ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis City Council on Oct. 6 approved four items we had reported on before the meeting: a higher design fee for expanding the city cemetery, $32,570 to plan a new sewer lift station, a $56,700 contract to demolish the house at 117 S. East St. and $13,582 to repair two motors needed to run the city’s hydroelectric generators. Each passed with all members voting yes, according to the minutes, which the council approved Oct. 20. On Oct. 20 the council also extended City Manager Kurt Giles’s employment agreement through June 30, 2027.
The record at a glance
- Cemetery design: Spicer Group’s preliminary design fee raised from $12,000 to $18,000, and an $8,000 final design phase approved.
- Sewer planning: $32,570 to OHM for planning a North Union Street lift station.
- Demolition: awarded to Bierlein Companies for $56,700, the lower of two proposals. The other was $99,650.
- Hydro repair: $13,582 to York Repair. The city’s request said Hydro #6 was “completely inoperable currently.”
- City manager: contract extended through June 30, 2027. The minutes say the current one expired Oct. 25, 2026.
Cemetery expansion
Our Oct. 2 report described Spicer Group’s request for more money after a new survey found ground conditions that did not match the 1999 plan. The Oct. 6 minutes (PDF p. 4) record that Council Member Kevin Palmer moved, and Council Member Robin Hart supported, approving the revised proposal: phase 2 preliminary design “from the approved $12,000 cost to $18,000” and a phase 3 design cost of $8,000. All ayes carried the motion. The same night the council adopted Resolution 2026-22 on a 5–0 roll call, authorizing a petition to the county drain commissioner to abandon part of the #199 Drain (PDF p. 8). Our earlier report explained that the city says the drain crosses the expansion area.
North Union Street lift station
The council approved OHM’s Project Supplement No. 25, Phase 1 planning for the North Union Street lift station, for $32,570, on a motion by Hart supported by Mayor Pro Tem Bill Leonard (PDF p. 6). As we reported Oct. 2, the work is meant to find out whether the project could qualify for a USDA Rural Development loan; OHM’s June memo put the station itself at about $3.75 million. The minutes do not say whether an application has been filed.
117 S. East Street demolition
Our Sept. 23 report described the bid specification. The Oct. 6 agenda statement from Giles (Oct. 6 packet, PDF p. 149) lists two proposals: Midstate Asbestos Removal, Inc., at $99,650 and Bierlein Companies, Inc., at $56,700. It marks the work as not budgeted and says a budget amendment is needed. The account code it lists, 101.371, is the general fund’s building and code enforcement account in the city’s own account key. The council awarded the contract to Bierlein for $56,700 on a motion by Council Member Fares Azzam supported by Leonard (PDF p. 9). The minutes do not show a budget amendment for it.
The hydroelectric generators
Our Oct. 6 preview listed the council’s vote on the York Repair quote as one of the things we did not yet know, and our Oct. 2 report on the hydro plant’s output said the records did not show whether Hydro #5 was operating. The request in the Oct. 6 packet (Oct. 6 packet, PDF p. 93) answers part of that. It says that early in spring 2026 the exciter motor for Hydro Generator #6 “was producing low voltage, thus rendering Hydro #6 inoperable,” and that another exciter motor had been removed from Hydro #5 “several years ago as it was not functioning properly, but it was never repaired.” York Repair in Bay City quoted $5,992 and $7,590 to recondition the two motors. The request says, “Hydro #6 is completely inoperable currently,” and that repairing both “will put Hydro #6 back in operation and provide a spare.” It lists the cost as not budgeted, from the electric fund, with no budget amendment needed.
The council approved the repairs for $13,582 on a motion by Hart supported by Leonard (PDF p. 5). The request does not say whether Hydro #5 itself runs without its original motor.
Oct. 20: the manager’s contract and new software
The Oct. 20 draft minutes (Nov. 3 packet, PDF p. 5) say Giles “requested members to extend Giles’ employment agreement through June 30, 2027,” and that “the current contract expires on October 25, 2026.” Hart moved and Palmer supported the extension; all ayes carried the motion. Neither packet includes the agreement or its terms.
The council also approved moving the city’s BS&A financial software to BS&A’s cloud system, with business licensing and work-order modules added, at an anticipated first-year cost of $102,065 (Nov. 3 packet, PDF p. 4). Finance Director Bobbie Marr’s statement (Oct. 20 packet, PDF p. 188) says $35,380 of that is annual subscription fees and $66,685 is implementation, setup and training, after a $12,590 discount for joining other municipalities in the switch. It says BS&A is ending support for the city’s current system “tentatively by 2030,” that the move is planned for late summer or early fall 2027, and that the city’s cemetery software was left out because it “does not adequately meet the City’s operational needs.”
Other Oct. 6 approvals in the minutes: $36,820.77 for heat and insulation in the public works cold-storage area, up to $8,000 for a truck transmission, a 12-year obsolete property tax exemption for 137 N. Mill St. (amended Oct. 20 to add required state language) and a resolution electing to pay up to 80 percent of employee health plan costs in 2027.
What we do not know yet
- The total cost and number of plots in the cemetery expansion, and how it will be paid for.
- The amount and timing of the budget amendment for the demolition.
- The terms of the city manager’s extended agreement, including pay.
- Whether Hydro #6 is back in service.
Corrections and responses are welcome.