The Rock Port Board of Aldermen met Wednesday, November 17, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Amy Thomas presiding. Board members present were Ron Deatz, Lisa Farmer, and Kelly Herron. Todd Stevens was present via phone. Also present were Utility Office Manager Terri McGuire, Chief of Police Shannon Sherwood, City Clerk Emily Schulte, Officer Derek Morriss, and outside plant employees Sam Lansdown and Brentlee Thomas. Visitors present included Jim Clodfelter, Jeff Arp, Scott Driskell, Jack Kelly, Mike Klosek Sr., Mike Klosek Jr., and Mike Klosek III.

The meeting agenda was approved, as well as the October 20 and 29, 2021, meeting minutes.

Jeff Arp – MIRMA Grant

Arp, the city’s MIRMA Loss Control Consultant, was in attendance to present Mayor Thomas with an award of $2,700 for a police department dash camera.

American Recycling Contract

Jack Kelly wanted to inform the city of plans to sell American Recycling & Sanitation to Klosek’s Trash Service, effective the first of December. Attorney Bauman rec-o-m-mends getting the agree-ment in writing and given verbal assurance tonight that the terms of the contract will not change. Kelly noted that the current rate has been in place for over 20 years and likely can’t be sustained much longer with increasing costs. The board agreed that rates would likely need to be raised at some point.

Board members voted unanimously to approve the re-assignment of the city’s solid waste disposal contract from American Recycling and Sanitation, Inc. to Klosek’s LLC Trash Service.

City Consent Agenda

Mayor Thomas wanted to note she was happy to see the items the Tourism and Park Boards are doing in their meeting minutes.

Board members approved the city financial statements, accounts payables, tax report, delinquent tax list, and all board and departmental reports.

Utility Consent Agenda

Board members approved the utility financial statements, accounts payables, purchased power and water statements, take or pay water use report, water loss reports, Utility Office Manager report and City Superintendent report.

Skyline Drive

Scott Driskell requested an update regarding Skyline Drive. He stated this has gone on too long and he’d like to get the issue resolved. He would like to see the city accept ownership of the road currently owned by MoDOT, given they replaced the guardrail. Driskell doesn’t believe there are engineering issues with the road or wall, other than the rail needing replaced. He also believes it to be a safety concern being closed.

Stevens stated he told Jarvis with MoDOT that the city hadn’t made any decisions yet, as they are going through some staffing changes. Schulte then displayed the MIRMA recommendation to close access to the road with the following considerations, written in August of 2020:

• There is another street for the residents to use in the event Skyline Drive was to be closed.

• The pavement at the bottom of the road needs to be repaired.

• The retaining wall rocks are falling and the wall needs to be inspected and repaired.

• The guardrail needs to be inspected and repaired.

• The entrances to Skyline Drive are too close to an adjacent intersection.

• The bank on both sides of the road should be inspected for stability and repairs completed, if necessary.

The engineering study the city commissioned for the road in 2020 was discussed. Schulte will obtain a copy of the study and send it out to the board for review prior to the next meeting. Stevens reiterated that the city has a cheap and easy solution in front of them at the moment; however, that isn’t always the right decision. The topic will be readdressed in December.

Chamber of Commerce/Tourism Board Collaboration

Jim Clodfelter was in at-tendance on behalf of the Rock Port Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber and the Tourism Board have similar goals and they would like to see the two groups collaborating more. Chamber meetings take place the first Wednesday of the month at 12:15 p.m. in the Bank Midwest meeting room. All are invited to attend.

Schulte let Clodfelter know the Tourism Board would like to invite the Chamber to their January meeting to discuss possible 2022 collaborations.

Policy 2-17:

Paid Medical Leave

Alderman Stevens indicated he believed there was conflicting information in the city’s Paid Medical Leave policy. McGuire handed out the current policy along with a suggested revision that wouldn’t change the policy, rather clean up confusing verbiage. Stevens then suggested an additional edit:

• Current policy: “There is no limit to the number of medical leave days accumulated.” “25% (180 hours maximum) of up to 90 days (720 hours maximum) will be paid to the employee upon termination or retirement.”

• Suggested revision: “There is no limit to the number of medical days accumulated.” “25% (180 hours maximum) of medical leave time accumulated will be paid to the employee upon termination or retirement.”

The suggested edits to 2-17: Paid Medical Leave were approved.

4th of July

Schulte submitted a proposed structure for a potential 4th of July committee. This was thought to be a way to involve both the city boards and community members in hopes of getting back to a more structured 4th of July celebration.

• Up to 12 members: two Park Board members, two Tourism Board members, two Board of Aldermen members, one City Hall official, one Cham-ber of Commerce official, two members of other city organizations or groups, and two community members

Board members approved implementation of a 4th of July Committee structured as presented.

Signature Card Updates

Board members approved updates to signature cards at Citizens Bank & Trust. Names on city bank accounts are: Amy Thomas, Todd Stevens, Shannon Sherwood, Emily Schulte, Terri McGuire, and Brenda Clemens. Trevor Hale was removed.

