The 67 or so registered voters in Peaceful Village will decide on April 2 whether their small city in northwest Jefferson County will be dissolved.
The Jefferson County Council voted 6-0 on Jan. 8 to put the issue on the ballot.
Council members Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) and Scott Seek (District 5, Festus) changed their votes from Dec. 21, when both abstained from voting on the issue.
County Counselor Jalesia F.M. Kuenzel had advised the council members at that meeting that they were obligated to place the issue on the ballot because the signatures of 25 percent of the village’s registered voters signed a petition.
Seek explained why he changed his vote.
“I didn’t feel like I had enough information that night to make an informed decision,” he said. “I wanted to learn more about how it really wasn’t our decision to make and why. I wasn’t trying to shirk my responsibility.”
Haskins said he agreed with Seek. Following the Dec. 21 meeting, he said he abstained because he felt conflicted since he had helped set up the incorporation of Peaceful Village in 2008.
Peaceful Village was formed under the leadership of Jack Walters, who owned a church and camp on 78 acres on Antire Road near High Ridge.
The village’s population is 95, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
Jon Jerome, who lives on Antire Road just outside the village limits, spearheaded the petition effort.
He said he was displeased that a sober living home in Peaceful Village is being built near his home, adding that if the building were being constructed under Jefferson County codes, it would be too close to his property.
However, the city’s mayor, Daniel Ross III, said the setbacks conform to Peaceful Village’s codes.
Ross also is a pastor at New Hope Fellowship Church in Peaceful Village and is an investor in BRR Investments, which is building the sober living home. He said BRR Investments is not affiliated with the church.
Ross’s father, Dan Ross Jr., also an investor in BRR, is on the Peaceful Village Board of Trustees.
He said BRR went through all the proper channels to build the sober living center, adding that Jefferson County codes do not apply in the village. He also said the sober living home has been inspected by the High Ridge Fire Protection District.
County Clerk Jeannie Goff said she believes that because the county was obligated to place the disincorporation issue on the ballot, the county will pay for costs associated with the election.
Typically, all governmental entities that have candidates or issues on the ballot share the cost of the election, proportionate to how many polling places are needed.
In Peaceful Village’s case, which will involve a single precinct, Goff said, the cost would be relatively minimal.