OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Personnel and Administration Committee Meeting - July 24, 2026

Board of Aldermen Committees — Friday, July 24, 2026
BodySt Louis, Missouri
SessionBoard of Aldermen Committees
DateFriday, July 24, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 28:47

Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

Great.

0:05

I would like to call to order the meeting of the personnel and administration committee for Thursday, July 23rd, 2026 at 11 a.m.

0:14

Uh Madam, it is Madam Clerk today.

0:17

Yes.

0:17

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

0:19

Vice Chair Call.

0:24

Aldo Woman Clark Hubbard.

0:27

Here.

0:28

Altamet Aldrich.

0:34

Aldaman Devotee.

0:36

Here.

0:38

President Green present.

0:41

Vice Chair Call.

0:44

Alda Woman Boy.

0:46

Aldama Aldrich.

0:50

Present.

0:51

Present present present.

0:55

Yeah, we can hear you now.

1:01

Corin being present, I will entertain a motion on the approval of minutes from Thursday, July 9th, 2026.

1:09

So moved.

1:11

Second.

1:12

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

1:14

My chair call.

1:16

Aldo Woman Boy.

1:17

Aldo Woman Clark Hubbard.

1:23

Aye.

1:26

Adamant Aldridge.

1:27

I don't know.

1:32

President Green.

1:34

Aye.

1:34

Or I vote.

1:37

By your vote, you sustain the motion.

1:39

With that, we have no board bills or resolutions for review, but we will go down to committee discussions.

1:45

First, I'd like to take up discussion item number three, because that does not need to be done in closed session.

2:01

If I could turn it over to her.

2:04

Thank you, Madam President, members of the committee.

2:07

As you may remember a number of months ago, you approved funding for renovations in 232 and 234 at the board, including remediation removal of the asbestos that was found in testing of the carpeting and the offices that do not include where the legislative assistants sit, but where one of our secretaries and some of the aldermen have offices.

2:31

During the course of a walkthrough, and um we hosted all of the contractors who are going to be doing the work.

2:45

Most of that cost coming from the fact that a new subfloor needed to be put down, which was around $6,000, but the total of that would be around $8,000.

3:01

Because as you know, we do have an extremely tight budget for fiscal year 2027.

3:17

And I had do have Kevin who's been working with me on the project from facilities here to kind of explain in greater detail the issues that were identified.

3:25

But I I did ask either facilities or the contractor to absorb the additional cost since it was our understanding in the committee's approval that the asbestos would be remediated and what's being recommended now is that it be sealed.

3:46

They indicated that they do think the option to seal the uh stuff that is not able to be remediated is safe enough, but it's basically kicking the can down the lane in terms of the fact that it won't be removed, which is what we've done in projects here in the past is is do a full removal.

4:06

Um so I think I'm happy to take questions now or pass it over to Kevin from facilities to explain, I think better than I can in greater detail, sort of where we are and how we got here.

4:16

Why don't we go ahead and pass it over to Kevin?

4:19

Um if you want to give us a little bit more detail detail.

4:24

Yeah, sure.

4:25

Thank you for having me.

4:26

Um the problem that we encountered was that when we had our site visit, the carpet layer and the uh abatement contractor kind of discovered that the substance that they use to remove the asbestos could potentially cause a problem with the backing of the carpet.

4:47

So another layer is needed between them to separate them.

4:51

It's not um it's it's really when we say encapsulation.

5:00

It's not um it's it's real when we say encapsulation, I think I think it's I think it's probably my fault a little bit for uh not explaining it or using words that I'm assuming everybody understands and maybe that and that's probably my fault.

5:13

Um but to make a long story short, we needed to just add a layer between the oil-based uh solvent that they're using to remove the asbestos so that it does not have a uh negative chemical reaction with the backing of the carpet um and cause it to kind of roll up on its corners.

5:38

Um the the process by which we're we're going to remove the asbestos is the same process that we use majority of the time throughout throughout City Hall.

5:49

Um, and it is perfectly safe.

5:52

Um, building like this, we always kind of assume that there's you know, asbestos pretty much everywhere.

6:03

If I mean not everywhere, but you know, there's there's gonna be asbestos on most jobs.

6:08

Um still don't know if I did a great job of explaining it, but uh so we have we so Rick Ernst, the commissioner of facilities did uh say that we would find a way to pay for it uh since your uh budget was from 26.

