City Council amends kratom ban, Phil Welch stadium upgrades and water facility project approved

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The St. Joseph City Council voted on a major ordinance that will ban the possession and distribution of several substances in the city.

The ordinance passed 7-1 after the council voted to remove "kratom" from the ordinance that included 7-OH and tianeptine before final approval.

The council removed kratom from the ordinance after several residents said during public comment that the substance had benefited them in their daily lives.

In addition, doctors spoke during public comment, urging the City Council not to include kratom in the ordinance.

St. Joseph resident Christine Ziemer said kratom helps save lives.

"People use it to treat addiction, and people use it to treat chronic pain. An addiction with much more harmful substances like heroin and opioids," she said. "To take that away from our St. Joe community, access to natural kratom, and some of the other isolated compounds that are admittedly much stronger, but with some people with chronic pain it might be what they need."

She added the overdoses with natural leaf kratom are extremely rare.

Dr. Robert Corder, a medical doctor at the Samaritan Counseling Center, said he believes kratom has a place in helping people, but many of the patients he sees are addicted to 7-hydroxymitragynine.

"I see about one patient a week now for about eight months, and there's no way they can get off that stuff," he said. "They have to either keep using it or they have to go to harder things like heroin or fentanyl, which is more dangerous."

Corder said leaf kratom is not dangerous, but he does have a few patients addicted to it.

The ordinance will prohibit the distribution or possession of hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) and tianeptine.

The city believes these substances should be banned until the state or federal government creates rules and regulations for them.

The council also voted on an ordinance that would change Order No. 1, and an amendment to the Park Sales Tax Fund with Mid-States School Equipment Co. to purchase and install new handrails at Phil Welch Stadium.

Following the recent installation of new stadium seating, the supporting infrastructure at Phil Welch must be updated to maintain safety and accessibility standards.

Jeff Aktins, St. Joseph Parks Director, said the handrails will make ease of access for people coming to the ball game.

"We got some people that just need a little help going up and down the stairs. It's good for all of us to hold a handrail when you're going up and down stairs, but we never had this luxury at the stadium before," he said.

The addition of the new handrails will enhance patron safety, improve accessibility throughout the seating areas and ensure compliance with applicable standards. The project would cost $49,737.000.

The handrails are scheduled to be installed this fall.

In addition, Council voted on an ordinance approving the execution of project phase 5, the acceptance of the electrical bid package with Garney Construction.

The project will replace the domestic blowers at the Water Protection Facility for $1,193,846.

The next City Council meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 17, in the council chambers at City Hall.