Board members approved updates to signature cards at Bank Midwest. Names on city bank accounts are: Amy Thomas, Todd Stevens, Emily Schulte, Terri McGuire, and Brenda Clemens. Trevor Hale was removed.

Chicken Ordinances

It was questioned what the ordinance stated in respect to chickens. There have been complaints of owners allowing them to run free, including in neighbor yards and on city roadways. Sherwood stated he would contact the owners.

Job Descriptions

The Superintendent and Field Supervisor openings have been posted and applications are being accepted. Farmer inquired what the hiring process was going to be moving forward. Deatz would like to keep the posting open a little longer, then board members should choose candidates they believe should be interviewed. Deatz stated that this isn’t a process that should be rushed, while Thomas expressed concern for waiting too long.

Brentlee informed the board that if they’re planning to put an applicant through lineman training, electric schooling only begins in January each year.

City, Utility, & Park Budgets

The Fire Department budget will be edited prior to the next meeting and the Park Board budget reflects a deficit of $14,741.72. They would appreciate feedback from the board. Stevens recommended leaving it as is. All other budget proposals look fine.

Tourism Board Appointments

Mayor Thomas proposed appointing  Raechel Schoonover and Kayti Hayes to the Rock Port Tourism Board. The appointments were approved.

Outside Plant Discussions

The city should be fine on snow removal, unless hit with massive accumulation. In that case, there are people the city could contact to assist. Deatz requested the emergency snow routes the board previously commissioned be posted. Sherwood stated that he and Hale never got around to creating routes, but stated he could sit down with Brentlee to discuss them.

Since the suspension of outside plant on-call, it was inquired what would happen in the case of an after-hours emergency, such as a house fire. Brentlee volunteered to have his number given to dispatch for those calls. It was then inquired if firemen who are linemen with other utilities would be covered under the city’s MIRMA coverage and could be given privileges to disconnect city service in these instances. An inquiry will be made to MIRMA.

There was confusion over the status of any aid agreements that might be in the works. The following chain of events was laid out:

• Thomas reached out to Atchison-Holt Electric Cooperative (AHEC) on Friday regarding a potential electrical aid agreement, as Hale declined the request to do so.

• Dechant (AHEC) scheduled a sit-down between the city and AHEC for the following Tuesday. Farmer and Thomas attended the meeting with AHEC on behalf of the city where copies of city electrical contracts were requested

• Chief Jones set up an arrangement for members of his department who are also linemen to pull electrical service in the event of a structure fire in city limits. (Chief Jones was later told by his firemen that they were no longer allowed to pull city electrical services, thus voiding the agreement he set up.)

• MPUA began contacting city offices, employees, and officials on Friday continuing through the next week. It was determined no city officials reached out to MPUA, so another entity must have done so on the city’s behalf.

• As negotiations are currently being made between the city, MPUA, and AHEC, arrangements been set up to contact Falls City for aid.

• It was reiterated that an agreement with AHEC would be beneficial for the city; however, proper processes will be followed. The city will proceed as MPUA recommends for the time being. The contracts submitted this evening should be sent to the city attorney and MIRMA for review.

Nuisance Tracker

Sherwood submitted a template he created to begin tracking nuisance complaints.

Skyline Drive Revisited

Deatz revisited the Skyline Drive discussion and inquired who would be working on this project prior to the next meeting. Herron voiced concerns over the conditions of the road and future maintenance. Stevens reiterated that coordination still needs to occur with MoDOT. The city needs to gather information to continue the discussion at the December meeting. He will come up with a list of items needing discussed. The maintenance agreement between Rock Port and MoDOT is also coming due and will need to be addressed.

Chief of Police

Sherwood has a contact for the old Leisman building and will send them a letter regarding the state of their building. He has also spoken to the family member of the owner of another Main Street building. They are in the process of hiring an attorney to assist in the legalities of placing the property for sale, as the owner is now deceased.

The department is working on several investigations.

Department Reports

Superintendent Brentlee Thomas – Brentlee reported completing a DNR report in Hale’s absence and preparing for an upcoming audit they were not aware of. Brentlee and Sam are working together with office staff to ensure everything gets taken care of.

Alderman Kelley Herron – Herron thanked Brentlee and Sam for stepping up during these absences and employee turnover.

Alderman Lisa Farmer – Farmer thanked the outside plant workers for stepping up as well.

Alderman Ron Deatz – Deatz also expressed his gratitude and offered to assist.

Alderman Todd Stevens – Stevens acknowledged that it is going to be bumpy for a while and encouraged office staff and the outside plant to put on a good face. In regard to interviews, the board needs to be sure they are vetting the right candidates and not rushing to hire, in order to limit issues down the road.

The Family Medical Leave Act, policy 2-18, should be addressed at the December meeting as questions have risen with an employee currently taking leave. It is protected leave, not paid leave. Sherwood stated having calls in to other cities which allow their employees to utilize their sick and vacation time if they have it. Most do have them file for FMLA if gone 10 days or longer. Stevens noted that the city’s policy is silent regarding that. He recommended tabling the conversation until the December meeting and requested McGuire gather information on the topic.

The meeting adjourned at 8:09 p.m.