6:28

Um trying to think if I mean I don't know if I can explain much more.

6:35

If you have questions, I can definitely answer them.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████████████58%
Budget██████████████████23%
Procedural███████████████19%
Summary of Proceedings

Personnel and Administration Committee Meeting - July 24, 2026

The Personnel and Administration Committee met on July 24, 2026 (the transcript indicates July 23, 2026, but this summary follows the provided meeting date). The committee approved the previous meeting minutes, debated options for asbestos remediation in rooms 232 and 234, voted to use a cost-saving encapsulation method, and moved into closed session to discuss personnel matters.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes from the July 9, 2026 meeting unanimously.

Discussion Items

  • Asbestos Remediation in Rooms 232 and 234: The committee considered two approaches for addressing asbestos found in tile under the carpet during renovations. Director Ingrasia and Kevin from facilities explained that under the original plan, a chemical used for asbestos removal could react negatively with the new carpet backing. Two options were presented: (1) remove the subfloor and tile entirely (full remediation) at an estimated total cost of nearly $9,500, or (2) remove the asbestos via standard methods and add an encapsulation layer between the solvent and carpet backing at a cost of approximately $2,200, which the facilities department offered to cover. Kevin assured that both methods would reduce asbestos to levels well below EPA limits and posed no health risk. Alderman Devotee and Alderwoman Boyd sought clarification, and eventually the committee favored the cost-saving encapsulation approach.

Key Outcomes

  • Vote on Asbestos Remediation: The committee voted unanimously (5 ayes: Vice Chair Collin, Alderwoman Boyd, Alderwoman Clark Hubbard, Alderman Devotee, President Green) to accept the encapsulation method as offered by facilities, saving about $8,000 compared to full subfloor removal.
  • Closed Session: The committee voted to move into closed session under Section 610.021(3) RSMo to discuss hiring, firing, disciplining, or promoting board employees. The meeting then adjourned from closed session.

Meeting Transcript

Great. I would like to call to order the meeting of the personnel and administration committee for Thursday, July 23rd, 2026 at 11 a.m. Uh Madam, it is Madam Clerk today. Yes. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Vice Chair Call. Aldo Woman Clark Hubbard. Here. Altamet Aldrich. Aldaman Devotee. Here. President Green present. Vice Chair Call. Alda Woman Boy. Aldama Aldrich. Present. Present present present. Yeah, we can hear you now. Corin being present, I will entertain a motion on the approval of minutes from Thursday, July 9th, 2026. So moved. Second. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. My chair call. Aldo Woman Boy. Aldo Woman Clark Hubbard. Aye. Adamant Aldridge. I don't know. President Green. Aye. Or I vote. By your vote, you sustain the motion. With that, we have no board bills or resolutions for review, but we will go down to committee discussions. First, I'd like to take up discussion item number three, because that does not need to be done in closed session. If I could turn it over to her. Thank you, Madam President, members of the committee. As you may remember a number of months ago, you approved funding for renovations in 232 and 234 at the board, including remediation removal of the asbestos that was found in testing of the carpeting and the offices that do not include where the legislative assistants sit, but where one of our secretaries and some of the aldermen have offices. During the course of a walkthrough, and um we hosted all of the contractors who are going to be doing the work. Most of that cost coming from the fact that a new subfloor needed to be put down, which was around $6,000, but the total of that would be around $8,000. Because as you know, we do have an extremely tight budget for fiscal year 2027. And I had do have Kevin who's been working with me on the project from facilities here to kind of explain in greater detail the issues that were identified. But I I did ask either facilities or the contractor to absorb the additional cost since it was our understanding in the committee's approval that the asbestos would be remediated and what's being recommended now is that it be sealed. They indicated that they do think the option to seal the uh stuff that is not able to be remediated is safe enough, but it's basically kicking the can down the lane in terms of the fact that it won't be removed, which is what we've done in projects here in the past is is do a full removal. Um so I think I'm happy to take questions now or pass it over to Kevin from facilities to explain, I think better than I can in greater detail, sort of where we are and how we got here. Why don't we go ahead and pass it over to Kevin? Um if you want to give us a little bit more detail detail. Yeah, sure. Thank you for having me. Um the problem that we encountered was that when we had our site visit, the carpet layer and the uh abatement contractor kind of discovered that the substance that they use to remove the asbestos could potentially cause a problem with the backing of the carpet. So another layer is needed between them to separate them.

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