COUNCIL MEETING
Tuesday April 18, 2017
The Board of Aldermen held a regular meeting on Tuesday, April 18, 2017, at 7:00 PM. Those present included Mayor Greg Richmond, Alderpersons Calvin Wilson, Keith Kohley, Roger Coe and Alice Kezar. Also present were City Supervisor David Brodie, Emergency Management Director Denis Kolb, Tax Collector Meghan Sexson, Police Chief Curt Drake and City Clerk Karla McNorton. Also present were, Carol Coe, Lois Kolb, Ron Johnson, Irwin and Sandra Johnson, Wally Jeffers, Virgil Sherwood, Sandra Pogue and Sally Carroll from the McDonald County Press.
The Mayor called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. The Mayor noted the meeting on April 4, 2017 was cancelled due to a tornado. The bills were paid from that meeting on Thursday April 6, 2017 and will be ratified at this meeting.
The Board discussed the regular meeting minutes held on March 21, 2017. Ald. Wilson made a motion to approve the minutes from the regular meeting held on March 21, 2017. Ald. Kohley
Seconded. Ald. Coe, Kezar, Kohley and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board discussed the special meeting minutes held on March 28, 2017. Ald. Kohley made a motion to approve the minutes from the special meeting held on March 28, 2017. Ald. Wilson
seconded. Ald. Coe, Kohley and Wilson voted aye and Ald. Kezar abstained
The Board discussed the special meeting held on March 31, 2017. Ald. Wilson made a motion to approve the minutes from the regular meeting held on March 21, 2017. Ald. Kezar seconded. Ald. Coe, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board discussed the emergency meeting April 6, 2017. Ald. Kohley made a motion to approve the minutes from the regular meeting held on March 21, 2017. Ald. Coe seconded. Ald. Coe, Kezar, Kohley and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
The Mayor acknowledged Shauna Landess and Joseph Lombardo to discuss the condemnation process at 108 W. Williams St. Shauna Landess and Joseph Lombardo were not present.
Old Business: None.
The Board discussed the bills from the April 4, 2017 meeting in the amount of 39,983.68 including transfers. Ald. Kezar made a motion to approve the bills from the April 4, 2017 meeting in the amount of 39,983.68 including transfers. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Coe, Kohley, Kezar and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
The Clerk read the following election results, City Mayor Greg Richmond with 52 votes, Tax Collector Meghan Sexson with 80 votes, Northward Alderman Alice Kezar with 42 votes and Southward Alderman Ron Johnson with 19 votes. She then proceeded to swear in the new officer holders.
The Mayor noted it was time to reappoint the City Attorney, Chief of Police and the City Clerk.
Ald. Kohley moved to re- appoint Duane Cooper as City Attorney. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
Ald. Johnson moved to reappoint Curt Drake as Chief of Police. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Kohley, Kezar, Johnson and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
Ald. Kohley moved to re-appoint Karla McNorton as City Clerk. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Kezar, Kohley, Johnson and Wilson voted aye with 0 nays.
The Board discussed who to appoint as the acting President. Ald. Kohley moved to reappoint Ald. Wilson as acting President. Ald. Kezar seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson and Kohley voted aye and Ald. Wilson abstained.
The Mayor asked Ald. Kezar to be the Recreation Board Director. Ald. Kezar agreed.
The Mayor asked Ald. Kohley to be the Street Commissioner. Ald. Kohley agreed
The Mayor asked Ald. Johnson as the Maintenance Commissioner. Ald. Johnson agreed.
The Clerk noted that it was time to appoint the check signers and at the next Board meeting they would need to approve a new Corporate Resolution and sign new signature cards with First Community Bank. Ald. Wilson moved to keep Mayor Richmond and Ald. Kezar as the same check signers with First Community Bank. Ald. Johnson seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
Ald. Kohley moved to appoint Ald. Wilson as the third check signer. Ald. Johnson seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson and Kohley voted aye and Ald. Wilson abstained.
The Mayor acknowledged Virgil Sherwood to discuss the high water usage at the Full Gospel Church. Virgil explained he believes they are having water stolen from them again. Supervisor Brodie asked if he was sure it wasn’t a toilet hanging up? Mr. Sherwood says he doesn’t believe so. Clerk McNorton noted she had looked at the account and the high amounts are random. It was discussed about a faucet outside and agreed if a hose was hooked to it, you could see it. Ald. Wilson moved to average Full Gospel Church’s high water bill. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
The Mayor acknowledged Mr. & Mrs. Johnson to discuss putting a doublewide on the property at
215 E. Garner. Mr. Johnson asked to be allowed to put a doublewide at the location. It was asked what size the home and it is 28 by 60. It was asked if the property was big enough behind and in total and it is 1.2 acres. Mr. Johnson then showed the Board pictures of the Doublewide. Ald. Wilson moved to approve the Johnson’s putting in a doublewide at 215 E. Garner St. Ald. Johnson seconded. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
New Business: The Mayor noted Mr. Sweeten has been in contact with Neosho box and wood and they will chip all the wood at the ballpark for $260.00 an hour and they believe it will take less than 8 hours, with the total being around $2000.00. After a brief discussion, Ald. Wilson moved to have Neosho Box and wood chip the wood at $260.00 an hour until it is completed. Ald. Kezar seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
Mayor Richmond also brought up that he had a call into USA Metal and Greg Sweeten had a call into MO. Metal about the metal around town and neither has returned their calls. Jim Riggs from Riggs Ranch Mobile Home Park wants to pick up all the metal around town. After a brief discussion, it was agreed to allow him to pick up the metal if he signs the liability waivers.
