A lot is happening at Herculaneum City Hall.
Repair work is underway following a November fire in the building, 1 Parkwood Court.
And, at the Herculaneum Police Department, which is housed in City Hall, Chief Sharia Kyle is getting ready to hire three new police officers.
In addition, the city has taken over operation of the Herculaneum Fire Department, which recently hired two full-time firefighters.
City Hall repairs
Early on Nov. 17, Herculaneum Fire Chief Kevin Baker and volunteers from the department, as well as crews from the Festus and Crystal City fire departments and the Dunklin and Rock Community fire protection districts, responded to the fire at Herculaneum City Hall.
The fire, which appeared to have started in the Building Department, was contained to the first floor of the building and was quickly extinguished, but not before it caused extensive damage to the building.
Cleanup and repairs began immediately, and City Administrator Jim Kasten said he hopes the building will be ready for use by next month.
He estimated the cost to repair the damage will be in the $200,000 range.
Items that need to be replaced include two furnaces, computers, phones, paint, flooring, three windows, two doors, lighting and a printer that costs about $8,000.
Many miscellaneous items, like coffee makers, chairs and a microwave, were also lost.
The damage from the fire has forced the Board of Aldermen to hold its meetings virtually
New police officers on the way
The Herculaneum Police Department is looking to add three new police officers to the force, and on Dec. 31, Kyle was grading the tests six applicants had taken in the hopes of landing one of the jobs.
Once Kyle selects the new officers to hire, they will have to go through peer interviews and background checks.
She said that process will take about a month.
Each of the new officers will be paid $46,000 per year.
“It will put more people on the street at one time, which was the city’s overall goal,” Kyle said. “Not only does it bring extra support to the other officers already here, but it gives more coverage to the city.”
Kyle said the extra officers are needed to patrol the streets because she’s seen an 80 percent increase in vehicle break-ins in the past year.
She said the majority of the thefts have been from unlocked vehicles, and she urges people to not leave purses, computers, cell phones and especially guns in their vehicles
“This is a small town and it’s pretty safe, but sometimes people get lax by leaving their cars unlocked at night,” she said. “It seems like the people who are hitting us are the same ones who are hitting Arnold and the rest of Jefferson County. So far, the ones who’ve been apprehended have been from St. Louis and Illinois. It’s a very big ring of people.”
The Police Department will cover the cost of the additional officers with funding from Proposition Public Safety, a 1-cent sales tax voters approved in June to provide more police and fire protection in the city.
Revenue from the sales tax also allowed the city to raise salaries for police officers and firefighters.
While Kyle was promoted in August to interim Herculaneum police chief, replacing retired Chief Mark Tulgetske, the Board of Aldermen made her title official Dec. 30, voting to remove the interim tag.
She is being paid a $70,000 annual salary.
Her husband, Chris Kyle, a train conductor, pinned on her chief’s rank in a Dec. 31 ceremony at the Police Department.
The police department now employs 10 officers, plus Kyle, Capt. Mark Grobe and a clerk.
City officially takes over fire department
On Jan. 1, the city officially assumed ownership of the Herculaneum Fire Department, 151 Riverview Plaza Drive, after the Herculaneum Board of Aldermen voted in November to take it over.
Previously, the Fire Department, which was organized in 1951, operated as an independent governmental unit. However, in 1972, when the city incorporated, it began funding the fire department, under a year-to-year contract.
Kasten said the latest contract, for about $215,000, began July 1 and was set to end June 30, 2021, so the city paid about half of that amount before taking over the department.
Previously, the department was run by a three-member board, with Fire Chief Kevin Baker serving as the president.
Kasten said the benefit of taking over the department is to have more control over costs.
Baker, who has been the chief since 2017 and makes a $62,000 annual salary, works from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. He had been the department’s lone employee.
However, two full-time firefighters were hired Dec. 21 to start this month, which means Baker can now spend more time taking care of administrative duties.
The two new full-time firefighters each will be paid $45,000 a year.
Revenue from the public safety tax helps cover the cost of the fire department salaries.
However, it doesn’t generate enough funding to pay for three full-time firefighters, which is needed to staff the department 24 hours a day, seven days per week, Baker said.
“Basically two days a week we won’t have anybody here,” he said. “The volunteers will fill that gap. The problem with volunteers is they work during the day. All the districts around us have the same problem.”
Herculaneum has nine volunteer firefighters, Baker said.