South Ward Alderman Kelley Herron, left, was sworn into office by City Clerk Emily Schulte, right, at the May 19 meeting.

The Rock Port Board of Aldermen met Wednesday, May 19, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Amy Thomas presiding. Board members present were Ron Deatz, Lisa Farmer, and Todd Stevens. Also present were Chief of Police Shannon Sherwood, Superintendent Trevor Hale, and City Clerk Emily Schulte. Visitors were Kelley Herron, Ethan Sickels, Tim Taylor, Park Board members Katey Kroeger, Sheena Roup, and Shauna Farmer, MIRMA Executive Director Matthew Brodersen, and City Attorney Emily Bauman.

Mayor Thomas called the meeting to order then led the meeting in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Clerk Schulte swore in newly elected official, South Ward Alderman Kelley Herron.

The meeting agenda was approved.

The aldermen also approved minutes of the April 21, 2021, meeting.

Ethan Sickels, Rock Port R-2 Superintendent revisited a discussion had with the board a few years ago involving the high school adding baseball and softball to their athletics. The support and funding have come together to do so and baseball will be offered next school year, potentially softball the following year. The Optimist Club and Park Board both support the introduction of these programs into the high school along with the utilization of the park baseball field. The school will work closely with Optimist Club to be sure soccer and t-ball are not affected. Any necessary field maintenance will be the responsibility of the school along with any utility costs associated with utilizing the field lights. Utilization and maintenance of bathrooms might need further discussion at some point.

Sickels wanted to confirm the city still gave the school their blessing to utilize the park for baseball and softball. All council members endorsed the Park Board’s allowing the school to utilize the field.

Tim Taylor is interested in putting rental property on lots he owns in town. He inquired about the interpretation of “mobile homes” and “double wide” within the city’s ordinances. Taylor was asked to come back next month to allow time for the city to gather more information.

Pool Update

Mayor Thomas allowed Alderman Stevens to give a portion of his report prior to the executive session while Kroeger, Roup, and Farmer were still present. During ACCO’s work to prepare the pool for opening, items of concern were reported. Seals and expansion joints near the gutters are once again problem areas. Options presented were: to excavate the crumbling grout and fill the pool as it is, or take it a step further and regrout. Stevens recommends moving forward with the regrouting. A local carpenter has agreed to assist the Park Board in this project given the materials are provided. Having lifeguards and pool managers assist in the excavation will ensure project cost savings. The materials recommended for the job are available for purchase online. Kroeger then mentioned pool staff being able to utilize city tools as opposed to purchasing new could also assist in cost savings.

Executive Session

The aldermen voted unanimously to adjourn into executive session at 6:14 p.m. for personnel matters pursuant to Section 610.021(3) RSMo.

The executive session adjourned and the regular session resumed at 7:24 p.m.

City staff were asked to rejoin the meeting. Mayor Thomas relayed advice given that minutes are not necessary in executive session unless there is a motion or a legal item being discussed. Clerk Schulte made note and will reach out to the city attorney with questions.

City Consent Agenda

The city financial statements, accounts payables, tax report, delinquent tax list, and all board and departmental reports were approved.

Utility Consent Agenda

The utility financial statements, accounts payables, purchased power and water statements, take or pay water use report, water loss reports, Utility Clerk report and City Superintendent report were approved.

Mayor’s Board Appointments & Board Liaison Appointments

The aldermen approved Mayor Thomas’ board appointment, department head liaisons, and confirm board liaison appointments.

Amy Alexander was appointed to the Tourism Board. Her term ends April 2024.

Department head liaisons (initial and secondary) are: Chief of Police – Mayor Thomas, Alderman Stevens; City Clerk – Alderman Farmer, Mayor Thomas; Superintendent – Alderman Deatz, Mayor Thomas; Utility Office Manager – Alderman Herron, Mayor Thomas.

Board liaisons are: Board of Adjustment – Alderwoman Farmer; Health Board – Alderman Deatz; Park Board – Alderman Stevens; Planning Commission – Alderman Deatz; Tourism Board – Alderman Herron.

There is one vacancy on the Board of Adjustment, and two each on the Planning Commission and Tourism Board.

Bank Signature Card Updates

Updates to signature cards at Citizens Bank & Trust were approved. They were as follows:

City bank accounts – Amy Thomas, Todd Stevens, Trevor Hale, Emily Schulte, Terri McGuire, Brenda Clemens and Shannon Sherwood. Chris Chamberlain was removed.

Park Board, City of Rock Port Swimming Pool, Park Board Walk/Bike Path & Pool Repair Fund bank accounts – Shauna Farmer, Jill Lager, Tisha Jackson, Amy Thomas, Todd Stevens, Trevor Hale, Emily Schulte, Terri McGuire and Brenda Clemens. Katey Kroeger and Chris Chamberlain were removed.

Changes to the Bank Midwest accounts were approved. Chris Chamberlain was removed from signature cards and Amy Thomas was added. Brenda Clemens, Terri McGuire, Emily Schulte, Todd Stevens, Amy Thomas, and Trevor Hale are to remain on the signature cards as authorized signers.

Dog Pound

Due to confusion regarding who office staff is to contact regarding animal-at-large calls, it was asked that a protocol be established. After discussion, it was the consensus that staff should call dispatch to contact the officer on duty. The Street Department will be contacted if the officer needs assistance with an aggressive animal or other situations requiring assistance.