Mayor Richmond then brought up that the City employees have incurred a lot of hours in overtime following the tornado and wanted to know if the board would consider paying them out the comp time earned during the pay-period. David Brodie and Curt Drake do not want theirs payed out, but Karla McNorton and David Sarratt would like to have theirs paid out. Ald. Wilson moved to pay out the overtime earned for the pay-period of April 1, 2017 to April 15, 2017 to David and Karla. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
Ald. Johnson brought up the speeders on Hwy 59 coming off the interstate and thinks we should have a radar set up there to catch the speeders as there is no speed limit sign where it levels off and if some tickets were written, then maybe people would stop speeding. David Brodie noted he believes it is a State Hwy and will need to talk to MO. Department of Transportation about a sign being put there.
Ald. Kohley then noted there are a lot of piles of building material lying around town and wanted to discuss correcting it. It was agreed to call Republic Services and see if we can have some dumpsters just for that. It was also discussed seeing if Greg Sweeten can have county come back and haul the stuff to the dumpsters.
Ald. Kohley then thanked all the citizens and volunteers who came and helped after the tornado. Everyone who helped did an amazing job. We still have a lot to do, but it looks great 2 weeks after.
The Mayor noted that Paula Brodie was not paid out her sick hours upon retirement and because of an error he would like for her to be paid those hours. After a brief discussion, Ald. Wilson moved to have Paula paid out 14 hours of sick time. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
Citizens Business: Kevin Keeney wanted to complain about Mediacom as they said they were unaware there was an outage in our area and thinks we should try to get another company in. Mayor Richmond will make a call and see if he can get another company in here.
Sandra Pogue wanted to thank the Emergency Management Department. She feels they did a great job. They allowed her family to take shelter at their building and she really appreciates it. It meant the world to her and her family and she would really like to see a storm shelter in Goodman. It was mentioned that the school will probably build one in the school when it’s rebuilt.
Department head reports:
Curt Drake- wanted to acknowledge Joe Haswell went from a reserve to part time and
can keep up with reports and he really stepped up during the tornado and Curt would like to ask for him to be full time. Ald. Kohley asked if anyone else had applied for the position. Curt noted a younger man had applied for the position and if they wanted a closed session to discuss it that would be fine, but he thinks Joe should get it as he really stepped up during the tornado. Curt would feel comfortable starting the other applicant as a reserve. The Mayor then noted he had spoken with Joe and he knows Goodman is a training ground, but he would like to settle in with Goodman and stay for a long time. Ald. Wilson moved to hire Joe Haswell full time at $11.00 an hour. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays. It was asked if the cars had been turned into the insurance company and Karla noted they have been.
Denis Kolb-nothing to report. Asst. Emergency Management Director Keith Kohley thanked all the citizens and volunteers who came and helped after the tornado. Everyone who helped did an amazing job. We still have a lot to do, but it looks great 2 weeks after. Ald. Kohley then asked about the City employees all going out to dinner for a job well done. The Board agreed to table the discussion to a later date.
David Brodie- David Sarratt needs hours to keep his license. He will need to go to
class May 2, 2017, June 15, 2017 and another date to be determined. David and I
have signed up under the Missouri Water and Wastewater Conference (MWWC) for $35.00 each. They have classes in Neosho, Springfield, Republic and are voucher friendly. David will get 5 and a half hours at one class and 6 and a half hours at another. We can both go to classes through MWWC and use the Expedition if the Board agrees. The Board agreed to allow them to use the Expedition for classes.
The Storm Siren is fixed, it was tested Saturday. We had to put up a new meter loop.
The box at the ballpark that runs the lights needs replaced. It will be $400 for the box and $400 for the breaker, but we may be able to fix it. The lights at the ballpark and the poles have been fixed. I want to thank Empire, New Mac, Goodman Telephone and McDonald County for the wonderful job. Also, thank you to Walmart, Home Depot, Tyson and the churches in town and in Neosho. I also want to thank Paula for coming over to help after the tornado.
Meghan Sexson- Meghan noted the Board has the report for March and also wanted to ask about the PTO using the Council room for their meetings. The Board verified it would not interfere with the Council Meetings, Fire Department meetings and gave Megan approval to have the meeting held here.
Karla McNorton- noted the buildings have been turned into the insurance.
The Board discussed the bills in the amount of 23, 585.38 including transfers. Ald. Kezar moved to approve the bills in the amount of 23, 585.38 including transfers. Ald. Wilson seconded. Ald. Kohley seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.
Ald. Kohley moved to adjourn the meeting. Ald. Johnson seconded. Ald. Kezar, Johnson, Wilson and Kohley voted aye with 0 nays.