CHAMOIS — Chamois aldermen voted to remove Alderman Sara Mengwasser from the water project at their meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

“Sara has not shown up for the last three to four meetings for the water project,” Mayor Marie Slusser said. “She’s not shown up the last three or four meetings here. She did say that her family has been sick, so I would suggest we put someone else in her place that can be here and actually participate.”

Aldermen also removed Mengwasser from being a signer for Chamois bank accounts.

Mengwasser refused to sign to set up the bank account labeled “Chamois Marshal,” which was authorized by the board at the last meeting.

Slusser explained that the title “Chamois Marshal” was only the title of the bank account.

“The title is only for us and so that we can see which account it is,” Slusser said. “Sara has an issue with that, and she refuses to sign to get the bank account opened.”

City Clerk Meghan Birmingham explained that Mengwasser does not believe the city has a City Marshal and wants the account labeled “Chamois Police Chief.”

“It’s just the title on the bank account; it has nothing to do with anything else,” Slusser said, clearly frustrated. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

Alderman agreed to change the name of the bank account to “City of Chamois Police.”

“I think we need to remove her,” Slusser said. “I’ve tried to get ahold of her. I’ve sent her numerous texts and phone calls, and she doesn’t respond. It’s becoming an issue to get Sara to participate with anything on the board.”

Alderman Cheyanna Wolfe will take over Mengwasser’s responsibilities for both positions, noting that her work schedule allows her to be available several days during the week.

“It’s a lot to learn, but it needs to be done, and I’ve got the time,” Wolfe said, adding that she will keep the lines of communication open between herself and the rest of the board in case she has questions or if either position becomes too much for her.

Unterrified Democrat Reporter Theresa Brandt reached out to Mengwasser for a comment on the situation.

“The city comes second after my family,” Mengwasser said.

She explained that several family members have been sick in the last couple of months and she has spent a lot of time taking care of them.

Aldermen consulted with City Attorney David Bandre about the situation before the meeting. Bandre noted that the board only needed a majority vote to remove Mengwasser from the water project and as a signer for the city bank accounts.

Before board members voted, Alderman Cole Schaben asked if someone should talk to Mengwasser before they took any action.

“At this point, we have to do what is best for the city,” Mayor Slusser said. “We have to keep the city running smoothly.”

In other news, the aldermen approved the purchase of gravel to fill the massive hole at the edge of Cherry Street. The city will pay for the gravel, and Utilities Supervisor Mark Mehmert will do the work. The property owner will furnish an eight-inch pipe to funnel runoff water into a nearby ditch.

The hole in this spot has been a point of discussion at several previous meetings with Charlie Slusser, who lives at the end of the drive. He brought the issue to the attention of Osage County commissioners.

“The Osage County Assessor’s office told me that it is in city limits,” Slusser said. “I know we talked about this before, and when (former mayor) Michael (Edwards) was here, he said it was not in city limits, but it is.”

“But its not a city street,” said Alderman Jim Wright.

“No, it’s not, but the hole has become so monstrous it is affecting the street,” Slusser said.

“Let’s just put a pipe in it and put gravel over it and be done with it,” Wright said.

Slusser explained that the hole was so big that it damaged both a sheriff’s vehicle and a vehicle owned by a post office employee trying to deliver mail. Slusser explained that the hole is getting bigger, and people are avoiding it by driving through private property.

The property owner already has the pipe and has agreed to let the city install the pipe to drain the hole and channel the water to a nearby ditch.

“Chuck doesn’t want the pipe,” Wright said.

Slusser noted that the city had permission from all the surrounding property owners to fix the problem, which the city planned to do.

• Aldermen approved an extension for Midstate Pipeline Maintenance to complete the water project. The company cited inclement weather for construction delays.

The company’s new schedule anticipates that everything will be completed for Well #1 before the week of Feb. 26. They plan to decommission Well #2 the week of March 11 and Demo Well #2 the week of March 18. Everything should be completed by March 31.

Slusser said they expect it to be finished sooner, but the new extension gives them time to make sure Well #1 is running smoothly before Well #2 is shut off.

Slusser noted that she had asked again if the existing well could be repaired instead of drilling an entirely new well and was told no.

“Did they give you a reason?” Wright asked.

Slusser responded that the only reason they gave that made sense to her was that there was too much water coming out of the well right now.

“I still think it would be cheaper to repair that well than to drill a new one,” Wright said.

Slusser agreed and asked Wright to participate in the meeting so they could ask the question again.

Wright explained that the former maintenance supervisor, Danny Kirsch, had put a camera down the well and found that the casing was damaged at around 20 feet.

“I don’t know why they can’t put a new casing in it,” Wright said.

Slusser agreed, noting that it would be difficult to find property to purchase to put a new well on.

