ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis City Council’s Tuesday, Oct. 6 agenda includes two linked items about expanding the city cemetery: a revised fee from Spicer Group, the city’s engineering consultant (item 11A), and a petition to the Gratiot County Drain Commissioner to abandon part of a county drain that crosses the site (item 11J, Resolution 2026-22). Both are in the council’s posted packet. Neither has been voted on, and the figures below come from the packet.
The fee change
According to the agenda statement from the city’s director of public services, the council approved two phases of Spicer’s June 2 proposal: a survey for $6,900 and preliminary design for $12,000. The statement says the new survey found that existing ground conditions “do not match” those used for the original 1999 plan, which it says implies that the area had been mass graded but not left in a condition that would allow the original plan to be built as designed. Spicer’s Aug. 28 letter agreement therefore asks for $18,000 for preliminary design (up $6,000) and $8,000 for final design, which the statement says was $5,000 in the June proposal. Both are estimates billed at standard hourly rates. With the survey, the three phases would total $32,900, compared with $23,900 under the June figures. Reimbursable expenses, such as permit fees, carry a 10 percent processing fee.
The letter says Spicer’s earlier design covered phase one of the cemetery, built and surveyed as-built in 2005, and that the new work would produce updated design drawings and cost estimates for the rest. Plans would cover interior roads, grading, plot layout, stormwater and water-service extensions. The letter assumes all stormwater drains to the existing system, as the original design did, and says the offer is valid for 60 days.
The drain petition
The agenda statement for item 11J says the city must abandon the part of County Drain #199 that crosses the expansion area so that designers can redirect storm drainage, which would become city storm sewers, and use the easement reserved for the drain. The draft petition describes 695 feet of the drain, running from Eden and Olney streets to the point where it ends under a September 1906 order, and says that portion “has ceased to be of public utility.” It is filed under Chapter 17 of the Drain Code (Public Act 40 of 1956). The statement lists the item as budgeted, with no amendment needed. A petition does not itself abandon the drain; the Drain Commissioner’s process follows.
What the packet does not say
The statement for item 11A leaves its budget and account-code lines blank. The packet gives no estimate of construction cost, no timeline or number of new plots, and no source of funds for building the expansion. It does not say how many hours the fees assume, because they are hourly estimates rather than fixed prices. It does not say what the county’s timing would be for the drain petition. The City of St. Louis, Spicer Group and the Gratiot County Drain Commissioner’s office have not been asked to comment for this report. Any of them is welcome to respond at contactus@gcwhistleblower.com, and any response will be published in full.