CHAMOIS — Chamois aldermen increased the trash rate to $21 per month for a single can and $32 a month for two cans at their meeting on Thursday, Feb. 26. City Treasurer Theresa Walter informed the board that Republic Services was raising its rates on March 1 by 6% per contract with the city of Chamois. The cost to the city would increase from $18 per month for a single can to $19.06. For residents with two cans, the city would see an increase from $10 per additional can to $10.60. Currently, residents are charged monthly at a rate of $20 for one can and $30 for two.

“When we raised the rates to $20 per single can, we had hoped we were raising it enough that we would not have to raise it again,” Walter explained. “The problem is a lot of our revenue for the general account comes from the trash account.”

Walter expressed concern that if aldermen did not raise rates, the city would be hurt financially.

“I understand we are trying to make a little money off of the trash service, but we already have a lot of citizens who are mad,” Alderman Shawn Mitchem said.

“I feel like we’ve raised all our rates lately, and people are getting so tired of it,” Alderman Lacey Garret added.

Mayor Marie Slusser pointed out that everyone was aware that the contract that the city signed with Republic Services included a built in 6% rate increase per year.

“Before we signed the contract, residents were paying $15 for a single trash can; then, when we accepted the contract, the city was being charged $18 per single trash can, so we bumped the residents up $5 last year,” Walter explained. “If we don’t keep it pretty close to the $2 profit margin, the way the budget is going, I don’t think we can go any lower.”

Aldermen considered raising the rates by $1.50 for a single can.

“No one will pay attention if we raise the rates by $1.50,” Slusser said. “We are going to have to do this every year. It’s not that big of an impact. People are not going to complain.”

“We’re trying to make a minimal impact on the customers, but we also have to keep the city afloat,” Garrett said.

Alderman Cheyanna Wolfe asked if the city can look for another trash company that may be less expensive after the current contract with Republic Services expires.

“No one else is going to do it,” Slusser said.

“It’s just like Ameren; we don’t have any choices,” Garrett added.

Walter said that residents were very unhappy in December when water and sewer rates increased.

“They have been complaining,” Walter said. “We had a resident who said she had to cut her grocery budget to pay her water bill, and she didn’t have enough food to get through the month the last couple of months.”

“I had to cut my grocery bill, too,” Slusser responded. “We are all residents here, too. We feel the same thing everyone else feels: our taxes were raised. Our water and sewer rates went up. These are necessary things the city is getting hit with, and there is nothing we can do about it. If there was a way to not raise rates, we would do it; our hands are tied.”

“No one is going to be happy about this,” Walter warned.

Aldermen agreed that they hear a lot of complaints about the way that Republic Services does its job.

“The trash isn’t getting picked up when it is supposed to be picked up, or they don’t pick up certain streets; we have a lot of complaints,” Slusser agreed.

Residents with complaints about trash pickup are encouraged to call Republic Services directly.

The new rates went into effect on March 1.

• Aldermen also fired City File Clerk Lillian Wright during an open meeting; they did not go into closed session. Slusser noted that she had listened to what Alderman Wolfe said at the last meeting regarding needing to cut items from the city budget to save money.

Slusser read a list of times that Wright had used as excuses where she was either late for work or missing work altogether.

“I completely agree with you on getting rid of that position,” Slusser said. “It was seasonal anyway.”

Slusser then asked if anyone had been upstairs at City Hall to see where Wright had been working to see if she had made any progress, or if anyone had volunteered to help with organizing the files.

“I’ve been up there before, and I’ve seen how it looks,” Wolfe said. “I offered my volunteer time in the beginning, and was told no because we were hiring a filing clerk.”

“I didn’t remember telling anyone no,” Slusser said.

Unterrified Democrat Reporter Theresa Brandt added that she remembered that Wolfe had volunteered before the file clerk was hired.

“I would never tell a volunteer no,” Slusser repeated.

“Whether there was a miscommunication or not, how are things going up there?” Wolfe asked.

