Board of Aldermen Meeting

CITY OF WILLARD BOARD OF ALDERMEN REGULAR MEETING January 22, 2024 6:00 p.m. Staff present: Interim City Administrator Donna Stewart, Project Engineer Steve Bodenhamer, Director of Finance Carolyn Halverson, Police Officer J.D. Landon, Public Works Director Justin Sorgen, Planning and Zoning Director Mike Rusch, Parks and Rec Director Jason Knight, and City Clerk Dona Slater City Attorney Holly Dodge was present. Citizens in attendance: Steve Cobb, Angie Wilson, and Larry Whitman. Call to Order Mayor Baird called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll Call The City Clerk conducted the Roll Call. Alderman Smith-present; Alderman Hall-present; Alderman Swatosh-present; Alderman Biellier-present; Alderman Lancaster-present; Alderman Keene-present; Mayor Baird-present. Agenda Amendments/Agenda Approval Alderman Lancaster requested removing agenda item #3a Minutes from the Regular Meeting January 8, 2024, from the Consent Agenda to make an amendment. Ms. Donna Stewart requested removing item #4 Current Outstanding invoices, draft and check paid invoices for December 2023/January 2024 and item #9 Presentation by Jennifer Henggler of the Army Corp of Engineers from the Agenda. Motion was made by Alderman Lancaster and seconded by Alderman Keene to approve the amended Agenda. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Smith, Biellier, Lancaster, Keene, Hall, and Swatosh. Consent Agenda Motion was made by Alderman Lancaster and seconded by Alderman Biellier to approve the amended Consent Agenda. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Biellier, Hall, Smith, Lancaster, Keene, and Swatosh. Approval of Amended Minutes from January 8, 2024 Motion was made by Alderman Keene and seconded by Alderman Smith to approve the Minutes as amended. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Smith, Keene, Biellier, Hall, Lancaster, and Swatosh. Mayoral Statement Mayor Baird said cameras are recording the meeting. The City will begin posting recordings in late January. He gave a shout out to Jason Knight, Director of Parks and Recreation for the time he has put in to get these recordings going. He said there was not a second read on the Ordinance for a sewer rate increase because there was a glitch in advertising for a public hearing and we need to re-new the notice before going forward. He announced the hiring of Mike Ruesch as Planning and Development Director. Mr. Ruesch said he is excited to be here. 01/22/2024 BOA Minutes Page 1 Citizen Input None. Presentation of $150.000 check from the Better Together Playground Committee to Willard Parks and Recreation Ray Nicholls, treasurer of the Better Together Playground Committee, presented a $150,000 check to Jason Knight for the playground and it will be more inclusive and accessible to all. Mr. Knight said he is excited to accept the check. He will be meeting with the excavators soon. Depending on the weather, the new playground should be ready by May. Presentation by Justin Sorgen, Public Works Director, on the status of the City of Willard’s water systems Mr. Sorgen said he was asked to put together a status of where we really are. He presented a written statement showing recommendations from the 2018 Water Master Plan. He said a quarter of the City’s water mains are at or above their life expectancy. The City is also short on water storage and is in need of either a new elevated tower or ground storage tank. Alderman Smith asked about getting water from Stockton Lake. Mr. Sorgen said it is surface water and Willard will need a water treatment facility for the raw water. He said most problems are from storage issues. Assign designated members to the Ozarks Transportation Organization (OTO) Technical Planning Committee. Discussion/Vote a. Mike Ruesch, Planning and Development Director b. Justin Sorgen, Public Works Director Ms. Stewart stated she feels these directors are the best for this committee. Motion was made by Alderman Smith and seconded by Alderman Lancaster to assign Mike Ruesch and Justin Sorgen to the Ozarks Transportation Organization (OTO) Technical Planning Committee. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Biellier, Lancaster, Swatosh, Keene, Hall, and Smith. Resolution adopting the change in the contribution amount required from covered employees to the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement Systems (LAGERS). Discussion/Vote Ms. Carolyn Halverson said the City currently has an L7 plan with LAGERS. Eligible employees are required to contribute four percent (4%) of their gross wages to the retirement system. If approved, this Resolution will change that contribution percentage to zero (0%). Motion was made by Alderman Biellier and seconded by Alderman Keene to approve the Resolution adopting the change in the contribution amount required from covered employees to the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement Systems (LAGERS) to zero percent (0%). Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Lancaster, Swatosh, Hall, Smith, Biellier, and Keene. Pool basin sandblasting and painting bid approval. Discussion/Vote Mr. Jason Knight said the City pool basin is due to be repainted. He advertised for bids and received three. He recommends Mongan Painting and Sandblasting as they came in with the lowest bid. Alderman Lancaster asked if he has gotten references on this company. Mr. Knight said he has. Alderman Swatosh asked if Mr. Knight could follow up with the companies that gave bids and find out why there is such a difference in the bid pricing. Mr. Knight said he will, but he is under a time crunch. Alderman Swatosh said he wants to qualify the bids and make sure they are on the same page before making a decision. He asked Mr. Knight to bring this back at the next Board of Aldermen meeting. Motion was made by Alderman Swatosh and seconded by Alderman Keene to postpone the pool basin sandblasting and painting bid approval until the February 12, 2024, Board of Aldermen meeting. 01/22/2024 BOA Minutes Page 2 Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Lancaster, Biellier, Hall, Smith, Keene, and Swatosh. Ordinance authorizing the Mayor to sign a contract/agreement with Blue Signal Recruiting services. (1st & 2nd Read) Discussion/Vote Ms. Stewart said the Board of Aldermen voted to use Blue Signal for professional recruiting services. City Attorney Ms. Holly Dodge said after reviewing the Ordinance it needs verbiage changes. She said the Board can still vote on the Ordinance with the changes. Motion was made by Alderman Smith and seconded by Alderman Hall to approve the verbiage changes to the Ordinance. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Keene, Swatosh, Hall, Smith, Lancaster, and Biellier. The City Clerk conducted the first read. Motion was made by Alderman Smith and seconded by Alderman Hall to approve the Ordinance authorizing the Mayor to sign a contract/agreement with Blue Signal Recruiting for professional recruitment services as amended. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Lancaster, Hall, Smith, Biellier, Swatosh, and Keene. The City Clerk conducted the second read. Motion was made by Alderman Smith and seconded by Alderman Hall to approve the Ordinance authorizing the Mayor to sign a contract/agreement with Blue Signal Recruiting for professional recruitment services as amended. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Smith, Biellier, Keene, Swatosh, Lancaster, and Hall. Alderman Hall left the room at 6:57 p.m. and returned at 7:01 p.m. Jackson Street Overlay Status Report Mr. Steve Bodenhamer said we have encountered an issue with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) regarding Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE). He said we will amend the work authorization with CJW, Inc. reflecting the new DBE and should be able to proceed with the project. Sanitary System Projects Status Report Mr. Steve Bodenhamer said Allgeier, Martin is continuing design work and material availability investigations. They have completed approximately forty percent (40%) of field surveying due to inclement weather. He is drafting policies to come in to Civil Rights compliance. We continue to pursue landowners in easement discussions. New Business. 1. Discussion regarding a needed upgrade to the City’s employee timekeeping system Ms. Stewart said she wants to let the Board of Aldermen know what is on the horizon. We are working on the costs of a new biometric timekeeping system. TimeForce is used for clocking in and out and was supposed to integrate with Tyler software for payroll but doesn’t. If we upgrade to the newest version of TimeForce software, it still will not integrate with Tyler. There will be a call with Tyler on February 6, 2024, for cost estimates. If we go with the Tyler timekeeping module, payroll will all be on one system and no longer require staff to do double entry. 2. Discussion of an upgrade needed for the Public Works data system Mr. Sorgen said new software would streamline the department’s processes since it will track nuisances, vicious animals and more. It will cost about ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to install and seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) per year. Unfinished Business. 1. Discussion of water and sewer rate study options 01/22/2024 BOA Minutes Page 3 Ms. Stewart presented pricing from Cochran and GettingGreatRates.com for water and sewer rate studies. She said she is still searching and may find less expensive options. Recess Open Session and enter Executive Session Motion was made by Alderman Keene and seconded by Alderman Biellier to recess the Open Session and enter the Executive Session. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Smith, Hall, Lancaster, Swatosh, Biellier, and Keene. The Open Session recessed at 7:40 p.m. The Executive Session Opened at 7:40 p.m. Close the Executive Session and Re-open the Open Session Motion was made by Alderman Lancaster and seconded by Alderman Biellier to close the Executive Session and Re-Open the Open Session. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Keene, Lancaster, Smith, Biellier, Hall, and Lancaster. The Executive Session closed at 8:01 p.m. The Open Session re-opened at 8:01 p.m. Adjourn Meeting Motion was made by Alderman Keene and seconded by Alderman Smith to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried with a vote of 6-0. Voting aye: Aldermen Hall, Lancaster, Biellier, Keene, Swatosh, and Smith. The meeting Adjourned at 8:01 p.m. __________________________ ____________________________ Dona Slater, City Clerk Sam Baird, Mayor 01/22/2024 BOA Minutes Page 4