The board would also like to review city ordinances regarding animals. Some items seem to be outdated and in need of updates. Clerk Schulte will email those to the board.

Park Management Agreement

The park management agreement was tabled until the June meeting, per Alderman Stevens’ request. The Park Board has not yet reviewed city revisions nor submitted comments. Schulte inquired if the current $500 per month payment from the Park Board to the city should remain in effect. Stevens recommended it be waived and be readdressed at the November meeting.

The aldermen voted to waive the $500 monthly park management agreement payment from the Park Board to the city and readdress the payments in November.

Skyline Drive Update

City Hall and Superintendent Hale have received calls from Matt Berry in Representative Sam Graves’ office. Hale gave Berry a detailed history regarding the MoDOT-owned portion of Skyline Drive dating back several years. Extensive amounts of time and effort have been contributed by city staff and officials working towards a resolution with MoDOT to get the road back to an acceptable condition, to no avail.

Farmer noted the amount of time the city has spent attempting to find a solution and Deatz inquired if the funds to fix the portion owned by MoDOT would have to come from the money set aside for new streets. Stevens asked if the city should open the road for the summer and revisit the situation later this year. Herron wondered if opening the road for summer just to close it again before winter wouldn’t start the process all over again. Superintendent Hale wanted to remind the board that the road was initially closed as it was deemed a liability by both MoDOT and MIRMA.

The aldermen voted to leave the road closed until brought to standard by MoDOT.

Chief of Police

Shannon Sherwood

Per advice from the city attorney, the city has the authority to install “No Parking” signs on both sides of Parkview Drive to assist with blind spots at the intersection.

The owner of the dilapidated building on Main Street was given until May 1 to contact Chief Sherwood, but nothing has been received at this point in time. Alderman Stevens recommended sending the owner a certified letter. Mayor Thomas noted also having received complaints of kids going into the old bank building, which has residents concerned due to the building’s current condition. Thomas then mentioned Regan Griffin with Restore Rock Port having more information he would like to present to the board. He was invited to get on the city agenda at any time.

Thomas also wanted to address concerns involving trucks traveling up Opp Street at high rates of speed shaking the inside of a resident’s home. Stevens inquired if we could look into leasing a speed trailer with a camera. Sherwood will look into some options.

City Clerk Emily Schulte

Schulte reminded the board of the ongoing logo competition put on by the Tourism Board. Accompanying this event, City Hall and the Tourism Board have started a youth portion of the contest and the city is picking honorary logos each week to represent the city until an official logo can be chosen. The youth winners are on display in the windows at City Hall for everyone to appreciate. The Tourism Board is also interested in assisting the city in acquiring a new website.

Schulte then inquired if any board members saw issues with her attempting to attend Missouri Municipal League’s annual conference in St. Louis later this year. No concerns were stated.

Superintendent

Trevor Hale

The intersection of Cass and Nebraska is still undergoing maintenance. The intersection was originally torn out to repair both the sewer system underneath as well as the street. Once open, more issues were found. The project will be completed once rain leaves the forecast. The next project will be over by the school, replacing Calhoun between Nebraska and Kansas. A new part-time employee has been hired.

Water loss is around 27%, as it typically creeps up every spring with increase in use. Mo Valley Ag’s service being replaced with a larger meter could potentially assist in the city’s metered losses.

The water tower painting project is approaching. Hale is considering pushing the work out a few weeks to accommodate the local ag businesses. The tower use is typically 75,000-85,000 gallons of water a day, 100,000 during the ag peak times. The city is also working to accommodate rural water to assist their services that might be affected during the tower down time. The tower will be off no longer than six weeks, but the contractors are hoping for a shorter out of service time for the tower.

Alderman Kelley Herron

Herron relayed receiving calls on behalf of Mo Valley Ag regarding a city employee not notifying them of the findings from their service calls. Hale was under the impression they had been notified, but he will inquire from his field supervisor. Hale believes they have a smaller service than what they probably should. Herron inquired if a larger meter would be an option and Hale believes it could be. An engineer would need to evaluate first.

Alderman Lisa Farmer

Farmer reported receiving several complaints regarding the abundance of stray cats in town. Ordinances regarding strays should be evaluated and revised as needed.

Alderman Todd Stevens

Stevens mentioned a citizen letting him know a staff member with Representative Sam Graves’ office would likely be contacting him regarding Skyline Drive. Northwest Missouri Industries has begun mowing the park grounds. The pool opening has hit a setback, as discussed earlier. There is a plan in place to get everything up and running, it will just take a little extra time. The school has held several meetings regarding baseball and the Park Board is aligned with the utilization of the field. They seem to have everything coordinated and the city shouldn’t need to get involved moving forward.

Once meetings start taking place for the water tower project, Stevens asked that he and Deatz be part of the planning discussions. Stevens then inquired if any sidewalk cost-share applications have been received lately. Hale confirmed that none had. The city-wide clean-up seems to have gone well. Next time they might consider running the street sweeper following the dumpsters being removed. Most properties on the south side of Charles Street have taken care of their embankments, but some might need a reminder from the police department. A property on Rainbow Drive has been gathering complaints regarding the amount of accumulating junk vehicles on the property. Sherwood will look into it.

The meeting adjourned at 8:44 p.m.