Board of Aldermen Meeting

MEETING MINUTES CITY OF WILLARD BOARD OF ALDERMEN REGULAR MEETING September 23, 2024 6:00 P.M. Staff Present: Director of Planning & Zoning Commission - Mike Ruesch, Parks Director - Jason Knight, Project Manager - Steven Bodenhamer, Interim Public Works Director - Trevor Hoffman, City Clerk – Janice Gargus Citizen’s Present: Sam Baird, Steve Cobb, Larry Whitman, Angie Wilson, Terry Kathcart The tentative agenda of this meeting includes: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance. Call the meeting to order. Mayor Smith called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and asked the City Clerk to conduct the Roll Call. 1. Roll Call The City Clerk conducted the Roll Call. Present: Mayor Troy Smith, Alderman Casey Biellier, Alderman Jeremy Hill, Alderman David Keene, Alderman Joyce Lancaster Not Present: Alderman Scott Swatosh, Alderman Carol Wilson 2. Agenda Amendments/Approval of Agenda 3. Consent Agenda: “A Consent Agenda allows the Board of Aldermen to consider and approve routine items of business without discussion. Any member of the Board of Aldermen, the City Staff or the Public may request removal of any item from the Consent Agenda and request that it be considered under the Regular Agenda if discussion or debate of the item is desired. Items not removed from the Consent Agenda will stand approved upon motion by any Board member, second and unanimous vote to “approve the Consent Agenda as published or modified.” a. Minutes from the Regular Meeting September 9, 2024 b. August Financial Summaries c. August Financial Statements 09/23/2024 BOA Meeting Agenda Page 1  d. August/September Outstanding Invoices, Checks and Draft Paid Invoices e. August Utility Adjustments Report Motion was made by Alderman Keene and seconded by Alderman Biellier to approve the Agenda, Consent Agenda, and the Minutes from the Regular Meeting on September 9, 2024, as presented. Motion carried with a 4-0 vote. Voting aye: Aldermen Biellier, Hill, Keene, Lancaster. 4. Current Outstanding Invoices, Draft & Check Paid Invoices for August/September 2024 Motion was made by Alderman Biellier and seconded by Alderman Lancaster to approve the Current Outstanding Invoices, Draft & Check Paid Invoices for August/September 2024 as presented. Motion carried with a 4-0 vote. Voting aye: Aldermen Biellier, Hill, Keene, Lancaster. 5. Citizen Input None 6. Request to Declare the Current Parks Department Bus as Surplus Parks Director Jason Knight said he would like to sell the bus since we are getting a new bus. The cost of approximately $4,700 to make repairs to the current bus is not feasible. Motion was made by Alderman Lancaster and seconded by Alderman Biellier to Declare the Current Parks Department Bus as Surplus. Motion carried with a 4-0 vote. Voting aye: Aldermen Biellier, Hill, Keene, Lancaster. 7. Presentation and Explanation by Carl Brown from GettingGreatRates.com of the Cost Increase Analysis of the Water & Sewer Rates for the City of Willard, MO Carl Brown gave a background of who he is and the basics of his business and the details of how he performed the rate analysis for the City of Willard and arrived at his proposal. He said there is a lot to performing a rate analysis and some of that includes consideration of the cost to serve basis and peak control capacities of different rate meters. Mr. Brown has calculated a minimum base charge for in-town rates and out-of-town rates. Mr. Brown discussed the importance of the need for capital improvements; the cost to the City of Willard for wastewater treatment due to rising costs anticipated by the City of Springfield; the cost of competitive staff wages; and inflation. Mr. Brown proceeded at this point to explain the templates he used and to go over the tables included in his rate study and explained what they represent and the in-town rates vs. the out-of-town rates. There were questions asked by Mayor Smith and the Board of Aldermen that led to important discussions pertaining to the rate increases and how best to present them and implement them. Mr. Brown was thanked for his time and work put into the rate analysis and he in return thanked the City of Willard for the opportunity. 09/23/2024 BOA Meeting Agenda Page 2  8. Ordinance Amending Chapter 705 Waterworks System, Article II Water Service, Section 705.040 Water Rates and Chapter 710 Sewer Use and Sewer Rates, Article VII Wastewater Charges and Rates, Section 710.470 Rates of the Municipal Code of the City of Willard. Wes Young explained it’s just a draft and that Nate Dally reviewed it, and it looks good, and he was hoping it would be available for consideration, but he decided it was better to give it to the board for review to get familiar with the wording. Wes said there is already a requirement that we’re supposed to be reviewing the rates annually but he can’t see this was ever a fixed process, so the language was beefed up to require this as part of the budget process as a rate review and a rate increase every year instead of it being a sudden surprise in the middle of the year right in front of Christmas. 9. City Administrator Remarks Regarding the Special Election held on June 18, 2024, Mr. Young said we received an explanation of the total cost on Friday and the cost was lower than expected. The original cost was estimated to be $23,531.34 but the actual cost was $19,759.97 so we received a $3,771.37 refund check. Wes reminded everyone he is going to England to see his mother for two weeks and will be flying out on Thursday. He said Mike Ruesch will be his stand in while he’s gone but Wes can be reached by email or text. Tablets are in and will be set up for the last meeting in October. The test drive worked quite well and in tandem to that we’re working on getting the agenda things going with CivicPlus and the website with Apptegy and they both seem to be going quite smoothly and will eventually tie together. Wes said he was certified as a municipal government employee this last week at the conference in Branson. He also stated as a reminder to anyone at home listening online that the public hearing will be on October 14th here in the community center. Wes also said he’s proud of Public Works and they need to post a lot of things on Facebook and let citizens know of what all they are accomplishing. He said Trevor is doing a great job and he appreciates him very much. 10. New Business None 11. Unfinished Business None 12. Adjourn Meeting Motion was made by Alderman Keene and seconded by Alderman Lancaster to Adjourn the Meeting @ 7:40 p.m. Motion carried with a 4-0 vote. Voting aye: Aldermen Biellier, Hill, Keene, Lancaster. 09/23/2024 BOA Meeting Agenda Page 3 ______________________ Janice Gargus, City Clerk ______________________ Troy Smith, Mayor 09/23/2024 BOA Meeting Agenda Page 4