Good afternoon all-
(1) I am writing with some good news! The bill introduced at Tuesday evening’s County Council meeting will make fire sprinklers a mandatory option, meaning that builders must offer fire sprinklers to new home buyers, but it will be the buyer’s choice on whether to install the sprinklers or not. This is the language that has been adopted at the state level and in surrounding counties. There will be sprinklers mandated for townhouses if there are 5 or more units connected to one another beginning January 1, 2012. This is also consistent with current state statute. We are still in need of some members to come to the County Council meeting this coming Tuesday, June 22, 4 pm, to show our support for the bill. If you are able to come, please let me know as soon as possible.
(2) Trash bill in the city – This bill passed out of committee today, but with some amendments. Trash collection, including twice weekly pick-up, yard waste, single stream recycling and once a month bulk pick up will now cost $11/month per dwelling unit. I will get a clean copy of the revised bill tomorrow and will send it out then. Changes that were made include a provision to exclude units that are under construction with a valid permit and with a commercial dumpster onsite. There is also language in the bill which will allow the Refuse Commissioner to determine other exemptions for vacant units. If the water is turned off to the unit, you would not be charged for trash. However, if you have a building which has multiple units and only one water service, there will need to be another way to determine if you should be charged for trash when you have vacancies. Basically, an owner would need to apply for an exemption and would need to show that the unit has been vacant for 90 days to be taken off the trash billing, but the policy for determining how this will work is still being crafted. Any future change in the monthly billing rate must be approved by the Board of Aldermen. Delinquent trash bills will be a lien on the property, but it is a NON-FORECLOSABLE lien. The delinquent trash bill would be collected when the house is sold by the current owner. I am continuing to work with Alderman Conway on the wording for how payment of delinquent trash bills is related to obtaining an occupancy permit. This will be resolved in a floor substitute next week Friday. There was an amendment on this issue done today, but something got lost in translation and it still needs some tweaking. There was an article on stltoday.com today regarding the trash bill that I thought was a bit misleading. It sort of made it sound like everyone would be paying $11/month for recycling only. I am still looking for comments from anyone who has questions or concerns. There is a version of the bill on the city website, but I don’t believe it is the most current version of the bill. If you do read the one that is online now, please refer to my note above for the changes. Thanks so much!
Celeste

Celeste Rueter
Governmental Affairs Director
Saint Louis Association of REALTORS
12777 Olive Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63141
314-590-2307 direct
314-576-0033 ext. 307
314-576-7143 fax
crueter@stlrealtors.com
www.stlrealtors.com