Hazelwood City Council Approves Surcharge On Court Costs

If you have to attend court in and you know you’ll be found guilty, be prepared to pay an additional $2 surcharge on court costs.

At its meeting Wednesday, Hazelwood City Council approved ordinance 4132-11, which amended chapter 140 of the Hazelwood City Code to add a surcharge on municipal ordinance violations.

The council approved the first reading the ordinance at its Feb. 2 meeting. The ordinance raise the court fees from $24.50 to $26.50. This court cost would be attached to any fines the court orders.

City attorney Kevin O'Keefe said the extra $2 will go into Hazelwood’s Inmate Security Fund in order to update and maintain its Biometric Verification System, a system that takes a scan of a person's fingerprints, then stores the digitized prints on a computer program.

The Hazelwood Police Department currently has one scanner. Annual maintenance of the scanner costs about $12,000.

The State of Missouri is allowing cities to adopt a similar surcharge and to use the biometric system. Scanner prints can be used in criminal investigations and to track jail inmates. Any leftover money could be used for its maintenance and expenses for the custody and housing of the prisoners.

Hazelwood City Council also honored three employees for their years of service. Police Chief Carl Wolf has been with the for 25 years. Mayor Matthew Robinson honored him for his years of service and thanked him for his commitment.

“We thank Carl for his years of service,” said Mayor Robinson. "I've been on city council for 15 years and it's been a pleasure working with Carl, especially with all of  his resources and contacts in the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

"The projects that he brings back to the City of Hazelwood help residents everyday live in peace."

Hazelwood Police Lt. Michael Brady was also honored for 25 years of services, along with Gerard Hagedorn,who has been with the as a firefighter and paramedic for 10 years.

In other news Hazelwood City Council:

• heard introductory reading of a Bill 4223, a proposal to remove two fire hydrants and install one fire hydrants on McDonnell Boulevard. The hydrants will be removed from the north side and replaced by a hydrant on a larger 20 inch line on the south side of the street adding more water pressure and flow when needed to battle a blaze.

• adopted a park planning grant resolution. It is part of a planning grant application for the Municipal Park Grant Commission. It would be used for the development of a site improvement master plan for the Sports Complex. The planning grant would be an 80/20 match with a maximum of $5,000 in grant funds available.

• adopted a reconstruction resolution for Fee Fee Road. The resolution was approval of an application for the Missouri Department of Transportation's Transportation Improvement Program. The application is for the one of MoDOT's Sub Allocated Programs--a surface allocation program that utilizes transportation funds and is typically funded on an 80/20 match basis.