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By Carol  Arnett

Over 50 Florissant police officers came to the city council meeting Monday to express their disappointment with the 3% cut in pay that will come with the new budget. The council held a first reading on the bill that would approve the budget; the city’s fiscal year runs from Dec. 1 to Nov. 30, 2010.

Officer Brian Bethmann, the president of the Police Officers Association – Fraternal Order of Police, spoke for the group.

“This is more than a financial issue with our members,” Bethmann said. “We’re concerned that a reduction in salary could lead to a reduction in our ability to protect our citizens.”

“The ability to recruit and retain officers will be more difficult,” Bethmann said. “It’s very important that our department be able to maintain a level of competitiveness.”

Bethmann said the police had sent a letter to the council urging them to reconsider the pay cut. He suggested that there were a number of items in the budget that the council should review before salary cuts.

The council held first readings on several bills required to pass the budget, but held no discussion regarding the budget.

“I’m looking forward to having enough money the near future to restore the 3% rollback,” Mayor Robert Lowery said after the meeting.

City May Consider Park Fees Increase

In other council news, in an executive meeting before the council meeting, Parks Director Ron Veach spoke to the council about increasing park fees. He said the council and administration had asked him to study other cities and compare their fees to Florissant.

Lowery made a point of saying that he was against raising all the fees right now, but that it should be done “at some time in the future.” He said the one exception was the rental fees for park pavilions.

The problem with the pavilion rentals, Veach said, is that people say they will have 75 guests and 200 come. “Probably 80% comply with all our rules, but about 20% don’t,” Veach said. There have also been noise issues.

Lowery suggested that closer to 90% comply, “but the others cause major problems.”

Veach suggested that the city begin collecting deposits for rentals. He said that several other cities already do so.

Councilwoman Karen McKay said that perhaps the council should look at some of the fee increases Veach suggested. “We should also look at the deposit issue. It’s not an increase,” she said, “it’s a different way of collecting fees.”

The council said they would look at the suggestions Veach made and discuss them at a future work session.

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