This is the fifth part in an ongoing series on Peaceful Village, a small municipality in northwest Jefferson County with about 90 residents. The Village was incorporated in 2008 under the leadership of Jack Walters, who owned and operated a church and camp on 78 acres of land on Antire Road near High Ridge.
Peaceful Village officials discussed the possibility of dissolution of the village at the latest Board of Trustees meeting on May 13.
Chairwoman Kelly Fagala, who also acts as treasurer, said the village is going to soon face financial problems if a solution isn’t found to generate more revenue. Since the village has no commercial zoning, it doesn’t collect sales tax and relies only on annual property taxes residents pay to cover all the village’s bills.
The village had $6,018 in its coffers at the end of April, Fagala said.
“Between the cost of the necessary insurance, our Missouri Municipal League membership, our need for legal services, administrative costs, like making copies, there is just not enough revenue to sustain the village on an ongoing basis,” Fagala said. “The only two options that I found so far, and more research is needed, are to propose some kind of tax, or we can look at the possibility of dissolving the village based on lack of revenue.”
“If you were to ask these people out here if they want to have some sort of extra tax for Peaceful Village, it’s not going to happen,” said Trustee John Kindermann.
At the same meeting, some of the board members balked at a resolution board trustee Daniel Ross III proposed that would have the village adopt the 2015 International Building Code, which is the same code Jefferson County adheres to.
Trustee Danielle Shannon questioned the purpose of the village maintaining its incorporation as a village if the board is looking to mirror the county’s building codes and explore the idea of more taxes.
Building codes
The trustees agreed to table the building codes matter to allow more time to research the issue.
Kindermann said the village’s lack of regulations is a major draw for developers looking to skirt county building codes.
He pointed to two sober living homes built inside the village, called Cedar Oak, that do not appear to adhere to any building codes. Cedar Oak is a faith-based residential facility for those enrolled in a sobriety program.
At the last meeting in April, the board voted to de-annex the sober living homes, effectively reverting the properties to the county. The board decided to de-annex them after Shannon and Fagala released a report about the alleged improper annexation of the property in 2022.
BRR Investments LLC reportedly petitioned the board for the voluntary annexation to build the homes. At the time of the annexation, Dan Ross Jr., lead pastor at New Hope Fellowship in Peaceful Village, and his son, Daniel Ross III, were board trustees and “organizers of the (BRR) company,” according to the report.
“I’ll bet you, if we were to adopt the 2015 building codes, the same used by (Jefferson County), you will not have anybody wanting to be annexed. Period,” Kindermann said. “(The proposed building code) benefits homeowners who live in Peaceful Village. By adopting these rules, it would prevent any future building that you can’t do anything about.”
Ross III said he proposed the resolution after several people came forward at public meetings complaining about the village’s lack of building regulations.
“I guess I wrote this largely in response to the public questions that have been raised about code,” he said.
High Ridge resident Jon Jerome lives next door to the sober living homes on Antire Road and has spoken about the poor quality of the homes’ construction at several Peaceful Village public meetings.
He said one of the homes was built too close to his property line and the edge of Antire Road.
“I mean, come on,” Kindermann said to Ross during the meeting. “You’re practically in the middle of the street with the one building, and if Jon Jerome runs out of toilet paper in his bathroom, he can reach out from his window and get some more.”
“It’s convenient,” Ross quipped.
Fagala questioned the timing of the building codes resolution Ross proposed, claiming that construction crews had just finished building the second sober living home when he proposed it.
“I did receive a comment from a citizen in the village that the resolution was a ‘rules for thee, not for me,’ kind of a thing,” Fagala said. “That’s just the appearance. I’m not saying that that’s what happened, but I’m saying that the member of the public who contacted me did indicate some frustration at the timing of the proposal.”
Trustee Rachel Ross, Daniel Ross III’s wife, defended the resolution, saying it gives Peaceful Village residents what they were asking for.
“The general atmosphere has been, ‘Oh, it stinks that we don’t have building codes,’ but now that we’re trying to use building codes, now it’s all, ‘Oh, we don’t like them,’” she said.
Fagala resigns
At the end of the meeting, Fagala announced she will resign from the board after the June 10 regular meeting because she will be moving outside the village due to family circumstances.
“Since my election (to the Peaceful Village board) in April 2024, it has been both a privilege and a challenge,” she said. “I have poured my heart into serving our community, driven by a deep love for Peaceful Village and its residents. This community has been my home for almost 50 years, long before it was Peaceful Village, and my roots will always grow deep here.”
The board will vote to appoint a Peaceful Village resident to fill the rest of Fagala’s term at an upcoming meeting. Fagala encouraged the residents at the meeting to apply for the position.
“I would like to remind the citizens of Peaceful Village that this is your government,” she said. “You should have a say in who is appointed by the board to fill my seat once it is vacant.”
Click here to read more of the Peaceful Village story series.