Ste. Genevieve proposal would adapt to new ruling, upgrade police station

STE. GENEVIEVE, MO (KFVS) - The City of Ste. Genevieve recently discussed updating their police station and city hall building in their last city council meeting.

Ste. Genevieve City Administrator Martin Toma said they addressed the need for an upgrade to the police station as it does not meet Missouri Supreme Court standards.

"Certain standards for all municipalities that were designed to remedy what they saw as some of the problems in the communities in North St. Louis County," Toma said. "We smaller communities, more rural communities didn't have those problems. Nevertheless, this universal rule applied to all of us."

Toma said they have to make changes to comply with their ruling.

"The record keeping for the police department and the courts cannot be intermingled," Toma explained. "So we have to separate both the office of the court clerk from the police station and the record keeping and our records are already kept separately."

Toma feels they need roughly $120,000 for this proposed project.

Toma also stated it would be more efficient for the officers if they updated their station since it has not been upgraded in a long time and they are needing more space.

"There is just all these things we do there (police station) that weren't done back then," Toma said. "The police chief and his staff came up with the proposal that would address the court problem. Also, remodel the police station. Improving the work environment for the police force is a desirable thing to do. It's really not a question if we should. It's a matter of degree."

They also talked about the need for a minor upgrade project for the city hall side of the building as well.

"The insurance company has identified that as something that we should change. The proposal was to put a foyer as you walk in the door with plexiglass separation so people could exchange their money through a slot. That would improve security."

As for now, Toma said they don't have this project in the budget but said they do have an option for the board to approve some other money that they have set aside for capital improvements that's not currently being used.

"We have some capital reserves that could be spent," Toma said. "While they are our reserves, it's up to the board of alderman to decide the most efficient use of our resources."

Toma said because of the recent Supreme Court ruling, they are making sure they start talking about this project and work towards getting everything up to the new standards.

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