Council approves consent agenda, emergency fire‑truck purchase and ARPA transfer for police vehicles

The St. Joseph City Council on May 1 approved a consent agenda of routine and substantive items and adopted an emergency ordinance to amend the fire budget and purchase a replacement vehicle for the department.

Among consent agenda items read by the clerk were nominations to the Downtown Review Board, an ordinance to add certified private inspections to the rental property code, an ordinance to modify sewer service fees (listed at 4.25% on the agenda), lease agreements with Buchanan County for municipal court space, and multiple airport‑related contracts and grant applications to support terminal and electrical vault construction at Rosecrans Memorial Airport.

The council unanimously approved the consent agenda 8–0.

Later in the meeting the council considered Emergency Ordinance 44‑22, which authorizes an amendment to the fire department budget and the purchase of a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HGCC from Herb Canale Chevrolet for $66,461. The ordinance was read by the clerk and passed on a roll call recorded in the meeting (ayes recorded; adoption noted as passing 8–0).

Also read were a package of first readings and a notice that the city manager reported receiving a $2.5 million industrial site development grant (state economic development, state ARPA funds) to connect utilities at the East Town Business Park without a required additional local match. The clerk also read notice of an ordinance to transfer $2,484,000 from ARPA to the general fund police program to purchase 27 Chevy Tahoes and associated setup costs; that funding transfer was listed among first‑reading items and will require subsequent formal action as appropriate.

Clerk and staff listed vendors, contract amounts and grant sums during the reading of agenda items; council took formal recorded votes on the consent agenda and the emergency ordinance during the meeting.