City of Fenton, MO General Provisions

The ordinances embraced in this and the following Chapters and Sections shall constitute and be designated the "Municipal Code of the City of Fenton, Missouri" and may be so cited.

Section 100.020 Catchlines of Sections.

[R.O. 2006 §100.130; Ord. No. 2003 §1, 11-18-1996]

The catchlines of the several Sections of this Code printed in boldface type are intended as mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the Section and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such Sections, nor as any part of the Section, nor, unless expressly so provided, shall they be so deemed when any of such Sections, including the catchlines, are amended or reenacted.

Section 100.030 Definitions and Rules of Construction.

[R.O. 2006 §100.140; Ord. No. 2003 §1, 11-18-1996]

In the construction of this Code, and of all ordinances and resolutions passed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, the following rules or definitions shall be observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen:

ALDERMAN: A member of the Board of Aldermen of the City of Fenton, Missouri.

BOARD OF ALDERMEN: Whenever the words "Board of Aldermen", "Board", "this Board" or "the Board" are used, they mean the Board of Aldermen of the City of Fenton, Missouri.

CITY: The words "the City" or "this City" shall mean the City of Fenton, in St. Louis County, Missouri.

COMPUTATION OF TIME: The time within which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first (1st) day and including the last.

COUNTY: The words "County", "the County" or "this County" shall mean St. Louis County, Missouri.

GENDER: A word importing the masculine gender only shall extend and be applied to females and to firms, partnerships and corporations as well as to males.

HIGHWAY: Shall include any street, alley, highway, avenue or public place or square, bridge, viaduct, tunnel, underpass, overpass or causeway in the City, dedicated or devoted to public use.

MONTH: A calendar month.

NUMBER: Any word importing the singular number shall include the plural and any word importing the plural number shall include the singular.

OATH: Shall be construed to include an affirmation in all cases in which, by law, an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in such cases the words, "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the words "affirm" and "affirmed".

OFFICERS, DEPARTMENTS, ETC.: Whenever any Officer, Department, Board, Commission or other agency is referred to by title alone, such reference shall be construed as if followed by the words "of the City of Fenton, Missouri".

OR, AND: "Or" may be read "and", and "and" may be read "or", if the sense requires it.

OWNER: The word "owner", applied to a building or land, shall include any part-owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety, of the whole or of a part of such building or land.

PERSON: Shall extend and be applied to associations, corporations, firms, partnerships and bodies politic and corporate as well as to individuals. Whenever used with respect to any penalty, the word "person", as applied to partnerships or associations, shall mean the partners or members thereof, and as applied to corporations, the officers thereof.

PRECEDING, FOLLOWING: Shall mean next before and next after, respectively.

ROADWAY: That portion of a street improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic.

SIDEWALK: Any portion of the street between the curb, or the lateral line of the roadway and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians.

SIGNATURE OR SUBSCRIPTION: The words "signature" or "subscription" shall include a mark when a person cannot write.

STATE: The words "the State" or "this State" shall be construed to mean the State of Missouri.

STREET: Shall include any highway, alley, street, avenue or public place, square, bridge, viaduct, underpass, overpass, tunnel or causeway in the City, dedicated or devoted to public use.

TENSE: Words used in the past or present tense include the future as well as the past and present.

WRITTEN, IN WRITING AND WRITING WORD FOR WORD: Includes printing, lithographing or other mode of representing words and letters, but in all cases where the signature of any person is required, the proper handwriting of the person, or his/her mark, is intended.

YEAR: A calendar year.

Section 100.035 Self-Preemption.

[Ord. No. 3521 §1, 6-25-2015]

No provision of the Municipal Code of the City of Fenton shall apply to any circumstance in which such application shall be unlawful under superseding Federal or State law and furthermore, if any Section, Subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Code is now or in the future superseded or preempted by State or Federal law or found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unauthorized, such provision shall be automatically interpreted and applied as required by law.

Section 100.040 Amendments or Additions To Code.

[R.O. 2006 §100.150; Ord. No. 2003 §1, 11-18-1996]

All ordinances passed subsequent to this Code which amend, repeal or in any way affect this Code may be numbered in accordance with the numbering system of this Code and printed for inclusion therein. When subsequent ordinances repeal any Chapter, Section or Subsection or any portion thereof, such repealed portions may be excluded from the Code by omission from reprinted pages. The subsequent ordinances as numbered and printed, or omitted in the case of repeal, shall be prima facie evidence of such subsequent ordinances until such time that this Code and subsequent ordinances numbered or omitted are readopted as a new Code by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.

Section 100.050 Severability of Parts of Code.

[R.O. 2006 §100.160; Ord. No. 2003 §1, 11-18-1996]

It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen that the Sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this Code are severable and, if any, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or Section of this Code shall be declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and Sections of this Code, since the same would have been enacted by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen without the incorporation in this Code of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or Section.

