Village of Argyle trustees appointed Colby Davis as the new mayor at their meeting on Thursday, March 21.

Ryan Davis officially submitted his letter of resignation which was accepted by the Board of Trustees. Ryan Davis noted that he had moved out of the village limits and was no longer eligible to be on the Board of Trustees or serve as mayor. He explained that it was a Missouri State Law that required members of the Board of Trustees, including the mayor, to reside within the village limits to be eligible to hold office.

“It is time for someone else to take the helm,” Ryan Davis said. “I will still stick around and help as much as possible.”

Trustee Colby Davis took the appointment with a little hesitation noting that he was a new member of the Board of Trustees.

“I’m still getting my feet wet, so this will need to be a group effort,” Davis said. “I’ve got Ryan in my back pocket and on speed dial.”

“I think it will be good,” Ryan Davis said. “You just have to put the best interest of the village in mind and not show any favoritism.”

In other business, the Village of Argyle may be getting a rate increase for their trash service. Recently Argyle officials had requested bids for a new contract for trash service for the village. Only Republic Services, which is the village’s current waste hauler, submitted a bid.

Lillian Kinard, Republic Services’s manager of municipal services, was at the meeting to answer any questions trustees may have. She warned that the trustees and village residents may be in for some sticker shock when they see the new bid.

“$25.65,” Ryan Davis said. “That’s double the price. That’s not going to go over very well, and a 5% price increase every year for five years.”

Davis noted that the commercial rates had seemed to remain basically the same. Currently residential customers pay $12.06 per month for a 96-gallon cart.

“The commercial accounts help keep residential prices down when there aren’t a lot of accounts,” Kinard said.

Davis asked if the number of accounts dropped would it affect the price.

Kinard did not think that it would.

“If we raise the rates, I know a couple of people in town who have the option to take their trash to their jobs or they could burn it because we don’t have a burn ordinance in our village,” Davis said. “I know that $24 is still cheaper than it is in the rural areas.”

Davis noted that there had only been a 2% increase per year in the last contract.

“That was a contributing factor since it didn’t cover our cost,” Kinard said.

“But that isn’t our fault,” Davis argued.

Kinard agreed but noted that costs are up across the board for all businesses.

Davis asked if Republic Services would offer a contract for three years instead of five, noting that it would be a risk for the village that costs may be higher in three years.

“Anything I am doing now, I’m doing short term because I am hopeful things will right themselves in the next couple of years and things will adjust,” Davis said. “In three years, it might be less expensive, or it might be more expensive. It’s a gamble.”

Kinard offered the village the option to have a set 5% increase every year or to go by the water/sewer/trash index as the measure of what to increase the rate by annually.

“Right now, that index is 5.8%,” Kinard said. “Last year it was six to seven percent. I haven’t seen it trend under 5% in 24 months. It’s totally up to you. If you believe things will reset in two years and the index drops to 3.5% which it was before COVID than that’s what you would pay. It’s a big gamble.”

“Inflation has been horrible for everyone but when it levels out, I don’t think prices are going to go down,” Kinard continued. “That’s why I offered the 5% because I don’t see the index coming down.”

Davis asked how Republic Services could justify doubling the current rate.

“That rate takes into consideration everything,” Kinard explained. “Literally everything goes into that cost. Our cost has gone up 6% and I’m offering you 5% for sticking with us.”

“It’s not the 5% increase I’m having trouble with it’s the $24.65,” Davis said. “There is no math I can do that makes that number make sense. That needs to be lower. If you want a 5% increase over the last five years that’s still under $25 per month.”

“I understand what you are saying but Jefferson City is paying $22 per month, and they are right in our back yard,” Kinard said.

“I’m not trying to discredit your situation, I just don’t know if $24.65 is acceptable,” Davis said. “The 5% is acceptable, I’m ok with that. Before the bid came in lower, considerably lower than what we were paying which is why we went with you. I don’t want you guys to undercut on the first bid to get our business and now we are really going to stick it to you over the next five years. I don’t want to be that person. I don’t do business that way.”

“We are for profit so there is profit included in those numbers,” Kinard said.

“Absolutely,” Davis said. “We are going to have to think about this and make a few phone calls and then maybe we will find out this is a reasonable contract. But I would like to make a few phone calls to other companies so we can justify this number. We may be stuck with you whether we like it or not.”

Kinard offered to raise the commercial rates to offset the residential rates.

Village Secretary Betsy Watring noted that Republic Services would not honor the commercial bid the village negotiated under the last contract.

“The pricing on that sheet is not what I paid as a commercial customer,” Watring said. “I can tell you people are not getting that price. They are paying a lot more. They are not happy about it.”