• In closed session, the board approved a pay raise for City Clerk Megan Birmingham, from $12 to $14 per hour, and for Mark Mehmert, from $12 to $17 per hour.

• Aldermen approved purchasing a new version of QuickBooks since the city’s current program is outdated. The new version of Quick Books Plus will cost $540 per year for the first year and $1,080 annually afterward.

“We are to the point where we need to get the updated version to move forward with the audits, really, in order to move forward and operate our new system,” Birmingham explained. “Our system is completely obsolete. If something crashes or we have any questions, we don’t have any support because it is so old.”

Birmingham noted she and City Treasurer Theresa Walter have already run into problems with the outdated version because the auditors could not read reports from the old system.

Birmingham and Walter have completed the 2021 audit on their end. They are waiting for the remaining paperwork to come back from the Osage County Collector’s Office and the city’s lawyers before it can be submitted to the auditor.

Aldermen approved sending the 2021 audit to Decker and DeGood CPAs when it is ready. Birmingham reported that the last audit had cost the city $5,950, and the 2021 audit would be similarly priced.

Birmingham stressed that the audit needed to be completed as soon as possible so the city could maintain funding for the water project coming through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the State Revolving Fund.

The board approved Walters putting in more than 20 hours per week if necessary until the audits were completed.

Walters and Birmingham are working on the weekends to complete the audits and coordinate with their schedules since they also have full-time jobs. Walters and Birmingham have encountered a problem with city residents coming by to pay bills because they see cars there even when City Hall is closed.

“If we lock the door, they knock on the door, or they just come in when we do,” Walters reported.

“They even come to my house,” Birmingham said.

“City Hall is not open on the weekend,” Slusser said.

She instructed Walters and Birmingham not to let residents pay their bills when City Hall is closed and told Birmingham if anyone comes to her house to pay city utility bills, she should direct them to the mayor, and she would straighten them out.

Walters noted that they have been working hard on weekends and holidays to get the audits completed and they hoped to have their part done by the end of January.

• The city’s new billing software should be running by the end of January. Aldermen approved the new software billing program, Small Utility Billing Software (SUBS), to be put into place in January, but the weather has delayed training for Birmingham and Waters.

Training has been rescheduled for the last week of January.

“The water bills will be late, but we should have the new system going this month,” Birmingham said.

• Aldermen approved using Amanda Grellner to prosecute any tickets or ordinance violations that City Marshal Riley Lewis issues. Grellner’s rate is $225 per hour, and legal staff will cost $150 per hour. Grellner will not charge the city if there is no case to prosecute.

Slusser noted that so far, Lewis has only issued three tickets.

Schaben asked if anyone thought that, at some point, Lewis would be writing out enough tickets that the income from the tickets would cover Lewis’s salary.

“Right now, we don’t have enough to cover Riley’s salary, but maybe at some point,” Slusser said.

Slusser explained that the board was told there was a potential grant that may help the city pay for the marshal, but that only applies if the city employs more than one person for law enforcement.

• No one filed for the election with all four of the aldermen and the mayor’s position open. Brandt reached out to Missouri’s Secretary of State’s office, and they said that the positions could then be filled by write-in names if those names proved to be eligible to accept the positions. Birmingham has also been in touch with the Secretary of State and the Osage County Clerk’s office to make sure that the city’s next steps are correct.

• Aldermen approved the purchase of a DR300 Molydenum Pocket Colorimeter for $664 to be used for water testing. Mehmert reported the city’s current tester is past its prime and needs to be replaced.

Mehmert promised to keep the new tester in good shape.

He requested that the city purchase some gravel for the area around the dump stations for the RVs. Slusser noted that six loads of rock for use around the lagoons approved by aldermen had not been delivered. Aldermen approved using one of these loads for the area Mehmert pointed out.

Mehmert will also get a couple of estimates for overhead shop doors and report back to the board.

Mehmert noted that the city had plenty of salt, but the snow blade was getting thin. Wright said that the Special Road District would pay for the blade.

• Birmingham reported that she has almost all of the city’s ordinances scanned and sent into General Code Codification so that they can give aldermen an estimate for putting all of the city ordinances online.

• The board approved payment of outstanding bills totaling $151,641.74.

• Chamois had the following ending balances in their accounts: cemetery fund ($10,437.77), general fund ($185,060.79), water fund ($209,413.37), sewer fund ($95,670.83), city Community Block Development Grant (CBDG) in and out ($1,250), city park ($4,680.59), American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) ($77,213.68), sewer bond reserve ($26,767.34), city cemetery ($20,523.06), meter deposits ($24,147.59), and water repair ($29,050.99).

• The city holds five certificates of deposit totaling $12,200.10.

• The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.