Section 100.060 General Penalty.

[R.O. 2006 §100.170; Ord. No. 2463 §1, 4-15-2002]

Whenever in this Code or any other ordinance of the City, or in any rule, regulation, notice or order promulgated by any officer or agency of the City under authority duly vested in him/her or it, any act is prohibited or is declared to be unlawful or an offense, misdemeanor or ordinance violation or the doing of any act is required or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful or an offense or a misdemeanor or ordinance violation, and no specific penalty is provided for the violation thereof, upon conviction of a violation of any such provision of this Code or of any such ordinance, rule, regulation, notice or order, the violator shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the City or County Jail not exceeding three (3) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment; provided, that in any case wherein the penalty for an offense is fixed by a Statute of the State, the statutory penalty, and no other, shall be imposed for such offense, except that imprisonments may be in the City prison or workhouse instead of the County Jail.

Every day any violation of this Code or any other ordinance or any such rule, regulation, notice or order shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.

Whenever any act is prohibited by this Code, by an amendment thereof, or by any rule or regulation adopted thereunder, such prohibition shall extend to and include the causing, securing, aiding or abetting of another person to do said act. Whenever any act is prohibited by this Code, an attempt to do the act is likewise prohibited.

Minor Traffic Violations. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, no punishment for a minor traffic violation as defined by Section 300.010 of this Municipal Code shall:

[Ord. No. 3558 § 2, 11-19-2015; Ord. No. 3629 § 2, 9-22-2016]

Impose a fine, when combined with the amount of Court costs, that exceeds two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225.00);

Be punishable by imprisonment, unless the violation involved:

Alcohol or controlled substances,

Endangered the health and welfare of others, or

Involved eluding or giving false information to a Law Enforcement Officer.

Place a person convicted of a minor traffic violation in confinement for failure to pay a fine unless such non-payment violates the terms of the person's probation or unless the due process procedures mandated by Missouri Supreme Court Rule 37.65 or its successor rule are strictly followed by the Court;

Assess Court costs where a defendant has been found to be indigent under Subsection (5) or if a case has been dismissed;

Assess Court costs against a defendant who the Municipal Court finds to be indigent based on standards set by the Presiding Judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Missouri; or

Issue an additional charge for the failure to appear on a minor traffic violation.

Municipal Ordinance Violations. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, no punishment for a municipal ordinance violation as defined by Section 479.350, RSMo., and Section 300.010 of this Municipal Code of the City of Fenton shall impose a fine, when combined with the amount of Court costs, that exceeds:

[Ord. No. 3629 § 2, 9-22-2016]

For municipal ordinance violations committed within a twelve-month period beginning with the first violation:

Two hundred dollars ($200.00) for the first municipal ordinance violation,

Two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275.00) for the second municipal ordinance violation.

Three hundred fifty dollars ($350.00) for the third municipal ordinance violation, and

Four hundred fifty dollars ($450.00) for the fourth and any subsequent municipal ordinance violations;

Be punishable by imprisonment, unless the violation involved:

Alcohol or controlled substances,

Endangered the health and welfare of others, or

Involved eluding or giving false information to a Law Enforcement Officer.

Assess Court costs where a defendant has been found to be indigent under Subsection (5) or if a case has been dismissed; or

Assess Court costs against a defendant who the Municipal Court finds to be indigent based on standards set by the Presiding Judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Missouri.

Section 100.065 Enforcement — Attorneys' Fees.

[Ord. No. 3521 §4, 6-25-2015]

The City shall be entitled to enforce any provision of this Code through all remedies lawfully available, and any user of City services, rights-of-way or other property as a condition of such use, and additionally all other persons violating any provision herein, shall, to the full extent permissible by law, pay the City's costs of enforcement, including reasonable attorneys' fees, in the event the person is determined judicially to have violated the terms of this Code or any requirement, provision or agreement enacted or hereunder.

Section 100.070 Contracts With City — Authority To Execute.

[R.O. 2006 §100.030; Ord. No. 495 §§1—3, 5-22-1979]

No contract entered into by or on behalf of the City shall be valid unless the same shall be within the scope of the City's powers or shall be expressly authorized by law, nor unless such contract shall be made upon a consideration wholly to be performed or executed subsequent to the making of the contract, nor unless such contract including the consideration therefor shall be made in writing and dated when made, and shall be subscribed by the parties thereto, or their agents authorized by law and duly appointed and authorized in writing.

The Mayor or acting Mayor, in the Mayor's absence, shall execute all contracts on behalf of the City and his/her signature shall be attested to by the City Clerk.

Authorization for the Mayor or the acting Mayor, in the Mayor's absence to enter into and execute contracts on behalf of the City shall be provided by passage of an ordinance or adoption of a resolution.

