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HomeMy Public PortalAbout15548 Charter Change Ballot InitiativeORDINANCE NO. 15548 AN ORDINANCE, with an emergency clause, calling an election for April 6, 2021, in the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, for the purpose of submitting to the qualified voters of said District propositions to amend the Plan (Charter) of the District and authorizing the election authorities of the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County to conduct said election; prescribing the form of propositions to be used and providing that notice of said election be given and said election be held in accordance with all applicable Missouri law. WHEREAS, the Plan of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (as amended from time to time, the “Plan”) was approved by a separate majority of the voters of the City of St. Louis and those voters of St. Louis County residing within the District's boundaries voting thereon at an election held for that purpose on February 9, 1954; and WHEREAS, the Plan was subsequently amended by approval by a separate majority of the voters of the City of St. Louis and those voters of St. Louis County residing within the District's boundaries voting thereon at elections held for that purpose on November 7, 2000 and June 5, 2012; and WHEREAS, Section 11.020 of the Plan provides that on or before July 1, 2019 and every ten years thereafter, the Board of Trustees of the District shall appoint members to a District Plan Amendment Commission to review the Plan and to recommend proposed amendments, if any, to the Plan; and WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of the District, taking into consideration those recommendations, have comprehensively reviewed the Plan and based on said review, have determined to enact amendments to the Plan in order to better effect and carry out the purposes for which the District was created; and WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of the District, after due deliberation and consideration of the District Plan Amendment Commission, has determined that it is in the best interest of the District to submit to the voters of the District propositions to amend the Plan; and -2- NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT, AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. The amendments to the Plan are hereby proposed and submitted to the voters of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District as set forth in Exhibits A and B attached hereto and made a part hereof. Exhibit A identifies changes to the Plan as follows: additions are indicated by underscore, and deletions are indicated by strikeout. Exhibit B constitutes a clean copy of the Plan with all additions and deletions incorporated therein. The amendments to the Plan shall be voted on at an election to be held as hereinafter provided. Section 2. An election is hereby ordered to be held on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, for the purpose of submitting to the qualified voters of the District the propositions as set forth in the form of Notice of Election attached hereto as Exhibit C and incorporated herein by reference. Section 3. The Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis and the Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County shall conduct the election called for herein. Not later than 5:00 P.M. on the tenth Tuesday prior to the election (January 26, 2021), the Secretary-Treasurer of the District is hereby directed to notify the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis and the Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County of the election. The notice shall be in writing and shall specify the name of the officer or agency calling the election and shall include a certified copy of the legal notice to be published in connection with the election. Section 4. Notice of the election shall be given by causing legal notice thereof to be published in the manner required by applicable law, and particularly by Chapter 115, Revised Statutes of Missouri, as amended, and by Section 10.010 of the Plan. The form of the Notice of Election for said election, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit C and made a part hereof, is hereby approved. Section 5. The election shall be held at the polling places for the City of St. Louis designated by the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis and for St. Louis County designated by the Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County, said polling places to be set out in the final notice -3- of said election published in accordance with the provisions of Section 115.127, Revised Statutes of Missouri, or mailed in accordance with the provisions of Section 115.129, Revised Statutes of Missouri. Section 6. The election shall be held and conducted and the results thereof shall be canvassed in all respects in conformity with the Constitution and the laws of the State of Missouri. The judges of the election shall be selected and appointed by the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis and by the Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County, in accordance with applicable law. The returns of the election shall be certified to the District by the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis and by the Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing and notwithstanding anything contained in this Ordinance or any other ordinance of the District to the contrary, the Secretary-Treasurer of the District and the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis and the Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County be and hereby are authorized to take all action necessary or appropriate such that the election shall be conducted in full compliance with the requirements of applicable law and particularly by Chapter 115, Revised Statutes of Missouri, as amended, and the Plan. Section 7. The revisions and amendments to the Plan contained in this Ordinance