Chamois aldermen agree to let city park be used for concert event in place of Chamois Day

By Theresa Brandt, Staff Writer
Posted 9/23/20

CHAMOIS —Aldermen agreed to donate the use of the city park for a free Sept. 19 concert put on by Mike and Kathleen Gallagher. The event was approved with the stipulation that the Gallaghers would …

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Chamois aldermen agree to let city park be used for concert event in place of Chamois Day

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CHAMOIS —Aldermen agreed to donate the use of the city park for a free Sept. 19 concert put on by Mike and Kathleen Gallagher. The event was approved with the stipulation that the Gallaghers would fill out the regular application and provide event insurance.

The Gallaghers have lived in the Chamois area for quite a while and enjoy the park but realize that it would be nice to make a few improvements.

“I sit in the park a lot,” Mike Gallagher said. “I sit out there and watch the sun go down and listen to ball games, and I figure it can’t hurt to have a little funding to fix up the park.”

While the event will be free, Gallagher will be accepting donations that will all go to the city for park improvements.

“People are very disappointed that we couldn’t have Chamois Day this year because of COVID so we thought we might have an alternative,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher is a retired Lutheran minister that plays Irish, Christian, and Country music.

“I play oldies, newbies and everything in between,” Gallagher said with a laugh.

His son and brother may also be playing at the concert.

“It is supposed to be a beautiful day,” Gallagher said. “We are going to keep everything PG-13. No bad language or what have you. It will give people something to do for a good cause.”

Gallagher suggested that people wear masks, social distance, and stay in their family units since there is plenty of space to spread out at the park.

* Aldermen have decided to table the matter of accepting Alderman Debbie Huff’s resignation until next month.

“If we accept it and something happens and one of you can’t get to a meeting we could still have a quorum,” Brochu said.

“Is she good with that?” Shockley asked.

“We haven’t talked about it but as long as we make an effort to replace her, I think she will be okay,” Brochu said.

Brochu also asked for recommendations for people who would want to serve as an alderman.

“I’ve asked three people and they all laughed at me,” Brochu said.

* The city is still looking for someone to take weekend well readings and do weekend water testing.

As of right now, Brochu is filling this position.

“We need to find somebody because I’m sick of doing it,” Brochu said.

* Brochu and City Clerk Michelle Stanley have been working for months to straighten out the city’s financial records. Brochu presented aldermen with a new balance sheet for the city that will be presented monthly that reconciles Quick Books with the city’s account balances.

“We don’t just have clean books,” Brochu announced. “We have clean books that match our bank statements. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to look at this and see these numbers.”

* City Resident William Dixon has again requested that Chamois allow him to purchase the alley beside his house. Dixon and his neighbors have been in an ongoing dispute about accessibility to the alleyway.

Dixon has offered to purchase the alley from the city so he can control who parks there.

Aldermen decided not to sell the city property at this time.

“I think we would do better to figure out how to enforce the ordinances we do have and keep people from parking in the alley,” Brochu said.

* Riley Lewis attended the meeting and offered his services as a city marshal. He is currently the city marshal in the nearby town of Gasconade.

“I’ve been a cop for 35 years,” Riley said. “I’ve got my own car, my own radio, and radar gun. I have everything ready to go. I heard you might be looking for a police officer, so I thought I’d come up and talk to you about it.”

“We’ve discussed it and we need it, but we’re having some trouble finding it in the budget,” Brochu said.

Riley works 40 hours per month and gets paid $18 per hour by the city of Gasconade.

“I drove around through town and saw a lot of people that should be getting ticketed,” Riley said. “I’m easy to get along with. I always give people a warning and the next time I give them a ticket. I do not pick and choose who I pick on. If you are in violation of an ordinance you are going to get a ticket. That’s just how I am.”

The board thanked him for coming in, and Dixon praised Riley.

Aldermen met in closed session to discuss hiring a city marshal. They will research insurance costs and look at the budget before making a decision.

* Chamois has officially reached an agreement with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources that sets up a schedule to bring the city’s water system back into compliance. The schedule sets forth that the city will have new wells in place and ready to submit for DNR final approval on or before Feb. 1, 2022.

*Stanley asked City Attorney Amanda Grellner if she could stop sending out bills that have had no payments on them for more than a year and she agreed.

In reviewing the list of accounts that are over a year old without any payments made, Brochu and Stanley discovered several accounts in which an individual has become delinquent on their accounts and then opened another account in the spouse’s name when the couples are still living together.

“It makes me mad to see the names on here,” Brochu said.

Brochu plans to discuss the matter with Grellner to see if anything can be done.

While going over these accounts Stanley and Brochu noticed two other discrepancies in the water accounts. The water ordinance states that a property owner can have the water meter pulled on their property for a fee and then they would not be required to pay the minimum monthly water charge. Several customers have picked this as an option and they have not been receiving bills from the city, but they should have still been receiving the minimum sewer charge which would still apply.

Aldermen voted to start charging the monthly sewer charge but to not charge back-fees since it was the city’s mistake.

In a similar situation, Stanley noted that several vacant buildings are not entered in Quick Books and should be receiving minimum monthly charges.

The board voted to start charging these property owners but to not charge delinquent fees.

“We don’t normally charge people when we make a mistake,” Brochu said.

* Someone approached Alderman Kenny Rost about purchasing the city’s dump truck. Brochu will confer with Maintenance Supervisor Danny Kirsch and see if the city is using the dump truck or would be willing to sell it.

If the city is willing to sell the dump truck, Brochu warned that it would have to be opened for bids.

* Aldermen approved unpaid bills totaling $12,803.55.

* Chamois has the following current balances: cemetery ($9,673.17), city cemetery ($19,717.82), city park ($735.34), general fund ($24,948.72). meter deposits ($18,691.83), sewer ($36,285.75), sewer bond reserve ($26,534.05), sewer repair ($17,095.38), water ($115,080.43), and water repair ($35,851.97). The city has certificates of deposit totaling $12,066.74.

* The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m.