Section 100.080 Disposition of Unclaimed or Abandoned Personal Property and Surplus Property of The City Through Public Sale.

[R.O. 2006 §100.040; Ord. No. 600 §1, 8-16-1982; Ord. No. 1908 §1, 11-20-1995; Ord. No. 2092 §1, 9-15-1997]

Definitions. For purpose of this Section, the following definitions will apply:

ABANDONED PERSONAL PROPERTY: Personal property in the possession of the City of Fenton, and/or its agents, including the St. Louis County Police Department/City of Fenton, for which the owner cannot be located through reasonable effort, and which is being held for no legal purpose.

SURPLUS PROPERTY OF THE CITY OF FENTON: Personal property owned by the City of Fenton for which no need exists, and is established as surplus by a majority vote of the Board of Aldermen.

UNCLAIMED PERSONAL PROPERTY: Personal property in the possession of the City of Fenton, and its agents, including the St. Louis County Police Department/City of Fenton, for which no owner is known, and which is being held for no legal purpose.

Inventory. Annually on June thirtieth (30th) and December thirty-first (31st), all Department Heads and/or its agents shall report to the City Administrator on all unclaimed and abandoned personal property in the possession of the City of Fenton. The City Administrator shall keep a current written inventory list of all surplus property owned by the City of Fenton.

Said unclaimed and abandoned personal property owned by the City of Fenton shall be sold at public sale at the discretion of the Board of Aldermen upon recommendation of the City Administrator. All Department Heads shall make reasonable efforts to locate the owners of the personal property in the possession of their department. Said public sale shall be called from time to time as may be necessary by the City Administrator upon authorization from the Board of Aldermen. All proceeds of said sale will go into the General Revenue Fund of the City.

All abandoned and unclaimed personal property in the possession of the St. Louis County Police Department/City of Fenton shall be disposed of by the Property Control Unit pursuant to rules and regulations of the St. Louis County Police Department. Any proceeds from such sale shall be given to the City of Fenton within thirty (30) days of the sale for deposit into the General Revenue Fund.

Notice. Said public sale held by the City of Fenton shall be held only after notice has been published at least once per week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of daily or weekly circulation. Said public sale shall be held at a public place designated by the City Administrator. Said notice shall include date, time and place of the public sale, but need not describe the property to be sold.

Reclamation. Individuals may reclaim personal property up to the time of sale by reasonable showing of ownership documentation to the City Administrator or the City Clerk.

Abandoned Automobiles Not Affected. Nothing in this Section shall in any way affect or conflict with those ordinances, if any, dealing with abandoned motor vehicles.

Firearms Not Affected. Nothing in this Section shall in any way affect or provide any authority to dispose of firearms or deadly and dangerous weapons and shall not in any way conflict with the provisions of Section 100.090.

Section 100.090 Disposition of Unclaimed, Abandoned or Confiscated Firearms and Dangerous and Deadly Weapons.

[R.O. 2006 §100.050; Ord. No. 601 §1, 8-16-1982; Ord. No. 1908 §1, 11-20-1995]

All weapons seized as evidence or that come into the possession of the St. Louis County Police Department/City of Fenton shall be reclaimed or disposed of by the lawful rules and regulations of the Property Control Unit of the St. Louis County Police Department.

Section 100.100 Approval of Industrial Development Authority Projects.

[R.O. 2006 §100.060; Ord. No. 621 §1, 12-20-1982]

The Board of Aldermen of the City of Fenton shall review all projects of the Industrial Development Authority of the City of Fenton (hereinafter "Fenton IDA"), after the Fenton IDA shall have conducted a public hearing thereon and recommended approval of the project to the Board.

Upon receiving the recommendation of the Fenton IDA, the Board shall at its next meeting take up the matter. The Board shall approve said projects by written resolution, but if any project be disapproved, then the disapproval shall be entered in the minutes.

Section 100.110 Scholarship Fund.

[R.O. 2006 §100.100; Ord. No. 1385 §§1—7, 5-21-1990; Ord. No. 1582 §1, 3-16-1992; Ord. No. 1838 §1, 3-21-1995; Ord. No. 2347 §1, 11-20-2000]

Individual scholarships are hereby authorized and approved and will be awarded annually in an amount to be determined by the Board of Aldermen, if money is available in the budget. This merit-based program encourages top-rated students to attend Missouri schools and is based on the State of Missouri's higher education academic scholarship program, "Bright Flight".

The number of scholarships to be awarded will be set annually by the Board of Aldermen.

The Board of Aldermen hereby declares its intention that these scholarships will be awarded annually to graduating high school seniors, and college undergraduates, who meet the scholarship qualifications and criteria then in effect with a maximum of four (4) scholarships awarded to each qualifying applicant.

The following qualifications are established for eligibility for the scholarships:

Criteria for graduating high school seniors:

The applicant shall be a graduating high school senior.

