Public Works Reports, the City Supervisor had stated that the Public Works Superintendent had resigned, and that it would be discussed later in new business about how a replacement would be handled. He continued to comment public works employee Tyler Whyte stating working alone he has completed the work of two employees and was averaging replacing up to 20 water meters a week. Budget Committee report it was discussed when the next meeting could be held, the decided time being March 16th at 8pm. Treasurers Report, Treasurer Miriam Gebhardt requested that the city take precaution when spending from PNI as the SEMA grant money had been placed in it and would only be eligible to be used for it’s attached projects. Streets and sidewalks report revolved around the vandalism done at the entrance of Stump island and how best address the issue, it was stated that Jr Schmidt was able to patch it and the entrance was reopened. No one was present to give the Senior Center Report, or Parks and Recs. It was during the this time that Charlie Polson made a public statement that he wished the park board had made consideration to discuss with citizen input before installing the new disc golf course, as part of it now cuts through the middle of the nature trail residing in Kuemmel Park. On library report member Ellen Dalzelle stated they were still seeking bids for the AC upstairs, and the butterfly garden had been decorated for Valentines Day. Marilyn Monnig representing the Glasgow Housing Authority, she notified the board another street light had gone out but the last one had been replaced within a day of her speaking with public works. She again requested that she get police reports from the city police. Chief Polson stating he cannot give death reports as that is HIPAA, and that the other call they had received was a child service called which the city could not release. Mrs. Monnig then stated “Just say that you were called to apartment something so that I can put in their report and then if something happens I can wonder I can ask them what happened and if it continues to happen in that apartment we’re gonna get rid of them you know we don’t want those kind of people if they are gonna be troublemakers.” She then stated that there have been excessive speeds going down Saline Street in front of the Housing Authority and asked if something could be done with it and if anything had been done with the berm on hwy 5 located above them, the supervisor responded that he had been communication with the engineer and would be getting info back. She also inquired if the city recorded when their board members are appointed and that she had called several times but that “nobody knows if they have them or where to look for them.” Clerk Yung replied that she had made a comprehensive list of all appointed board members from when she began her position. A new appointment was then made to their board, roll vote passed. No Planning and Zoning report was given as Alderman Gibbs stated they did not have enough members present to have an effect quorum. A Quorum is a majority vote needed for effective action during a meeting or procession.
New Business, St Mary sidewalk. Leon Fuemmeler requested that the city give an additional $300 to the $2700 they had approved several years back but he could not completed due to health but can complete the sidewalk now. They went over specifics of how it should be constructed and whether ADA requirements would be met. A roll call vote passed.
A Gworks consultant Pat Crislip was hired to come in and repair compounding damage done to errors made by previous city employees made over a period of time of high turnover rate of employment. He has been in constant contact with the auditor and by the next day it should be near completion and the next council a financial clean bill of health.Gworks simplecity is the software backbone of the city municipal services, it does everything from water billing to paychecks for city employees as well as the city fiscal financial budget.
They moved on to Flo Emmerich with a review of the city financial, it was discussed that she would be doing a once over of the city financial information for errors. the supervisor stated that he wanted to bring her information before the city council, and that she would take no more than two days and would be a good follow up to the Gworks consultant. Alderman Gibbs made a motion to hire Flo Emmerich party time at a rate of $20 and hour, roll call vote succeeded.
Shelly Howell was next on the docket, requesting that the city enter in to a contract with her in extending the city taxes. Without a contract she would be legally liable and is requesting that she receives one percent of the amount. She previously had not be compensated for her services but continuing to do so would open her to being sued and other legal recourse. An ordinance is scheduled to discussed at the February 28th Special Session at 4 PM. Her office had already been doing this, but due to a recent change in state law from a court case she would no longer be protected legally under the counties umbrella.
Treasurer Miriam Gebhardt Letter to the council, she asked if they had any questions about the letter they had in their packets. They did not. Not entirely sure what this was supposed to imply, I am seeking to get a copy of the letter she had sent to the aldermen that she wanted to discuss to illuminate this item.
Alderman Gibbs requested that the pay ordinance be moved to a closed session item, a motion was made and roll call passed. They moved on to bids for the gutters on the senior center, supervisor Snider informed them that the only bid was received from Apple Construction and Roofing LLC for $5800, they are located in Sedalia Missouri. Arthur Westhues motioned to accept the bid, roll call passes. This has been approved by previous councils but they did not receive any viable bids at the time so it was tabled,
Shoring equipment was discussed, now former Public Works Superintendent Norman Newton requested the city purchase new shoring equipment for safety requirements, Alderman Gibbs stated he would get some information to the City Supervisor for them.
