With Coronavirus Pandemic, Ste. Genevieve Board Doesn’t Plan To Meet Again Until May

[Following the publication of this story, the board set a public hearing related to a planning and zoning matter for Thursday, March 26.]

Barring an emergency need, the Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen will not be meeting again until sometime in May.

The board voted at a special meeting last Thursday to suspend public meetings until May 1.

By city ordinance, the board is required to meet twice a month. During Thursday’s meeting, however, it passed an ordinance declaring a public emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic and suspending the meetings.

Special meetings, if needed, may be called with a 24-hour notice given.

The decision, while made by a unanimous 8-0 vote, was not made without some discussion.

“Mark [Bishop, city attorney] has done a lot of research on this,” city administrator Martin Toma said. “There are alternatives on holding meetings, both from the point of view of your personal presence and from the point of view of allowing citizens to attend.”