The applicant must maintain permanent resident status within the corporate City limits of Fenton at least one (1) year prior to the last day applications are accepted.

The applicant shall have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

The applicant must attend a Missouri college, university, junior college, or trade school as a full-time student and be enrolled for a minimum of twelve (12) credit hours.

Criteria for college undergraduates:

The applicant shall have successfully completed the equivalent of twenty-four (24) credit hours. Freshmen shall have completed twelve (12) credit hours and shall be currently enrolled for twelve (12) credit hours during the Spring semester. These credit hours shall be earned at an accredited university, college, junior college or trade school.

The applicant must maintain permanent resident status within the corporate City limits of Fenton for at least one (1) year prior to the last day applications are accepted.

The applicant shall have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

The applicant must attend a Missouri college, university, junior college, or trade school as an undergraduate for the succeeding school year.

During the period when the scholarship is in effect, the student shall maintain full-time scholastic status. Full-time status shall be the equivalent of twenty-four (24) credit hours annually earned at an accredited Missouri university, college, junior college or trade school.

The following procedures are established for awarding the scholarships:

Applicants will be asked to complete a scholarship application on forms provided by the City of Fenton.

Information provided by the applicant will be verified by the school the student is presently attending.

The applications, identified only by a code number, will then be sent to the Scholarship Committee as appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Aldermen.

The Scholarship Committee shall rank the applications by scores according to the criteria established by the Board of Aldermen.

On a date and time designated by the Board of Aldermen, scholarships shall be awarded to those students who have met the qualifications and criteria as established by this Section.

The following criteria are established and may be used for awarding the scholarships:

	High School Senior	College Student
1. Grade point average	40%	50%
2. ACT or SAT	20%	N/A
3. Student curriculum	20%	25%
4. Essay	10%	15%
5. Extracurricular activity/employment	10%	10%

All officers and employees of the City of Fenton are authorized and directed to do all things necessary to make the scholarship program a success.

Section 100.120 Insufficient Fund Check Fee.

[R.O. 2006 §100.105; Ord. No. 1858 §1, 5-16-1995]

The Finance Officer of the City of Fenton is authorized to collect a fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each insufficient fund check issued to the City of Fenton in addition to the face amount of the check.

Section 100.130 Non-Discrimination Policy — Grievance Procedure.

[R.O. 2006 §100.110; Ord. No. 1562 §1, 1-22-1992; Ord. No. 2092 §1, 9-15-1997]

Statement Of Non-discrimination Policy. The City of Fenton does not discriminate on the basis of handicapped status in the admission of or access to or employment in its municipal programs or activities.

Complaint/Grievance Procedures. Complaints alleging any action prohibited under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 must be filed within one hundred eighty (180) days of the alleged discrimination. In any case where the alleged violation of the Act or regulation is also an alleged violation of another law, regulation or agreement, nothing in this process shall preclude an individual or an organization from filing a complaint or grievance under such law or agreement with respect to the non-Section 504 case of action, as well as filing a complaint or grievance under Section 504.

Assistance in filing a complaint or grievance may be obtained by contacting the City Administrator at Fenton City Hall, 625 New Smizer Mill Road, 343-2080.

Steps To Be Taken.

The City Administrator shall investigate the complaint and make every effort to resolve the complaint on an informal basis. If this is not successful or the grievant is not satisfied with the results, then go to Step 2.

The grievant should contact the City Administrator to file a written complaint or grievance. Complaints and grievances will be investigated and a written determination will be forwarded to the grievant within five (5) working days of filing. This notification will include notice to the grievant of his/her right to request an impartial hearing with the Fenton Human Rights Commission and the City Attorney and an explanation of the hearing procedure. This notice will be mailed by "Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested". Informal resolution will be attempted. If a satisfactory resolution is not achieved through these efforts, go on to Step 3.

The grievant may request an impartial hearing by writing to the Human Rights Commission within four (4) working days of receipt of the written determination.

The formal grievance appeal shall contain the following information:

Name of the aggrieved party;

A statement of facts upon which the grievance is based;

The date on which the event first occurred;

The date of the submittal of the grievance in writing;

Such other information as the aggrieved party deems relevant; and

The remedy or relief which is requested.

The time for the hearing will be set. The parties to the grievance shall be notified of the hearing date at least five (5) working days before the hearing. The hearing will be conducted by the City Attorney within thirty (30) working days after the complaint is filed. The Hearing Officer shall provide the Human Rights Commission with a written decision within ten (10) working days after the date of the hearing.

The Mayor and Board of Aldermen will review the Hearing Officer's decision and the Mayor will forward that decision with its final written determination to the grievant and other interested parties within sixty (60) working days of the filing of the grievance. The decision will be mailed by "Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested". The grievant will also be advised of his/her right to file a request for review with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Division, 1222 Spruce Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2836, ATTN: Mr. Roy Pierce.