By Phyllis Schaltenbrand
Five members of the City Council derailed efforts to solve a long standing flooding problem for the Pearl Ridge subdivision. Despite pleas from residents about the flooding which occurs in their homes and the dangers posed to children at a nearby school by the high flood waters, Councilmembers, Larry Muench (Ward1), Bob Kneemiller (Ward 4), Mike Weller (Ward 5), Jerry Reese (Ward 6) and Bob Hoepfner (Ward 10) voted down fixing the problem.
Earlier Mayor York had threatened to veto the project. Councilman Hoepfner, who had originally championed the project, reversed his earlier support. Since joining the Mayor’s allies on the Council, in a move to bolster his own political power, Hoepfner has seldom strayed from the path charted by the Mayor.
After the vote, Councilman Larry Muench was quoted as saying he thought the project cost too much, but Councilman Bob Kneemiller told Mark Brown, who lives in the effected neighborhood, “This is payback for the last year and a half..”
Councilman Mark Brown said, “I have never voted against any issue in the City involving the health, safety or welfare of St. Charles residents. I have also backed Councilman Kneemiller on issues that would be beneficial to the taxpayers of his ward.”
During the debate the opponents said nothing, though Councilmembers Weller and Reese were talking with each other through most of the presentation by residents and could be heard chuckling and laughing at their own quips by members of the audience.
One resident complained bitterly after the vote, “They didn’t even listen to the facts. It was all about politics and political payback. I don’t know how they can sleep at night.” Another resident complained that the Mayor didn’t even have enough respect to stay and listen to the resident’s appeal for help. She left during the resident;s comments to go to a party at a local restaurant.
Council President Rory Riddler (Ward 1), who sponsored the bill to fix the flooding problem, pleaded with his fellow members to “Put politics aside and do the right thing.” During his remarks, Riddler cited the tremendous risk to public health and safety from the flood waters that come to the tops of mailboxes in the neighborhood.
Councilman John Gieseke (Ward 8) led a scathing attack on the developer, producing photos that document the area flooded before lots were sold and homes built.
Residents of the area provided the City Council with signed documents from the City of St. Charles “accepting responsibility” for the storm water and streets of their subdivision. One resident asked the Council to please consider the 700 students of the Harvest Ridge Elementary School. Flood waters encroach on the schools field and some fear a child will someday drown.
Other parents of small children in the subdivision say they fear children may get electrocuted if they play in the water that surrounds ground level electrical transformers and underground electric lines.
Design of the improvements was done by Cole and Associates, a firm headed by former St. Charles Councilman Kevin Riggs. In rejecting those cost estimates, some of Rigg’s former allies on the Council were put in the position of questioning his professional opinion.
The Pearl Ridge Project also met the criteria for being one of the highest rated storm water projects because it involves the flooding of homes. Council President Riddler said it would be impossible for him to support storm water projects on the drawing board to fix backyards in other wards, when a worse flooding problem exists. “We had a professional rating system, developed by our own Public Works staff, and they just threw it out the window.”
Two weeks ago, Councilman Riddler had answered a laundry list of concerns raised by staff when the bill was first introduced. “It took ten minutes for the contractor to provide answers to all of the questions raised by staff,” Riddler said, adding, “After the bill was amended, not one opponent raised one objection prior to the vote. They knew we could answer any question they raised and they didn’t want the facts to get in the way. I had even found money in the budget, left over from a project in that same ward, to cover the contract amount.”
Councilman Brown said, “You could tell they were embarrassed by their vote. It was meant to hurt me, but all it did was open up the eyes of a lot of residents who live South of Interstate 70, that we are a stepchild of the City. All I can say is God help them if a child is injured and they refused to help, Just recently I attended a conference at the Missouri Municipal League where the attorneys said in a situation such as Pearl Ridge, if someone gets hurt, those who voted against it can be held personally liable. Those who voted against it when the money existed to fix the project. The Council members lose their immunity when they act in bad faith. The five members who voted no, voted in bad faith.” said Councilman Mark Brown (Ward 3).
Council President Riddler also warned his fellow Councilmembers that the City took on more risk and greater liability if they know a serious safety problem exists and they do nothing to address the problem. That plea fell on deaf ears as well.
Even though Councilmen Kneemiller, Hoepfner, Reese, Muench and Weller voted against helping residents of St. Charles with their flooding and health problems they voted to help St. Charles County residents. Four of them voted to allow a County developer to hook up County residents to City water and sewers. Councilman Muench left the chambers rather than vote on the bill. Councilmen Brown, Riddler, Gieseke, Greer and Koester voted against allowing the County residents to hook up to the City. The bill failed.
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Editorial Comment:
The First Capitol News would like to applaud those Councilmembers, Mark Brown, Joe Koester, Dottie Greer, John Gieseke and Rory Riddler who obviously ran for office to help people. We are left scratching our heads, like the residents of Pearl Ridge, as to the actions of the other City Councilmembers.
We are especially sorry to see Councilman Hoepfner turn on a project he first proposed because of his shifting political allegiances. He stands to end up the biggest looser as millions of dollars slated for creek stabilization in his ward will now likely evaporate.
Councilman Reese, Bob Hoepfner’s mentor, who talked him into switching allegiances to support the Mayor, stands to loose a considerable amount of stormwater funding as well. He also leaves residents wondering what happened to his vaulted concern for kids as a former School Board member.
Councilman Kneemiller was at least honest in telling Mark Brown to his face it was a political payback. It doesn’t excuse Councilman Kneemiller’s actions, but at least it is a reason.
Perhaps hardest to understand was the vote cast against the project by Councilman Larry Muench. Muench had never turned his back on residents who needed help before. We are afraid he is allowing himself to be intimidated into voting with one faction, whereas in years prior he was seen as an independent voice who voted his own conscious rather than what others told him to do.
It was a sad day for people who counted on local government putting politics aside to do what’s right.
