LINN  —  Linn Police Chief Sam Ford presented Police Officer Darrell Chrisenberry the Life-Saving Award at last Tuesday’s city meeting. Mayor Dwight Massey reported that Chrisenberry had administered a dose of Narcan to an individual who had overdosed, as well as doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to the victim until an ambulance arrived.

“There is no doubt that on this day, Officer Chrisenberry and our Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) saved a life,” Massey said, “a life full of friends and family.”

The mayor praised Chrisenberry for recognizing the seriousness of the situation and making the decision to administer Narcan.

“We get tied up with details on bills and processes and things we do, dealing with the city and dealing with complaints and problems, but sometimes, things happen, and it brings things into perspective,” Massey said. “There are things our people step forward and do, and these guys do good things.”

Massey thanked the police officers and the EMTs and said that he and the city are proud of their work.

In other business, aldermen approved the final billing for the Jaegers Wastewater Regionalization project totaling $18,118.95.

Bartlett & West Project Engineer Hope Drennan noted that Brulez Trenching completed the final part of the project by laying and repairing the asphalt driveway damaged during construction.

Massey asked if the concerns that property owners had with the ground settling around the construction areas had been addressed.

“No, but that’s because of the weather,” Drennan said. “Those concerns fall under the warranty period for restoration, so the project is complete.”

Drennan noted that Brulez Trenching planned to make the necessary repairs as soon as the weather cooperated.

Drennan also reported that Bartlett & West is working on the preliminary design for the Lee Mar Hills Regionalization project. Drennan noted that the manholes and their alignment are currently being worked on.

Alderman Bill Turner asked if the design phase was to the point where the board members could start speaking to property owners about necessary easements.

Drennan said manhole alignments would have to be completed before aldermen could finalize them, noting the project was on schedule.

• Bartlett & West will also be working with Higgins Asphalt Paving Company to do a walk-through of several city streets that need repairs and develop an estimate for the city.

Turner said a resident complained that Samson Street was in bad shape. After investigating the situation, Turner said he believed the potholes weren’t reparable and that the street needed to be resurfaced.

“We just can’t resurface,” Massey said. “We have to have it surveyed and laid out. It takes a lot of time and money.”

Turner asked if it was possible to repair Samson Street using the money budgeted for street repairs this year.

Massey explained that several other streets, including Lee, Benton, Court, Fourth, and Fifth streets, needed to be repaired before Samson Street.

“These are going to be big streets to knock out,” Massey warned.

Massey also said the city set aside $100,000 for the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to do repairs on the shoulder of Hwy. 50.

• Aldermen approved Ken Hackmann’s estimate of $2,900 to survey the St. George Catholic Cemetery. His was the only estimate the city received despite City Clerk Carrie Grellner reaching out to several surveyors in the area. Aldermen will need to wait until they have the results of the land survey before they meet with parish representatives.

• The board approved a liquor license for the St. George Catholic Church for the annual Picnic on June 23 and the Fall supper on Oct. 6.

• Utilities Worker Aleks Rowinski observed the manholes and lines that lead up to and drain the wastewater lines for resident Crystal Troesser’s house. She had addressed aldermen at the April meeting regarding issues at her house on Fifth Street. Rowinski used a camera to determine if there were any problems with the lines and manholes.

“We only found one tap on that line, and there are two residences,” Rowinski said. “We did not find any cracks in our system. Our system looked good. I can’t see any correlation between the creek rising and sewer problems on their end.”

Rowinski and his crew spent a lot of time cleaning wipes out of the lagoon. The city asks everyone to stop flushing wipes; even flushable wipes can cause problems for the sewer system.

“We cleaned up 4,000 wipes from the lagoons by hand,” Rowinski said. “That’s a rough day and a lot of hard work.”

Crew members have also been filling potholes and receiving and storing more playground equipment.

