Arnold City Council members have eliminated five outdated resolutions.
One of the repealed resolutions had been adopted in 2005 and was named Pride N R City – A Neighborhood Rebuilding Program. Another was from 2008 and established a facade improvement program for city businesses, and a different 2008 resolution created a volunteer snipe sign removal program that was rarely used.
A resolution adopted in 2009 for a water conservation rebate program also was repealed, as was a 2013 resolution and any other policy or guideline governing the city’s police vehicle fleet.
“I have been aware for a while that there were some old programs that had not been used or couldn’t be used anymore,” City Administrator Bryan Richison said. “(Community Development Director) David Bookless came across the Pride N R City and asked questions about it. I told him that was based on a lending program that banks had before the (2008) financial crash, which went away. That prompted (the effort to repeal the old resolutions), and I told (Bookless and City Clerk Tammi Casey) about the (outdated programs) I knew of and to see what they could find.”
The now-repealed Pride N R City resolution established a partnership with UMB Bank to offer homeowners a low interest loan to pay for improvements to homes that were at least 40 years old. Bookless said the program had been used once since it was established and cost the city $934.
When the old facade improvement program was established, it formed a partnership with UMB Bank to make low-interest rate loans available to business owners to fund improvements to the front of their buildings in the city.
Bookless said there is no record of a business ever using the program, and Richison said those type of loans are no longer legal.
“The facade and Pride N R City, if someone tried to use them, wouldn’t work because banks don’t do that anymore,” Richison said.
The snipe sign removal program was aimed at removing temporary signs advertising garage sales, homes for sale and other things from public property, and it was rarely used either, Bookless said.
The resolution said residents who brought in the signs, which typically were taped to utility poles or held in the ground by a sign stake, were supposed to receive a non-monetary reward.
Bookless said there is no record of what the reward was or of anyone receiving a reward for turning in snipe signs.
Richison said the resolution needed to be removed because it could have placed residents collecting signs in dangerous situations since many of the signs are near roads. Also, the resolution created the potential for residents to break the law by taking signs from private property instead of just public property.
“That is just not something we want people doing,” he said of removing snipe signs. “We don’t want people out on roadways, where they could be too close to traffic. It also is not always clear where the right of way (city-owned property) ends and private property begins, so it raises the possibility that people could be trespassing and taking signs on private property, which is probably theft. It was just not a really well conceived program.”
Richison said residents who see temporary signs that are not allowed on city-owned property should contact the city by calling 636-296-2100 or filling out the code violation form on the Community Development page of the city’s website, arnoldmo.org.
“I don’t think we have a problem that is worse than anywhere else that I have worked,” he said. “It is almost impossible to get rid of all of the snipe signs. We respond to complaints and pick up the ones we see, but we can’t be everywhere, especially after hours and on the weekends. It comes down to I think it is impractical to try to eliminate them, and I think trying to have citizens do that is putting them in harm’s way. I don’t think we have an overwhelming problem.”
The water conservation rebate program was established when the city owned the sewer system, and it offered a $50 rebate on a sewer bill to residents who purchased and installed a low-flow toilet.
Casey told council members during a Sept. 14 work session that after Arnold sold the sewer system to Missouri American Water in 2015, the city started issuing $50 checks to residents who purchase low-flow toilets. She said the last check was issued in 2020.
“We haven’t owned the sewer system in quite a while, and it wasn’t getting any use,” Richison said. “It just made sense to get rid of that one.”
In 2013, a resolution was passed that said Arnold was limited to purchasing six new police vehicles each fiscal year. It also stipulated that the city maintain a police fleet of 24 vehicles, with none older than four years.
“There is ambiguity as not defining the fleet, if it is just patrol vehicles or all vehicles,” Richison said. “It was amended sloppily with a voice motion, and it is just a mess.”
Richison also said the resolution governing the police vehicle fleet was passed when the Arnold Police Department had fewer officers. He said the city has added two more school resource officers and a business resource officer unit since the resolution was passed.
Richison said council members have the ability to control how many vehicles the Police Department has through the annual budget.
“If there are questions about the current size of the fleet, the type of vehicles and what are being replaced, they should come up during budget discussions,” he said. “There may be years when council members decide six new vehicles are not needed. There may be years when they are like, ‘No, we actually need eight.’ Circumstance can change, and the council has plenty of opportunity to control the fleet through the budgeting process.”
Council members voted unanimously Sept. 21 to repeal the resolutions.