shall take effect when they have been submitted to the registered voters residing within the District at a general or special election and approved by a majority of those voting on the propositions in the portions of the District situated within the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County, respectively. Section 8. This Ordinance shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Missouri and the Plan. Section 9. Emergency Clause. Communication is necessary prior to the election filing date of January 2021, thus creating an emergency within the meaning of the Charter. Therefore, this Ordinance should be enacted without delay and shall take effect immediately upon its enactment. EXHIBIT A RED-LINED DRAFT OF MSD’S PLAN (CHARTER) (reflecting proposed amendments) [On file in the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer of MSD] EXHIBIT B CLEAN DRAFT OF MSD’S PLAN (CHARTER) (reflecting proposed amendments) [On file in the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer of MSD] C-1 EXHIBIT C NOTICE OF ELECTION Notice is hereby given to the qualified voters of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (the “District”) that the Board of Trustees of the District has called an election to be held in the District on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, commencing at 6:00 A.M. and closing at 7:00 P.M., on the propositions contained in the following sample ballot. OFFICIAL BALLOT SPECIAL ELECTION THE METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021 PROPOSITION 1 Shall the Plan (Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District be amended to remove obsolete provisions, modernize certain provisions, references and language and change certain provisions to align with current practices of the District, including but not limited to (a) removing obsolete positions and titles, (b) replacing “city workhouse” with “jail or detention facility”, (c) requiring that the District present annually to the City and County only upon request, (d) adding gender, sexual orientation, familial status, ancestry or national origin and disability to the list of protected classes, (e) providing that notice of proposed rate changes can be given by posting on the District’s website and other digital media, (f) replacing “affiliated with” with “a member of” with respect to the current requirement that no two Trustees appointed from the City or County be “affiliated with” the same political party, and (g) clarifying that documents submitted to the Board of Trustees in connection with an annexation also be made available to the public? YES NO PROPOSITION 2 Shall Article 5 of the Plan (Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District relating to the passage of ordinances be amended to provide that (a) an affirmative vote by two members of the Board of Trustees appointed from the City of St. Louis and two members appointed from St. Louis County shall be necessary to pass any ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule or order, except that with at least five Board members present and unanimous consent of all Board members present, an affirmative vote of any four Board members shall be sufficient for passage. and (b) ordinances shall take effect immediately upon enactment unless a later date is specified therein? YES NO C-2 PROPOSITION 3 Shall Article 7 of the Plan (Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District relating to the Rate Commission be amended to provide that (a) a Rate Commission Representative Organization shall only have one voting Delegate, (b) the Rate Commission Report shall be issued to the Board of Trustees no later than 165 days after receipt of a Rate Change Notice, (c) the Board of Trustees is deemed to have accepted a Rate Commission Report if not rejected by resolution of the Board of Trustees within 100 days from the date the Rate Commission Report is issued, and (d) a clarification be made to the criteria governing rates so that the financial impact on all classes of ratepayers is considered in determining a fair and reasonable burden? YES NO PROPOSITION 4 Shall Articles 5 and 8 of the Plan (Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District be amended to provide that (a) compensation of a Trustee shall be $25 for each day of attendance at a public meeting of the Board and (b) compensation of a member of the Civil Service Commission shall be $25 for each day of attendance at a meeting of the Commission, not exceeding $625 in any one fiscal year? YES NO PROPOSITION 5 Shall Article 7 of the Plan (Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District be amended to permit the District to engage the same independent auditing firm for a period in excess of five consecutive years if the District lets a competitive bid for auditing services and the lead audit partner or concurring partner does not perform auditing services for the District in excess of 5 consecutive years? YES NO C-3 INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTERS: To vote in favor of a proposition submitted upon this ballot place a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the word “YES”; and to vote against a proposition submitted upon this ballot, place a cross (X) mark in the square opposite the word “NO.” The election will be held and conducted by the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis and by the Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County under the general election laws governing the District and said election will be held in each voting precinct in the District and at the places designated therein by the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis and by the Board of Election Commissioners of St. Louis County. DATED THIS _______ DAY OF ________________, 20___. BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI By: _______________________________ BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI By: _______________________________ The foregoing Ordinance was adopted on November 12, 2020.