FREEBURG — Freeburg trustees, at their April 13 meeting, approved the Wastewater User Charge Ordinance #252, which establishes a tiered increase for residential sewer rates. Currently, the village’s sewer base rate is $18.14 for up to 2,000 gallons of water, plus $.42 per 100 gallons over 2,000.

The base rate will automatically increase on Sept. 1 to $28.61 plus $.48 for every 100 gallons of water over the included 2,000 gallons. The next increase will occur on March 1, 2027, with the base rate increasing to $39.08 (plus $.54 per additional 100 gallons).

Freeburg residents will see another sewer rate increase on Sept. 1, 2027, to $49.55 (plus $.60 per additional 100 gallons).

The final automatic increase will occur on March 1, 2028, with the base moving to $60 per month (plus $.66 per additional 100 gallons).

Trustees hope that the sewer project will come in under budget and not all of the rate increases will be needed.

In other business, Darryl Haller, who was reelected as the mayor, announced that although the results were still unofficial as of the meeting, the Freeburg Property Tax Ballot issue did not pass by a 42-32 margin.

“The village is not going to be able to charge any type of property tax,” Haller said. “The people have spoken, and they said they didn’t want to pay more taxes. That is going to hurt us a little bit on the amount of revenue that is coming in.”

Haller said that he was contacted by the Unterrified Democrat for a quote on how the village intends to move forward, and his response was that the village is going to have to tighten its belt a little bit.

“We need to figure out if we need to make cuts,” Haller continued. “There may be things we can’t do anymore. We’ll have to see how it all works out.”

• Holy Family Catholic Church representative Ryan Libbert asked trustees for a permanent and construction easement for the new school expansion project.

“The existing sewer line will connect the church and the rectory with new lines, and connect to the manholes on the parish side,” Libbert explained. “The property line runs where we plan to put the sewer line. Both the manholes and the line will become the city’s responsibility after construction.”

Libbert explained that they plan on collecting run-off with inlets, and piping the water by the tennis courts and area below to the village’s concrete-lined ditch.

“That is going to be a lot of water in a good hard rain,” Haller said, explaining that originally, the area Libbert is asking for easements for belonged to the parish.

Four acres were deeded over to the village for a nominal fee years ago.

Libbert is requesting a temporary easement onto the village property for construction that will exclude the contractor’s staging equipment or parking in the area. The parish would like a permanent easement 30 feet outside of the current property lines.

“The propane tanks are currently on village property, as is the corner of the fry shack,” Libbert said.

The playground will be relocated for the construction of the new building, and the plan is for the corner of the playground fencing to be on village property as well.

“We are all in favor of this, but we would still like our lawyer to read through everything,” Haller said, telling Utilities Supervisor Doug Hamacher that he wanted him to be on site when contractors are hooking up to the water and sewer lines. “At the end of the day, it will be our problem. We will need to inspect the old lines before we connect the new lines to them.”

Hamacher suggested using a camera to inspect the sewer and water lines before anything is hooked up.

The village would provide an outdoor meter at cost to the parish.

Libbert noted that the parish hopes to begin construction in June and will provide easements at the next meeting.

He asked trustees if the village would like to share part of the cost of the drainage, since the church is running the runoff further than necessary at the village’s request.

Haller asked to see an estimate of the cost for the extra drainage, noting that trustees would discuss it at the next meeting.

• Resident Nicole Krieg owns the old bank building with her husband, and they are hoping to make some improvements to the property.

“She noticed that the sidewalk rolls around on Gilbert Street, and is really close to her building,” Haller said. “Part of the wall (next to the sidewalk) is falling down.”

Haller explained that a car had hit the wall several years ago and damaged it.

“I don’t even know if that sidewalk is used anymore,” Krieg said. “We would like to take it out. The sidewalk leans towards the foundation, so the water runs in there and puddles. We are doing some repair work, and I don’t want to repair something and it just gets damaged by water coming off the sidewalk.”