Kinard said she did not know there were any problems with the contracted commercial rate, she suggested that billing questions should be directed to the office.

“We have,” Watring said. “They told me there is no contracted price and I had to argue for months to get a reasonable price.”

“This is the first time I have heard about that,” Kinard said. “The city contract should be the city contract absolutely.”

Kinard promised to investigate the issue.

Trustee Kym Brunnert asked if Republic Services would forgo the 5% increase per year if they agreed to the new monthly rate.

“I would not be able to do that,” Kinard said.

Brunnert asked if Republic Services could bill residential customer individually instead of billing the Village of Argyle annually and then the village having to bill customers and collect the money.

“I can look into it,” Kinard said. “Right now, it is one check, one processing and I’m not having to print bills for everyone, but I can look into it.”

Davis noted that he planned to call other trash companies and see if they would be willing to submit a bid.

“Like it or not that might be the best price we can get, or we may be able to get someone cheaper,” Davis said.

The Village of Argyle has until May 31, 2024, to make a decision on trash service.

The trustees have agreed to start the process to abandon the village property where Highway T and Highway AA meet. The property is approximately .8 acres.

“It’s just overgrown trees with a ditch on one side and a creek on the other side,” Ryan Davis said. “It has no value to the town. It we abandon it; it will revert to the landowner on each side which is the same property owner.”

Ryan Davis explained that when the village had abandoned a street in years past, they required the landowner who would get the property to do all of the leg work and cover all the fees and costs including any legal fees incurred by the village attorney. Davis said that the process should be started by the adjoining property owners.

“We should not incur any cost since we are vacating the property,” Ryan Davis said.

The trustees are also concerned about an abandoned vehicle on Dacon Street.

“We need to have it towed at the owner’s expense,” Ryan Davis said. “We’ve already given them two written notices.”

Watring noted that Brunnert had talked to the owner of the vehicle, and she was given the keys and told to move it into the owner’s yard.

Trustee Felicia Weiberg did not think that was a good idea and noted that she believed the vehicle should be towed.

According to Watring the vehicle has been parked there for over four years.

“She was one of the reasons that the ordinance was put in place,” Ryan Davis said.

Watring explained that there was some questions as to who actually owned the vehicle since the plates and the vehicles may be registered to someone else.

“That’s not our problem,” Ryan Daivs said. “It’s not the village’s responsibility to figure any of that out. It’s their responsibility. File a police report for an abandoned vehicle and if it is there over 48 hours, they will tow it.”

Watring agreed to follow up and make a report with the Osage County Sherrif’s Department.

Ryan Davis is concerned that the sewer receipts are not covering the sewer expenses even after the rate increase.

Brunnert noted that there may be some accounts that are not up to date.

“We need to know who we’re not getting paid on because that was the whole reason we raised the sewer rates,” Ryan Davis said. “We need to address that. The whole reason to raise the rates was to gain traction in the sewer account.”

Brunnert said that she could provide a list of delinquent accounts at every meeting moving forward.

“I think we are letting people go too long,” Wieberg said.  “If we raised rates and people aren’t actually paying, we’re just pissing in the wind.”

“We can’t let people go months without paying and enforcing the ordinance,” Ryan Davis said. “As a board we can’t be complicit. Evidently, I was letting it happen and didn’t realize it.”

Davis also noted that there had been a sewer leak on his property when a manhole cover had gotten clogged by dirt when the dirt bike track was being built.

The cost of the repairs was initially billed to the Village of Argyle, but Davis will cover the cost since it was not the village’s fault.

Dylan Huhn will cut grass for the Village of Argyle this summer for $40 each time he cuts the grass. The village will cover fuel expenses and let him use the village riding mower. Brunnert noted that last year she thought Huhn had done a good job.

Brunnert said that the village electric bill for the Village Hall had been high last month and urged all the trustees to make sure the heater was turned down when they left the building to keep costs down. Typically, the electric bill is $45 to $50 per month and last month it was over $100.

Brunnert also clarified with the Board of Trustees that the minimum water/sewer charge would be $50 per month if the water is turned off or if they have a well.

If water/sewer is turned on and they use below 1,000 gallons of water the rate would be $58.50 per month.

• The trustees approved the following outstanding bills for the month: general ($2,224.45), and sewer ($4,033.80).

• The Village of Argyle had the following receipts for the month: general ($5,257), and sewer ($3,474.43)

• The Village of Argyle has the following ending account balances in their accounts: general ($15,701.32), general money market account ($58,827.20), sewer ($5,784.51), sewer money market ($30,217.90), sewer debt service ($30,627.16).

• The next regular meeting will be held Thursday, April 18, at 7 p.m.