• Chief Ford has filled all the department’s police officer positions, including the new positions created for the 2024-25 budget. He also announced that the latest vehicle has been put into service now that the radio has been installed. Ford expressed frustration with getting the radio installed in a timely manner.

The police department will send one officer to train as a school resource officer. The department has also graduated a K-9 team that is now certified in narcotics, tracking, aggression control, handler protection, suspect apprehension, and item search.

Ford noted that the K-9 unit would be available to other police departments if needed.

“We are willing to help any agency,” Ford said. “I’m proud that our K-9 team is ready to serve.”

Ford said he has not yet received notice that the Osage County Detention Center will be increasing its daily rate for inmates. Currently, the rate is $45 per day, but the Unterrified Democrat reported that the Sheriff’s Office will need to increase that rate to keep the jail open.

Ford said that the city rarely arrests people who are detained in jail unless they have outstanding warrants or commit felonies.

Ford will soon meet with State Technical officials to discuss patrol plans and any other issues that need to be addressed.

• Alderman Chris Jaegers asked if there was a permit on file for the new building being constructed in town.

Grellner said that no permit had been submitted, but Massey had addressed concerns about stormwater with the property owner. The mayor said he believed the resident understood the city’s concerns and was addressing them.

Turner insisted the property owner follow the ordinance and submit a permit for new construction.

“We do have an ordinance, but I was told it doesn’t go very far with our prosecuting attorney,” Turner said. “Our ordinance says that we can fine him $100 per day.”

“We have talked about the fact that we are going to have to find a way to put teeth in these ordinances because right now, you’ve got nothing,” Massey said.

“We could enforce the ordinance,” Turner insisted.

“We can try, but we’ve not had any luck with that in the past,” Massey said.

Temporary City Attorney Annie Willis said that she would investigate possible options to enforce the city’s ordinances.

“If we can’t enforce the ordinances, then the ordinances are worthless,” Turner said.

• Grellner reported that Pools Unlimited had opened the pool for the season, beginning May 27. Pools Unlimited discovered the kiddie pool has a leak that they do not believe is reparable. They recommended that Grellner call one of several companies to possibly get a splash pad for the City Pool.

• Massey has talked to several individuals in Linn who have experience with concrete and will help to lay out and pour the concrete for the All-Inclusive Playground. Currently, he is waiting for the official plans so that the drains can be laid out correctly.

“We have a lot of talented people in our community that can do things if they can be organized,” Massey said. “The first step is for us to get the plans. We’ll need 20 to 25 people, and we need to get the layout and get it staked out.”

• Alderman Jaegers noted that the Knights of Columbus would like to repair the sidewalk in front of St. George Catholic Church, where the concrete has started to buckle and is a hazard. Massey had no problem with the Knights of Columbus making the repair but advised them to use a local company familiar with making sure that the sidewalk was ADA-compliant.

• Millard Funeral Home Chief Operations Officer Nick McKague is working with a local contractor on the drainage issue in their parking lot. Aldermen are hopeful this will solve the problem.

• Massey noted the MoDOT is progressing on the lane-expansion project at Hwy. 50 and Rt. CC. Ameren Missouri is currently moving electric poles back in preparation for the project. Everyone is hopeful this will help relieve traffic congestion when both Linn R-2 and State Tech are in session. The completion date for the project is April 2025.

• Aldermen approved outstanding bills for $100,505.72.

• Linn had the following ending account balances in their governmental fund accounts: general ($763,628.04), pool (-$6,999.93), park ($112,230.02), police training ($2,274.66), park-improvement and equipment (-$146,966.07), and pool-improvement and equipment ($1,948.24).

• The city had the following ending account balances in their business-type funds: water ($466,094.51), water replacement ($101,688.36), sewer ($425,766.93), sewer replacement ($47,454.81), and grants (-$35,607.25).

The city holds nine certificates of deposit totaling $1,309,433.83.

• The next meeting will be held on June 18 at 5 p.m.