Town and Country aldermen approve 2025 contracts, adopt ordinances and debate deer-management plan

The Town and Country Board of Aldermen approved a slate of 2025 contracts and ordinances at its Dec. 9 meeting, adopted a budget amendment and debated a proposed deer-management plan before adjourning.

The council approved an amendment to the city budget after Alderman Ouizan moved to change the prior proposal. "I'd like to make an amendment to, to the budget," Alderman Ouizan said during the unfinished-business discussion; the board moved and approved the amendment and the clerk announced the bill passed unanimously as amended, becoming ordinance 4665.

Councilors also approved several procurement contracts for 2025. The city accepted Corvus Janitorial for custodial services (Bill 24‑62, ordinance 4668), Greenwood Group for grounds care (Bill 24‑63, ordinance 4669), T Hill Construction for on-call roadway maintenance (Bill 24‑64, ordinance 4670), Gerstner Electric for traffic-signal maintenance (Bill 24‑65, ordinance 4671) and other routine vendor agreements. Council members noted price increases on some contracts: Corvus’ price rose by about $3,565 (roughly 6%) from last year, while discussion on the Greenwood grounds-care contract focused on a roughly $40,000 (about 27%) increase compared with the city’s prior contract. City staff attributed higher bids mainly to labor and equipment costs and difficulty recruiting workers.

The council also considered amendments to the city’s fire-protection and ambulance-service agreement and a related lease with West County EMS. Alderman Luisa Hammond proposed exhibit amendments that would cap any single-year increase in the annual charge at 3% and adjust wording on rent-credit adjustments. City staff explained that the lease contemplates roughly $2 million in facility improvements, financed in part by a $100,000 payment spread over 20 years. With the exhibit changes the ordinance passed and became ordinance 4672.

On wildlife management, the council debated Bill 24‑61, which approves a deer-management plan and an agreement with White Buffalo Inc. Council members asked how often distance sampling is done, and staff said the board had previously moved to perform sampling every other year rather than annually. The council passed the deer-management ordinance by a 7–1 vote; the clerk recorded it as ordinance 4667.

Votes at a glance - Bill 24 (budget amendment) — Passed unanimously; ordinance 4665. - Bill 24‑60 (employee compensation) — Passed unanimously; ordinance 4666. - Bill 24‑61 (deer-management plan with White Buffalo Inc.) — Passed 7–1; ordinance 4667. - Bill 24‑62 (Corvus Janitorial, custodial services) — Passed unanimously; ordinance 4668. - Bill 24‑63 (Greenwood Group, grounds care) — Passed unanimously; ordinance 4669. - Bill 24‑64 (T Hill Construction, on-call roadway maintenance) — Passed unanimously; ordinance 4670. - Bill 24‑65 (Gerstner Electric, traffic-signal maintenance) — Passed unanimously; ordinance 4671. - Bill 24‑66 (West County EMS service/lease amendments) — Passed with exhibit amendments; ordinance 4672. - Bill 24‑67 (inspection-fee waivers for certain office renovations; substitute accepted) — Passed unanimously; ordinance 4673. - Resolution R12‑1Number4 (cancel Dec. 23 meeting) — Adopted.

Council members reviewed the warrant list totaling $1,752,838.25, discussed stormwater grant reimbursements and noted a final lease payment related to the city’s municipal solar installations. The mayor and council closed the meeting with holiday remarks and adjourned.

Next steps: the ordinances take effect per their stated terms and staff will proceed with contract execution and the implementation steps discussed on the record.