prior to the board meeting adjournment.
“Thanks to Mr.
(Chris) Conway (director of parks and recreation), I have very attractive city
of Ballwin face masks for each one of you,” Kuntz said. “They are personally engraved, so you won’t
confuse them with others. If you go to
any official function, you have your official city of Ballwin face mask. I can arrange to get them to any of you. They are very attractive for this situation!”
At the
request of Keller, Kuntz even modeled one of the dark blue items with white
lettering.
“I’ll be
here (for mine) first thing in the morning!” Alderman Mark Stallman (Ward 2)
said, noting when he would arrive to pick up his mask.
No comments:
Post a Comment