Arnold Approves Zephrex-D As Non-Prescription Drug

The Arnold City Council voted to approve the sale of Zephrex-D as a non-prescription drug. The drug, which was designed to thwart meth labs, will still be sold behind the counter as it does contain pseudo ephedrine, though in a form that manufactures claim cannot be cooked down into meth.

Police Chief Robert Shockey said they will still require purchasers to show and ID and sign a log book at the pharmacy. The city ordinance that requires a prescription to purchase pseudo ephedrine still stands for other medications, like Sudafed.

In other business, Mayor Ron Counts announced the members of the search committee who will look for a candidate for city administrator to replace Chief Shockey, who is the interim administrator. He said that Ward 1 Councilwoman Cricky Lang, Ward 3 Councilman Phil Amato, Chief Shockey, former administrator John Brazeal, and city treasurer Dan Kroupa would serve on the committee.

Also at the meeting, the council also approved a resolution to increase the minimum wage for city part-time employees to $7.35, to keep up with Missouri’s minimum wage standards. Missouri will increase the minimum wage to $7.35 on Jan. 1.

Additionally, Councilwoman Doris Borgelt made a motion to have meeting minutes transcribed verbatim. The city attorney warned that Robert’s Rules of Order specifically says not to do verbatim minutes, that minutes need to show what happens during a meeting, and what votes are taken, but do not need to record every word. Several councilmen were opposed to the idea, pointing out that meetings are already recorded and that hiring a court reporter to accurately record the meetings would be costly. The motion was voted down six to two.

Borgelt then made a motion that city department heads be required to live in the city. The mayor asked that the idea be placed in a work session for further discussion.

Finally, Borgelt made a motion to have the city’s credit card records placed on the Arnold website for easier access by the public.  That motion was also slated for more discussion in the next work session.