Maryville council sets 2019 action items

Tye Parsons took the oath of office, given by City Clerk Sheila Smail, as he assumed the tasks of the Maryville City Council.

Maryville City Council members gave the nod to place the use tax on the April 2 Municipal Election ballot during the January 14 meeting.

The ballot issue, which went down in November by a slim margin, 1,396 to 1,704, will authorize a 2.375 percent sales tax on items purchased from out-of-state vendors. Without a use tax in place, existing sales tax revenues for the general fund, capital improvement fund, Mozingo Lake Recreation Park, debt retirement fund and park and recreation fund will be jeopardized due to increasing purchases from online out-of-state vendors.

According to the city council packet information, “Estimates for Maryville reflect an additional $245,000 in potential revenue to offset sales tax loss made by purchases to online out-of-state vendors. Imposing a use tax also continues the receipt of sales tax revenue in the General Fund from out-of-state vehicles in the estimated amount of $45,397.88. If the use tax is not approved, this revenue would be eliminated.”

• Prior to the business meeting, Tye Parsons took the oath of office to become a city councilman, replacing Renee Riedel, who moved from the city.

• Appointed MacKenzie Magwire to the Maryville Public Art Advisory Committee.

• Approved an ordinance to annex property at 950 South Depot owned by Brad Hilsabeck.

• Authorized a contract with Allied Systems, Omaha, NE, for the repair of a high service pump for the water treatment plant at a cost of $9,669.15.

City Manager Greg McDanel spoke at length about the future of the downtown area and the need for design guidelines to allow for future renovations to the area. The council directed him to proceed with the proposed process to update the guidelines which may at some future time affect the city codes. Other items the council hopes to address include improvements to the store fronts, utilization of grant moneys and the CIP, tax real property abatement in blighted area upon the setup of Urban Redevelopment Corporation and Historic Preservation District designations.

He continued by sharing with the council possible enhancements to the downtown which could be done in this budget year such as traffic signals with black mast arms, permanent crosswalks and corner bump-outs with landscaped corners.

Reports:

Northwest Student Liaison Delaney Smail had no report with the university just beginning the spring session earlier that day.

McDanel spoke of the Great Northwest Day on February 5 and 6, Hughes Fieldhouse has scheduled track meets and held community open sessions, the public safety building’s full engineering drawings from the architect will be received soon with the bids to go out late spring, the South Main corridor project kicked off last week through staff webinars and it was decided the present council will meet to confirm the April candidates at 4 pm, Friday, January 18.

Councilman Matt Johnson announced his next coffee-office hours will be from 7 to 9 am, Friday, January 18 at McDonald’s.

Parsons noted he is thankful for the opportunity to serve and he has filed for the April 2 election.

Councilman Ben Lipiec gave accolades to the street department in clearing roadways from the recent snow.

Mayor Rachael Martin shared several dates which she was aware of including the St. Francis Hospital Foundation annual gala set for February 16.