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By Carol Arnett

Members of the Florissant City Council deal with a wide variety of issues, and this week’s meeting was a great example. The council discussed pet cemeteries, Dairy Queen, road work in city parks, overtime for the police department, and hens.

In the first public hearing of the evening, the council discussed Imperial Crown Pet Cemetery. The cemetery, located near the intersection of Charbonier and Lindbergh, has the opportunity.  It is located behind businesses that front Lindbergh. The owners would like to expand into adjoining property.

The current cemetery and proposed addition are zoned R-4, which is a residential zoning. City Attorney John Hessel said that cemeteries are not normally allowed in that zoning, but the cemetery was grandfathered in.

The pet cemetery has been at the site since 1924. It was established by a veterinarian whose practice was located nearby.

Pet cemeteries are allowed in B-3 zoning districts, Hessel said, so the council could either rezone the property or allow amend the R-4 zoning to allow pet cemeteries as a special use.

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended allowing pet cemeteries as a special use in the R-4 zoning. The council held a first reading on a bill that would allow the special use.

In the second hearing, the council heard about the renovation of the Dairy Queen at 300 Howdershell Road. The renovation would make the restaurant a DQ Grill N Chill. The same company that renovated the Dairy Queen on Lindbergh would handle this renovation, and the result would be very similar to the Lindbergh store.

The council discussed appropriating funds for repairing park roads and parking lots. City Director of Public Works Lou Jearls provided the council with a prioritized list of work to be done. The top three parks were St. Ferdinand Park and the two Civic Center parks

Jearls explained that the city wanted to use money from the Park Improvement Fund to repair the roads now because there is some concern that one more winter may do more serious damage, including damaging the underlying structure of the road, which would be more expensive to fix.

Councilman Pat Stinnet asked how long the project would take. Jearls replied that the city would have to solicit bids, meaning the project would not start for a month and a half to two months. The council will vote on the bill at a later meeting.

The council also passed a bill appropriating $100,000 for police department overtime. Stinnett asked why the department had so much overtime. He said that he had no problems with funding the department, and understood that overtime was part of police work.

“The question is not whether it is needed,” he said, “the question is where it is going. I’m trying to follow the money trail.”

Mayor Tom Schneider explained that the department asked for a larger amount in the budget than it was granted. “$100,000 is the amount that was cut from the police department in the last budget,” he said.

In other action, the council:

• Granted a request transferring the special use permit for Fresh Italy restaurant from DCA Restaurant LLC to The Sammich Outlet, LLC. The restaurant is changing ownership, but the name and menu will remain the same. The council also granted a request for a liquor license to the new owner.

•  Granted a request by Brian Pease to keep four hens at his residence on Birch Hill Drive.

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