Farmington City Council Considers Legislation Regarding Homeless Population – Daily Journal Online

The July 11 Farmington City Council meeting was quickly concluded with an overview of Country Days and the council and a discussion of two resolutions and two ordinances.

Overview of the Country Days from the room

Candy Hente, executive director of the Farmington Regional Chamber of Commerce, addressed the council members with an overview of Country Days 2024. She said that it takes a lot of hard work to make the event happen, including volunteers and city staff. She wanted to thank the city for the help they received to make the event happen.

“We worked with emergency management and the police chief and were able to hold the parade despite the rain on Friday night. We had a lot of police emergencies. There was some confusion about reopening streets on Sunday morning, but that was quickly resolved. Next year, we will make sure our expectations and needs are clearly communicated. Despite the weather, we saw an overall increase in attendance compared to last year, which was quite surprising because the weather was much worse,” she said.

She shared Placer AI data she received from Kristen White with the city’s tourism group Discover Farmington. Placer AI is a company that uses artificial intelligence to track and evaluate foot traffic within specific geographic locations, then provides reports based on extrapolated visitor data.

“The data that I got showed 27,800 total visits from 22,900 people. The majority of those people were from St. Francois County. Festivals contribute a lot to our quality of life and community. I also wanted to try to give an estimate of the economic impact of Country Days. We talked to the Poplar Bluff Chamber; they worked with their tourism for the eclipse and they had a huge turnout there and had multiple events. They gave us an idea of ​​how they would get people to the event. So in that sense, we’re really excited to get some of that economic impact information. Using the Placer AI economic impact data, the calculation is done using the total number of attendees and multiplied by an estimated direct expenditure of $50 per person per visit.

“So there is direct spending, there is indirect spending, which is when someone comes but stops somewhere else and buys something and that is not included in this calculation at all. The induced impact is the additional economic activity that is generated by the spending of employees who make money as a result of the festival. The majority of our national food and market vendors are now local. Typically, economic impact studies use multipliers to estimate the total economic impact. These multipliers vary by region and industry. Typically, they range from 1.5 to 3.0 for events and festivals. For simplicity, I used a conservative multiplier of 2.0. This resulted in a total estimated economic impact of $2,780,000 for this year,” Hente said.

Resolutions

Resolution R38-2024: A resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into and execute an airport site lease agreement with K & R Aviation was approved.

Resolution R 39-2024: A resolution authorizing the amendment of an airport site lease agreement with S & S Aviation was approved.

Legislation

Bill 30072024 has undergone a first and second reading for a regulation approving and adopting the second amendment to the operating budget for the financial year 2024 and authorizing the expenditures included therein.

Bill 3107204 had a first reading for the ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title II: Public Health Safety and Welfare by deleting Title XV (ordinance violations regarding camping in public places) and adding a new Title XV. A second reading will take place at the next meeting of the City Council.

Mayor Larry Forsythe asked City Councilman Scott Reid to explain the bill, which was passed a year ago but now amended with language changes due to the federal government’s revisions on the issue.

Counsel Reid said, “When we passed our non-public camping ordinance, there was a lawsuit that said you can’t charge someone with sleeping in public or camping in public unless you provide some available housing for them and they refuse to go there. That’s how we wrote our ordinance. Last week, or two weeks ago, the Supreme Court said you don’t have to provide housing before you can charge them with the crime of sleeping in public. The problem with that requirement to provide adequate housing is ‘what does that mean?’ Well, if the person doesn’t want to be drug tested, part of the housing that’s offered to the person is drug testing or it’s faith-based or something, what happens is people just say, well, that’s not available, and nobody got charged, and the problem just spiraled out of control.

“So the Supreme Court took that requirement out, and we want to do the same thing. I think we’re still going to try to provide people with adequate housing, but that’s no longer our burden to prove that when we go to court. And they’re no longer going to be able to say, well, the housing is not adequate. That takes all that off the table. We can now, without having that extra hurdle, if people are sleeping in public, tell them to stop. If they don’t, then we’ll provide them with adequate housing.”

City Manager Greg Beavers provided additional information, saying that for years, even decades, the city’s shelter plan had always been Rosener’s Hotel in Park Hills. Unsheltered individuals were offered a stay at Rosener’s, and sometimes the city, Catholic Ministries or the Farmington Ministerial Alliance would cover the cost for a night or two. He said that funding for that has dried up, and that there have been a few circumstances in the past six to eight months where he has instructed a police officer to use their purchase card to pay for a night or two at the hotel.

He also said, “The East Missouri Action Agency is planning to reopen the Uplift Shelter for the time being, just for the winter, from mid-October to mid-January. They’re a little short on funding. They’ve got some money, they’ve got some grant money. They told me they need security from someone who’s worked with the Sheriff’s Department. I don’t want to burden our police officers with that. Last year we paid about $14,000 for private security for the homeless shelter for them. They’re still about $50,000 short to run the shelter through the winter. We do pay a lot of the utilities. It’s our contribution when it’s open, by paying all the utilities.

“Meals are covered. Every church in town offers meals and meal services. So their only expense is their counseling staff — and they want at least two people there at all times. Because when you come in, you have to take a drug test and agree to drug treatment if you test positive. That’s the plan for the winter, to use that shelter.”

A word from the mayor

Mayor Forsythe expressed his deepest condolences on behalf of the city to Councilman David Kennedy on the recent passing of his father.

He also said the city donated a retired police car to the city of Iron Mountain Lake. The 2011 Ford Crown Victoria was surplus to requirements and no longer serviceable by the Farmington Police Department, and had been stripped of equipment to be used elsewhere. The St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office contributed to the project by donating excess equipment from their inventory, including police lights. The City of Farmington Maintenance Department made the necessary modifications to return the car to a functioning police vehicle. The donation will help the Lakeland community provide a functioning police force for its residents. Representatives from Iron Mountain Lake, who took possession of the vehicle, expressed their appreciation to the taxpayers of Farmington and St. Francois County for allowing them to use the car and its equipment.

In August, new signage will be unveiled at the Farmington Sports Complex. The complex will officially be renamed in honor of former Parks and Recreation Director Bud Norman, who died in a motorcycle accident a few months ago.

Finally, the mayor said he and the city manager had discussed creating a recognition program to highlight businesses in the city that have celebrated 25, 50 and 100 years. More information will be available as the plan is developed.

Next meeting

City Manager Beavers noted that the much-debated rental property registration and inspection ordinance would be on the agenda for the next meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. on July 22. Amendments and clarifications to the ordinance will be available at City Hall or online on the city’s website at farmington-mo.gov. One significant change is the decision that the ordinance would apply to leases or rental agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2025; existing agreements would remain in place.

The ordinance is scheduled to be voted on at the August 8 council meeting.

Lisa Broederton-Barnes is a staff writer for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at [email protected].