Board of Aldermen meeting recap

by ​Cole Arndorfer
 
The Grain Valley Board of Aldermen met on Monday, February 12, for their first meeting in February. The meeting included a proclamation, three new resolutions, and the first reading of one ordinance.
 
To start the meeting, Mayor Mike Todd read a proclamation declaring February 11-17 National FBLA Week in the City of Grain Valley to honor the Grain Valley High School’s Future Business Leaders of America program.
 
Following the proclamation, the board moved into resolutions. The board approved the first resolution, adopting the updated social media policy. This is the first update to the social media policy since 2018. The main changes include when the city can remove social media comments, such as those posted by bots or that include profanity.
 
The board approved the second resolution, allowing the purchase of eight security cameras to be placed in Monkey Mountain Park. City Administrator Ken Murphy said that these cameras will be a major improvement compared to the troublesome nature of the old cameras currently in the park.
 
The board also approved the last resolution, allowing the city to enter into a contract with the company Flock to install automatic license plate readers within the city.
 
After resolutions, the board heard the first reading of one ordinance. The bill would amend the city code surrounding meeting procedures.
 
These amendments would include changing the regular meeting time for Board of Aldermen meetings from 7 pm to 6:30 pm, and adding language to allow for virtual meetings, should one be necessary.
 
Concerns around this bill were brought up by Jan Brill in the public comment section of the meeting. Brill stated that moving the meeting time up may give off the impression that the board is trying to hide something and does not want the public to be involved in its meetings.
 
The first reading was passed by the board and will be brought back for its second read at the next meeting.
 
In the mayor’s report, Todd noted his meeting with downtown businesses about plans for First Friday’s this summer. Todd said that they are going to be getting information put together to present to the board in the near future.
 
Following the mayor’s report, the board adjourned into executive session. The next board meeting for the month of February will be held at 7:00pm on Monday, February 26th at City Hall.