ONN Master Service agreement. An overarching agreement with ONN Engineering for one year in the design of the movement of the facilities at Bear Creek and industrial drive and working the DNS report and other requirements. Roll call vote succeeded to pursue signing. This is the engineering company that was contracted with doing the preliminary and active engineering reports for the 2021 FEMA/SEMA flood damage to the bridges at Schnell Rd and at Industrial Dr.
Next New Business item was Gworks HRHub. Clerk Yung stated that at the January 2022 regular session meeting they had voted to preorder the program at the amount of $2755 but it would actually require an additional $2000 as the original preorder did not have a sufficient number of employee slots in which to manage with the Hub, with each block of slots costing more. They city has not been currently billed as it was only decided to preorder the item, and has been urged to wait for the system to mature more before transitioning. It’s speculated that it would take up to 6 months to implement.
Reordering of the Agenda, supervisor Snider stated he had already contacted MML about the legality and requirements to change the order of meeting agendas and was directed it’s up the cities own governing body to determine. He proposed to set a trial run of setting New Business directly after Old Business putting it before board report then creating a spot to allow a second public comment and questioning segment. MML is the Missouri Municipal League, an invaluable source for MO municipal laws and regulations. This is a good addition as it streamlines the meeting to allow people there with actionable (vote-able) items are doing in a speedy manner to not force them to sit through mundane items with the cities various boards. And the addition of a second public section in which to actively engage with questions from items is good for city as it allows direct communication between the citizens and council within the same meeting.
Hiring of public works employees. Supervisor Snider requested authorization in which to post recently opened public works employment positions in an ad. And in lieu of this until then we begin cross-training existing employees. It was also noted that right now our city is reliant on the DNR required licenses in which to stay in compliance and that more employees should seek these as to avoid a scenario in which we are left in violation. Alderman Westhues noted to speak with existing employees in crafting this. Roll Call vote passes. MO DNR requires that any city have a Class C Drinking Water license, a Distribution 1 license, and a Wastewater D license as well as backups among employees to allow for any emergency situations.
Building inspector, the city is seeking to move the position of building inspector to a standalone paid position in which to alleviate the amount placed on Chief Polson. It was discussed it would require specific knowledge sets and would be beneficial for all the new industrial construction done and is already a house inspector to help streamline permitting. They are seeking to have this done by first of March and are putting the contract ordinance on the February 28th special session.
Discussion of the Riverfront Restoration, this had already been discussed earlier in the financial report, treasurer Gebhardt did explain the history of fund and how it originated and how it was being removed. Roll Call vote to remove the fun from city financial statements was approved.
They finally moved to Supervisor and Alder-person reports, starting with Supervisor Snider. The bid process for the bridges continues as did working on easements. There was some mixed information about whether the site could continue as it did not meet FEMA 100 year plan but it was decided that the project could continue as planned as submerging the bridge should not undermine it’s structural integrity. The project does have a deadline of May 1st 2024 so an extension will be filed. The bids for this project will be opened and decided upon at the February 28th special session at 4PM. FEMA has guidelines to mitigate damages to infrastructure based upon existing historical data, in this case their data shows in which to mitigate damages from a once in a hundred year event it would need to be raised five feet. This isn’t required at the time though as the way the bridge is being designed and built if it is fully submerged by water it will remain intact.
He also talked about the temporary occupancy of Bearcreek and moving utilities to the other side of the street and also stated that we would need to look at replacing the pump and lift stations as the current are not working at one hundred percent, they discussed the specifics on design. A roll call vote was made to purchase a pump for $10000, vote passed.
Alderman Gibbs then noted the sidewalks on first street by the KofC hall were in disrepair and would need to addressed on what needed to be replaced. Alderman Westhues made comments about the condition of several homes in Glasgow and about city action in the future, Gibbs responded saying that kind of action is generally hard, Snider responded the specifics for it to even be legally viable for it as well as alderman Monnig. The city has in the past pursued to penalize negligent and abandoned houses in town, and it is a legally perilous positions and quite a few requirements must be met, even then it would require going to court and this adds legal fees on top of the manhours employees have already spent leading to the process being very costly for little to no return. Motion was made to go to closed session concluding the open session.
End of Feb 13th Report.