Property owners in Fayette will need to fill out mandatory forms declaring whether or not water lines have lead in them. The city must have all properties surveyed to submit to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources by October.

During last week’s regular city council meeting on Feb. 13, council members discussed possible incentives or penalties for property owners who do not comply.

Danny Dougherty, the city’s public works director, suggested council members hand out the forms to customers in their wards to save the cost of mailing out the more than 1,100 forms.

The council will probably decide how to distribute the forms and penalize those who don’t comply in a future meeting.

The council also decided again to hold a public meeting to discuss downtown parking. The time and place of this meeting have yet to be determined. Mayor Jeremy Dawson suggested the council wait until after the April 2 election to vote on any proposed changes to allow the new council and new mayor to make those decisions.

The council did decide to hold a public hearing at the start of its March 12 meeting for the purpose of declaring the historic downtown square a local historic district.

If approved, property owners within the district could be eligible for tax incentives to improve their properties if work done complies with historic codes. However, it will not be mandatory to follow historic codes.

The meeting will occur at 6 p.m. on March 12 in City Hall. At the same time, the city will hold a public hearing to discuss and approve adopting new city codes.

The council also gave unanimous approval to ban dogs on Lembke Field, which is a multi-use ball field at the Fayette City Park. Someone has been reserving the field to train dogs in the outfield. Until the ban, teams that regularly used the field for practice were forced to contend with dog waste in the outfield and structure practices around the dog training.

The council also discussed making an unused tract of city land on Elm Street into a dog park. No motion was made, but the council could revisit the idea at future meetings.

In other business, the council approved a bid by Signature Overhead Doors & Remodeling, LLC, to partly remodel City Hall. The cost of the work is $13,861.13. The Board of Aldermen also gave unanimous approval to a new business license for Methodz Barber Shop, which is currently located in the Keller Building.

The council also agreed to pass on the increased costs of employee health insurance to the employees. The motion passed 5-0, with Alderwoman Stephanie Ford abstaining. 

The Board of Aldermen meets regularly at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month in City Hall. Meetings are open, agendas are published in advance, and the public is invited.