“I’ve been up there a couple of times,” Slusser said. “I am going to start putting in more effort to volunteer up there. I don’t know if she has ever been trained. I showed her things a couple of times. Meghan has shown her a couple of times, but I don’t think she gets the gist of it.”

Wolfe excused herself from the meeting and went upstairs to see what progress had been made, and came back down, noting that she agreed to eliminate the position.

• Chamois residents will be required to purchase All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) and Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) licenses for the city of Chamois. Licenses will cost $15 for the year, and will be valid from May 1, 2026, to April 30, 2027.

City Marshal Riley Lewis will purchase a roll of 50 stickers from one of the state agencies for $50. Aldermen hope that the new stickers will not fade, which was a problem with the old stickers issued two years ago.

City Hall will be open on Saturday, April 18, from 9 a.m. until noon so residents can purchase their licenses before May 1. Residents will need to bring proof of insurance and a valid driver’s license. Any residents who cannot come in on April 18 can purchase a license whenever City Hall is open.

• Aldermen approved the cost of two cemetery signs requested by the Friends of Chamois Cemeteries at a cost of less than $250. Mitchem volunteered to put the signs up, and Garrett volunteered to purchase the concrete for the posts.

The plan is to have the signs up by Memorial Day.

• Aldermen approved soliciting bids for an old, unused pump sitting at the lagoon. City Clerk Megan Birmingham said the pump does not work, and her research shows that it is worth a couple hundred dollars. Birmingham will put an ad in the Unterrified Democrat requesting bids to be opened at the next meeting.

• Aldermen approved pursuing the “Scrap Tire” grant again this year. The grant is used for scrap tire material in the playground area of the park.

“This is something we tried to get last year for the park,” Slusser said. “We were interested in getting the scrap tire material instead of wood chips, pebbles, or mulch in our playground. If we can get this grant, it will cover all of the costs.”

Several aldermen thought this was a great idea.

Brandt asked if the grant covered 100% of the cost.

“No,” Birmingham said. “The grant covers the scrap material, installation, and delivery costs only. The city would have to come up with the consulting engineering fees, site preparation, labor, material, containment support, and removal and disposal of current material.”

Slusser said that the city would have to get bids for the work.

“Do we have to hire engineers?” Garrett asked.

“Do you want it done right?” Slusser answered.

“I’m just trying to get an idea of how much we would be on the hook for,” Garrett said.

“We’ll need lots of volunteers,” Slusser replied.

Garrett asked if there was a way around hiring an engineer for the project.

“No, it has to be an engineer,” Slusser said. “It doesn’t hurt to apply for the grant; we can always turn it down.”

• Mayor Slusser reported that after a recent meeting on the water project, the hope is to have the project completed by the end of March. The city was scheduled to have the project completed by the end of December.

“We are just waiting on the shelter enclosure that is supposed to be in later this week,” Slusser said. “They are working on delivery. After the enclosure is up, we can put the fence up, and we can start testing and the chlorination process.”

Slusser invited aldermen to go by and see how things look.

“It looks so much nicer,” Garrett agreed.

“I’m just glad things are going smoothly,” Wolfe added.

Slusser noted that the remaining money due to Archer-Elgin Engineering was not discussed at the last meeting with the engineering company.

• Aldermen approved $16,333.41 in outstanding bills.

• Chamois had the following ending balances in their accounts: cemetery fund ($3,343.52), general fund ($29,615.78), water fund ($264,931.59), sewer fund ($118,974.78), city Community Block Development Grant (CBDG) in and out ($10), city park ($8,587.45), American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) ($71,169.95), sewer repair, ($6,968.54), sewer bond reserve ($26,901.47), city cemetery ($20,998.43), meter deposits ($17,432.45), street ($33,121.28), online bill pay ($13,188.48), city police ($1,118.25), city cemetery ($20, 736.50), water repair ($30,211.85), and Chamois Days ($8,096.83).

• The city holds five certificates of deposit totaling $12,298.77.

•  Chamois had a water loss of 65% for January. The city pumped 1,296,575 gallons and sold 453,600 gallons. The city has 240 water connections and 219 active accounts.

• The rest of the meeting will be reported next week in the U.D.