ARGYLE — Argyle trustees elected Colby Davis for another term as mayor at their meeting on Thursday, Sept. 17. Village Treasurer Kym Brunnert will retain her role, and Trustee Chris Shanks will remain the State Emergency Management Administrator. Trustee Heather Wagner will serve as the Village Clerk. The position of Village Street Administrator will be absorbed into the mayor’s position since Davis has been taking care of that for the last several years.

“We can all help Colby with that as necessary,” Brunnert said.

Brunnert has been making $12 per hour for bookkeeping for the village and the sewer system.

“That’s what I’ve been getting paid for a long time,” Brunnert said. “It’s not even minimum wage.”

Trustees approved increasing the pay for the Village Treasurer to the Missouri state minimum wage of $15 per hour.

In other business, trustees approved a village liquor license of $150 for the local MFA, which has started selling packaged liquor.

“We are charging the bars an annual liquor license,” Brunnert said, noting that the Argyle Pub and Grill pays an annual fee of $325 for a seven-day liquor license and the Rock Island Bar and Grill pays $225 for a six-day liquor license.

“To be fair to all of the other establishments, we have to charge them,” Davis said.

Shanks agreed that the rate was not unreasonable.

* Davis noted that he needed to contact resident Angie Thompson about the property that the village was going to give to her.

“I would assume she is aware of what we had figured out at the meeting last month, but I still need to reach out to her,” Davis said. “Our only option is a quitclaim deed, correct?”

“I looked up Missouri State Statutes, and it basically said that, and so did our lawyer,” Brunnert reported. “So, two sources are telling us a quitclaim deed is the only thing we can do.”

Brunnert said that trustees could reevaluate it if necessary.

“That’s what we tried to do the first time,” Davis said. “I don’t know what the advantage is of what she is wanting other than we are saying ‘hey, here is this property and you can take it.’”

“There is a difference between them but not much,” Brunnert said.

“I don’t know a lot about it, but if you are going to give someone property, I thought they would be like, ‘okay, thank you,’ and that would be it,” Davis said.

* Brunnert will reach out to the Maries County Bank to see if they could put a Starlink satellite on the building so that Village Hall could have internet access.

Trustees discontinued internet services several months ago to save money but are running into problems conducting business without cell service or internet access.

Wagner explained that the satellite dish could be brought in and out as needed.

“I’ll ask, and we’ll have to see what they say,” Brunnert said. “The bank will have to approve it.”

Brunnert will look into getting internet service through other companies as well.

* Brunnert has prepared a petition to have Fifth Street vacated. “I’m going to take it around and have whoever is on each side of the street fill it out and approve it. Then we will split the vacated property in half,” Brunnert said. “Each side will absorb 50% of the road.”

Brunnert said that the right-of-way will have to be determined and a licensed surveyor will need to do a physical description of the property to be vacated, although she is not sure that part is necessary. Brunnert said that everyone she had talked to was more than willing to sign the petition.

* Trustees decided not to move forward and place stop signs at the intersection of Walnut and Third Street.

Trustee Kody Bresemeyer suggested at the August meeting that the four-way stop was dangerous and that he had a near miss at the intersection.

“Honestly, I don’t think that it will matter,” Shanks said. “Is anyone going to pay attention to it? There is no way to enforce it.”

Shanks pointed out that there are several intersections in Argyle that would probably need stop signs or yield signs if they placed one at Walnut and Third Street.

“You’re supposed to stop at an intersection,” Shanks said.

The village would have to pay for the stop signs and put them up.

“You’re going to have to have a good supply of signs because I’m afraid they would get lifted (stolen),” Shanks said.

“It’s a little village; pay attention when you drive around,” Davis said.

* September’s financial report showed receipts for general ($3,738.99) and sewer ($1,412.18). Village expenses were general ($2,573.94) and sewer ($5,134.80).

* Argyle had the following ending balances for September: general ($29,753.75), general money market ($59,642.82), sewer ($5,134.80), sewer money market ($30,636.86), and sewer debt service ($32,010.80).

* The next meeting will be on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.