“Anything that has to do with a sidewalk that has connectivity, so it starts somewhere and goes somewhere, you have to repair it back to ADA-compliance,” Libbert said. “There are a whole bunch of different requirements. You have to go through a process with the Department of Justice (DOJ)to remove any sidewalk.”

“It has kind of removed itself,” Krieg said. “It’s crumbling.”

Libbert noted that the condition of the sidewalk did not change the requirements.

“All of the sidewalks by Highway 63 are owned by the city, and technically that should be upgraded to ADA compliance,” Libbert said. “MoDOT only maintains the asphalt; everything else is the village’s responsibility. If the right person complained about it, you would be liable for repairs. It can be a potentially huge liability.”

Krieg asked if it was possible to remove the entire sidewalk.

“You have to go through a process, and you have to show it is no longer used,” Libbert said.

Libbert, who works for the Missouri Department of Transportation, noted that the village has a binding maintenance agreement with MoDOT, and everything except the highway has to be maintained by the village.

He explained that it would be very expensive to bring the village’s sidewalks up to ADA compliance.

“It would be an ordeal,” Libbert said. “There are grants available, but they are typically an 80/20 match. We have looked at the entire area, and literally almost every town has the same issues.”

Haller said that the first step for the sidewalks near the Krieg property would be to have a survey conducted to determine property boundaries.

“If it is on my property, is it my sidewalk, can I do what I want with it?” Krieg asked.

“It is still considered a public use, so you still have to go through the same steps to have it removed,” Libbert said.

Libbert noted that MoDOT started the process to vacate several streets in 2012 and had just gotten approval to remove some of them this year.

“If the sidewalk is on your property, you can also be held liable for damages,” Libbert warned. “It’s a tough subject.”

“It doesn’t matter that it is causing damage to my property?” Krieg asked.

“If you remove it yourself, they could come back and make you rebuild it back to compliance,” said returning trustee Jamie Kaesik, who was sworn in with fellow trustee Brad Wieberg. “Even if she goes through the process, they might not approve it?”

“Right,” Libbert said. “It is opening a can of worms.”

Libbert noted that it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring the village sidewalks up to ADA compliance.

Haller agreed, noting that it would be hard to estimate how much the project would cost with engineering fees included.

Krieg asked if she could just fill the form out and see what happens.

“It’s not just a form; it’s a whole process,” Libbert said. “The problem is that as soon as you talk to the people about the sidewalk, it opens all the streets in the whole town. They are not just going to look at one sidewalk; they will look at everything.”

“I hate to say it, but we tried to get a little extra money to do projects like this, and it got voted down,” Haller said. “We don’t have extra money to work on these projects. The property tax would have helped some on a project like this. You’ve got to have money to do these projects.”

“There is no good answer,” Libbert said.

Trustees tabled the issue until the next meeting, and they will all visit the property at some point and assess the issue.

• Trustee Glenn Haller asked if the tornado sirens are tested every month. Mayor Haller called the Osage County Emergency Management Director, Ron Hoffman, who confirmed that the tornado alarms are tested on the first Monday of each month by playing the “Westminster Chimes.” Hoffman said they typically play at noon, but they could also play in the evening so that all the 911 crews get practice.

• The village bulk trash pick-up is scheduled for May 4. Details are on the village’s Facebook page.

• The Freeburg Car Show is scheduled for May 21.

• Trustees approved bills: general revenue ($5,389.79), sewer ($4,570.37), and water ($17,089.21).

• Freeburg had the following account balances: purchasing ($393.10), sewer checking ($11,906.06), general revenue checking ($4,776.58), sewer money market ($431,734.37), general revenue money market ($524,339.91), wastewater and sewer ($63,905.05), water revenue ($17,021.76), water replacement ($241.54), and water money market ($1,058,604.14).

• The village reported a 4% water loss for February. The village pumped a total of 1,529,821 gallons and sold 1,480,800 gallons.

• The next meeting is scheduled for May 4 at 6:30 p.m.