St. Louis County Council approves HUD grant, several ordinances and prepared orders; executive outlines RFP approach to food-insecurity work after veto

The St. Louis County Council on Tuesday adopted a substitute ordinance to accept up to $9,603,903.17 in HUD funds and approved several final ordinances and county prepared orders, votes that council members recorded by roll call as unanimous where noted.

The substitute for Bill 70 — described to the council as authorization for the county executive to accept HUD grant funds and appropriate them for Department of Human Services programs — was adopted and then taken up for final passage after the council suspended rules. The final passage vote on substitute Bill 1 for Bill 70 was announced as seven ayes by the clerk.

The vote came the same evening County Executive Sam Page outlined a separate path he intends to pursue to address food insecurity. Page told the council he met with three farmers who had withdrawn from an earlier urban-farming plan and said they argued the county should use a competitive, countywide request-for-proposals process rather than the earlier approach. Page asked the council to allow the Department of Human Services to house a new food-insecurity project and requested that $4,500,000 originally allotted for food-insecurity work be moved from the general operating fund into the Department of Human Services budget to sustain the initiative.

Why it matters: the HUD appropriation and the executive’s RFP plan affect how federal and county dollars will be administered for housing- and human-services-related programs. Council approval of the HUD substitute ordinance authorizes the county to accept federal funding and assign it to specified DHS programs; Page’s RFP proposal signals a shift in the county’s procurement approach for food-access initiatives.

Key votes and actions: the clerk recorded the following outcomes during the meeting: final passage of substitute Bill 1 for Bill 70 (HUD grant appropriation) — seven ayes; final passage of Bills 66, 67, 68 and 71 — seven ayes each; Bill 69 was dropped from the order of business. The council also adopted three prepared orders (authorizations to dispose of property, transfer interest in tax-sale properties, and an amendment to a construction contract relating to the Baldwin resurfacing project). Several other bills were held or perfected earlier on the agenda.

Council procedure: the council used a substitution and suspension of rules to replace incorrect account information on the original Bill 70 and to speed final consideration; the clerk confirmed the substitute was adopted and the council invoked rule 19 to suspend rule 9 before final passage.

What council members said: County Executive Sam Page described the RFP approach as a way to make the food-insecurity program countywide and to allow industry participants to compete for contracts; he asked the council to authorize moving the originally allotted $4.5 million into the Department of Human Services. Several council members participated in roll calls recorded in the clerk’s announcements; each final-passage vote that was called produced the clerk’s tally of seven ayes.

Next steps: the HUD-funded programs authorized by substitute Bill 1 for Bill 70 will be implemented by the Department of Human Services after required documents are executed by the county executive and department director. The council will receive follow-up legislation and administrative documents where required, and the executive said he will pursue a separate RFP process for food-insecurity work.

Votes at a glance

- Substitute Bill 1 for Bill 70 (accept HUD grant funds up to $9,603,903.17; appropriate funds for Department of Human Services programs): finally passed, roll call announced as 7 ayes. - Bill 66 (final passage): finally passed, roll call announced as 7 ayes. - Bill 67 (final passage): finally passed, roll call announced as 7 ayes. - Bill 68 (final passage): finally passed, roll call announced as 7 ayes. - Bill 69: dropped from the order of business (motion carried). - Bill 71 (final passage): finally passed, roll call announced as 7 ayes. - Prepared Order 1 (authorization to dispose of certain property): adopted (motion carried). - Prepared Order 2 (transfer of interest in real estate bought at tax sales): adopted (motion carried). - Prepared Order 3 (amend contract with Pace Construction Co., LLC for Baldwin resurfacing; transfer funds): adopted (motion carried).

All roll-call tallies quoted in the council’s record were announced by the clerk as seven ayes for the final-passage items listed above.