(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) -- St. Joseph's city council was in a frugal mood on Monday.

During their regular meeting, council members voted down two separate spending proposals.

The first was a signage design study for $50,000 with Buchanan County pledging to match it with another $50,000.

The other was a Public Works Department study on Biogas collection that would have cost more than $176,000.

For most of the council members, the two projects was too much money for an uncertain return.

"Half the time we spend money on design, we don't get our money's worth," said council member Spanky O'Dell. "I don't think we have to have a design company come in and tell us where to put signs up. I don't think we need a design company to come in and tell us how to move a pipeline from a methane burner. There's a lot of things we need to start doing either in-house or doing it through contractors or bids."

One spending item the council did agree on was to continue with plans on a new joint project with Missouri Western State University on a new combined fire station and campus police station facility.

The council unanimously approved spending $275,000 from its Capital Improvement budget.