Arnold Begins Search for New City Administrator

Mayor Ron Counts announced at a recent city council work session that it was time for Arnold to find a permanent city administrator.

Robert Shockey has been working as interim city administrator since June 28, following the abrupt resignation of Matt Unrein. But since Shockey also works as the city's police chief, his appointment to interim city administrator must be a temporary one, said Mayor Ron Counts during a city council work session on Sept. 13. “The fact is, Mr. Shockey can’t be eligible for that position. He can’t hold both police chief and administrator, not as a class three municipality,” Counts said. Shockey, who was in charge of a committee that hired the last city administrator four years ago, will perform the same duty during a new search process. He asked for volunteers to form a subcommittee of council members and department heads to sort through …

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Arnold City Administrator Enjoys Sense of Accomplishment

Matt Unrein prefers jobs that help other people enjoy their lives.

Name: Matt Unrein Job: Arnold City Administrator How did you get this job? I competed against the other 80 to 100 applications and was lucky enough to get the offer. I was an assistant in Maryville, MO, for five years preceding my appointment here. What do you like best about your job? Helping people. I think it’s very fulfilling to see a development or see something come together, or even help a neighborhood with stormwater development. It’s nice to be able to step away and get that sense of accomplishment. What do you like least? A lot of meetings, a lot of memos and a lot of telephone calls. As necessary as they all are, they sometimes seem to interrupt what really feels like getting things done.

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Five Guys, Frozen Yogurt Bar Planned for Water Tower Place

City council members approved a permit for the businesses during the May 5 meeting.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries and  frozen yogurt franchise Orange Leaf, are tentatively planning to occupy the new building under construction along Michigan Avenue. Community Development Director Mary Holden named the businesses during the City Council Meeting Thursday. She spoke to city councilmen to obtain a permit for the businesses to occupy the 17,000-square-foot building, located north of Walmart on Michigan Avenue and named Markets at Water Tower Place, stated documents filed received by the Planning and Zoning Commission April 26. None of the city councilmen objected to the businesses, and the permit was granted, City Administrator Matt Unrein said. “I intend to be one of the first people at Five Guys on opening day,” Unrein said …

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City Must Use or Lose $75,000 HUD Grant

The city must spend a landscaping/streetscaping grant, which has been in City Hall since 2004, by Sept. 30 or return the money to the federal government.

Arnold Council members voted, 8-0, to quickly start discussions with a landscaping contractor or lose a $75,000 grant from the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant’s purpose is to improve the areas near Jeffco Boulevard and the Meramec River. The improvements are meant to increase the city’s appearance and improve the chance of bringing businesses into the area.  The money must be spent by Sept. 30 or the federal government will retract the grant, Arnold’s Community Development Director Mary Holden said during the City Council meeting on May 5.  Usually, the council votes only on issues listed on the meeting agenda. Delaying a vote until the May 19 Council Meeting would risk forfeiting the grant, Holden said. …

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City's Law Firm Will Also Represent Jerel Poor, Who is Suing the City

City Attorney Bob Sweeney said no legal conflict of interest exists. Armstrong Teasdale is a large firm and different attorneys will work on the separate lawsuits.

Mayor Ron Counts cast the tie-breaking vote allowing the law firm Armstrong Teasdale, which works for city of Arnold, to defend former Ward 2 Councilman Jerel Poor in a separate lawsuit.  Counts vote, during a city council meeting on April 26, avoided a possible legal conflict of interest for the 241-lawyer firm with offices in St. Louis, Kansas City and Jefferson City.  City Attorney Bob Sweeney said the firm works with him to defend Arnold in a lawsuit against Poor. Poor’s complaint is that a storm water charge imposed all property within city boundaries is unconstitutional, reported Missouri Lawyers Media, a trade publication.  The water charge is a tax issued without the voters’ approval, the magazine reported. During the city council …

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Ozark Residents Can Pay for Bridge in 20 years, instead of 10 years

Each resident must ask for the longer term payments, City Attorney Sweeney said.

Ozark Drive residents who must pay a total of $343,000 for a new bridge can request up to 20 years to pay for the project. Without the request, they would have to pay for the project in 10 years. Arnold City Clerk Diane Waller asked City Attorney Bob Sweeney and the newly installed City Council about the matter during the April 21 council meeting at City Hall, 2101 Jeffco Blvd. Council members approved the bridge’s cost in a 6-2 vote during the April 7 council meeting. Then-councilmen Bob Lindsley and Jason Connell voted against the proposal, because they wanted to hear from all eight Ozark Drive residents who would be billed for the project. Ozark Hills Park Properties would pay about $266,000 of the bridge’s cost, because it owned the …

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Doris Borgelt

10:00 am on Friday, July 29, 2011

You are correct, they were meant for the other article! They disappeared from there! You were at the same meeting I was, right? All of those matters were brought up and discussed by council when deciding this particular issue, are you conveniently leaving those facts out? I would make another suggestion, watch the video then report what really happened instead of this slanted version of it.   more ›

Tourism Commission Agrees on New Policy Financing Non-Profit Events

The new city council must approve the tourism policy before it becomes a city ordinance.

The new city council will consider a new tourism policy when it meets at City Hall on April 21. City Attorney Bob Sweeney drafted the policy because an increasing number of nonprofit organizations have asked the Tourism Commission to help manage fundraisers. Tourism Commission members voted 8-0 to approve the policy in a commission meeting at City Hall on April 6. Mayor Ron Counts asked that policy determine the commission’s standards for issuing money to organizations, Director of Administration Greg Hall said to commission members. “The organizations cannot be political, and we cannot show favorites,” Hall said about the organizations requesting money.  The policy also requires organizations to explain how their fundraisers will boost …

City Council Approves $67,000 in Pomme Creek Renovations, Equipment Purchases

Arnold's City Council approved $67,000 to renovate Pomme Creek Golf Course and buy modern equipment to improve the course's profits. Clearwire will expand 4G service in Arnold. City recieves $30,000 grant for safe disposal of household chemicals.

Arnold City Council members approved, during Thursday night’s meeting, about $65, 000 in equipment and renovations for the city-owned Pomme Creek Golf Course. The money will come from bonds issued in 2007 and which must be used for physical improvements on the golf course or to retire the debt, Finance Director Deborah Lewis said to the committee. “The money must be used within three years (of when the bond was issued),” Lewis said. Lewis said Parks and Recreation Director Susie Boone had a three-year plan to improve the golf course. After the renovations and equipment purchase, about $100,000 will remain to finance other Parks-related projects, Lewis said. Boone said the money will be used renovate the 19 year old Clubhouse and Cart Barn…

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