The City of Tarkio Board of Aldermen met Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at City Hall in Tarkio. The Pledge of Allegiance was conducted at 6:00 p.m. Roll call was done by City Clerk Danielle Madron: aldermen Scott Walker, Blu Dow, Jeff Olson, and Jeff Agnew were all present. Visitors were: City of Tarkio employees – Police Chief Tyson Gibbons, Police Officer Tyler Dorrel, Animal Control/Park Superintendent Chris Niles, and Street Superintendent Jamie Quimby; Park Board President Ashlee Driskell; Atchison County Development Corporation (ACDC) Director Monica Bailey; Tarkio Board of Public Works Superintendent Curtis Hedrick; Tarkio Rodeo Board member Scott Morehouse; Atchison County Health Coalition representative Julie Livengood; Alliance Water Resources Division Manager Verlen Persinger; Atchison County Wholesale Water Commission legal counsel Padraic Corcoran; and Tarkio citizens Laura Gibbons, Darrell Wiley, Michael Klosek, Sr., and Lori Staten.

Mayor Mark Staten asked for the approval of the regular meeting minutes from February 14 and special meeting minutes from February 20, 21, and 27. Dow made a motion to approve the minutes as presented and the motion was seconded and approved.

Scott Morehouse spoke to the board about the possibility of moving the t-ball field to a different location. The Rodeo Board is willing to help with prepping the area for the new field, helping with putting up poles and the backdrop. Evergy will help with poles as well. It is suggested that the field be moved to the south end of the baseball field. The council will discuss this more at next month’s meeting after the park board has time to discuss the option.

Julie Livengood informed the board that the Atchison County Health Coalition has put together educational packets to inform people about the new smoking ordinance that was passed last month. These will be given out to businesses and be available for new businesses at City Hall.

Elections will be April 2, 2024. Candidates for the April 2 election are as follows: South Ward Alderman – Jeff Agnew; North Ward Alderman – Blu Dow and Brittany Vogler; and Mayor – Laura Gibbons and Darrell Wiley. There will also be a tax proposal on the ballot: Shall the City of Tarkio, Missouri, impose a sales tax of one-half cent for the purpose of paying the costs of purchasing a new fire truck and future improvements to city buildings and equipment?

Monica Bailey spoke to the board about the tax renewal that will be on the ballot this year. This tax is voted on every five years and has passed every time since it was first presented in 1998. ACDC helps with opportunities for kids in the community and also helps keep businesses in the community running, as well as bringing new businesses into the county.

Mayor Staten gave the first reading of Bill 312.24 Ordinance 298.24: An ordinance adopting an amended budget for the City of Tarkio’s fiscal year April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. Dow made a motion to approve Bill 312.24 Ordinance 298.24. The motion was seconded and approved.

Mayor Staten gave the second reading of Bill 312.24 Ordinance 298.24. Walker made a motion to approve Bill 312.24 Ordinance 298.24. The motion was seconded and approved. Bill 312.24 Ordinance 298.24 was adopted.

Mayor Staten gave the first reading of Bill 313.24 Ordinance 299.24: An ordinance adopting a budget for the City of Tarkio’s fiscal year April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025. Olson made a motion to approve Bill 313.24 Ordinance 299.24. The motion was seconded and approved.

Mayor Staten gave the second reading of Bill 313.24 Ordinance 299.24. Dow made a motion to approve Bill 313.24 Ordinance 299.24. The motion was seconded and approved. Bill 313.24 Ordinance 299.24 was adopted.

Verlon Persinger and Padrick Corcoran were present to answer any questions the council has concerning the proposal of Nodaway County #1 being brought into the Atchison County Wholesale Water Commission. They reported that the USDA has been sent everything that they asked for, including the water rate study, which has been completed. Walker made a motion authorizing the Atchison County Wholesale Water Commission to begin discussion and negotiations with Nodaway County #1. Olson seconded. Three ayes and one nay voted to approve the motion and the second. The motion passed.

Street Superintendent Quimby informed the board that he had spoken to Kloseks about how they wanted to proceed with Tarkio City-Wide Clean-Up this year. Kloseks informed Quimby that they did not want the city bringing the loads out to them. Other arrangements could be made, such as roll-off containers brought to town for people to place stuff in, that would later be picked up by Kloseks. Jeff Agnew and Jeff Olson are going to contact Kloseks and have further discussions before making a decision on the clean-up days.

The board was presented the applications for the two open positions: full-time street/park employee and part-time parks employee. The board made the decision to hold a special meeting on March 18, 2024, to review the applications with the department superintendents and park board members present.

Department Reports

Blu Dow, City Buildings – Travis Hicks has picked up the tiles for the City Hall ceiling and will be installing them in the next few weeks. Behrens contacted Dow and said they would get the tuckpoint agreement and the paperwork needed for the city sent in.

Jeff Agnew, Fire Department – There was nothing to report.

Jeff Olson, Parks & Pool – Chris Niles reported that welding on the gutter system at the pool is complete. There will be one more pressure test once all the plumbing is back together. Marker tiles are still being installed and work on the zero-entry is being done. Sandblasting is also complete. The project is running on schedule. The work to the crow’s nest at the baseball field is almost complete. Volunteers will be working through the weekend to get it completed before the high school home opener. The Park Board’s comedy night is March 30. Tickets are still available for this event.

Scott Walker, City Streets – Quimby’s Report:

• Liberty Utilities – Quimby has been in contact with Liberty Utilities about an area on S. 3rd Street that they had to cut to repair a gas leak. He wanted to know when they would be scheduling the repair of this area. They got back with him and thanked him for getting ahold of them because they didn’t have a policy for repairing street cuts in Tarkio, but did in other towns. They will be repairing this area in the same manner that anyone else repairs street cuts, with six inches of cement.

• Signage – The speed limit signs that were discussed at the last meeting have been installed on N. 7th Street.

• Rip Rap – The county has assisted the city once again by hauling away rip rap that was placed across from the pool. This was material from the big water leak on the highway and some areas where the city removed cement from other projects. The city is still working on getting rid of material from the rip rap pile south of the brush pile.

• Street Matting Project – Quimby will be putting the street matting project out for bid. It should be opened at the April City Council meeting. This year’s project will consist of finishing the street matting of Main Street.

•  Board of Public Works – A repair was done on N. 6th Street where the city assisted in hauling away cement.

• Lot at 3rd and Main – The crew has been working on smoothing this lot up where snow from Main Street had been piled this winter. When it is all smoothed up, the crew will sow grass seed and rake it in.

Curtis Hedrick, Tarkio Board of Public Works – There was a pressure line break on North 6th Street February 25. Repairs have been made and parts ordered to fix the lift station issues. The lead service line survey has been funded by grant monies in the amount of $369,000.00.

Mark Staten, Gould Peterson Municipal Airport – There was nothing to report.

Chris Niles, Animal Control – The two stray dogs that were at the dog pound were taken in by Paw Prints.

Tyson Gibbons, Police De-partment – The first of two Drug Take Back events this year will be held in April. The K-9 Golf Tournament date has been set for Saturday, July 27.

Danielle Madron, City Financials – There was nothing to report. Clerk Madron reminded the board she would be out of town next week for the Clerks conference.

Agnew made a motion to enter into executive session per Chapter 610.021 Section 3 Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting a particular employee, etc. The motion was seconded and approved.

Following discussion, the executive session was closed.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. There will be a special meeting on March 18, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. Next month’s regular meeting will be April 10, 2024, at 6:00 p.m.