The St. Louis City Public Safety Committee on a voice vote advanced Board Bill 74, authorizing the City Emergency Management Agency to accept federal assistance linked to the 2022 Ellendale floods.

Alderman Raj Narayan, chair of the Public Safety Committee, opened consideration of the bill and turned the chair to Vice Chair Aldridge for the presentation. Alderman John O'Oldenburg (roll call entry in the transcript appears as “Oldenburg”) and other committee members asked no substantive questions during the presentation. Alderman Narayan read the sponsor’s summary: “This is a really simple board bill ... [it] authorizes the City Emergency Management Agency to accept just shy of $700,000 in relation to that incident,” language offered by the bill’s sponsor.

The committee sustained the motion to give the bill a “do pass” recommendation. After a roll call the clerk recorded six aye votes and the committee chair announced, “We have 6 aye votes,” and that Board Bill 74 passed out of committee with a do-pass recommendation.

Why it matters: The accepted funds relate to federal aid after the 2022 flood event in Ellendale and are intended to advance buyouts or related mitigation work for properties identified after that incident. The committee’s vote forwards the bill to the next steps of the legislative process with a positive committee recommendation.

What happened in committee: Committee members had only brief procedural comments. Alderman Oldenburg, Alderman Clark Hubbard, Alderman Velasquez and Alderwoman Sonnier each indicated they had no questions when the bill was presented. The clerk’s roll call shows Chair Narayan, Vice Chair Aldridge and five other committee members present during the vote; the chair announced the result as six ayes.

Details not specified at the meeting: The bill’s text and the precise grant conditions (for example, any match or implementation schedule) were not discussed in detail during the hearing and were not stated on the record in committee. The bill passed out of committee and will proceed through the council’s next steps for final approval and any fiscal review required by ordinance.

Ending: Committee members did not request further information at the hearing. Any additional specifics about how the accepted funds will be used (project-level budgets, acquisition lists or schedules) will be determined as the bill moves through the council and associated administrative review.