FREEBURG — At their July meeting, Freeburg trustees approved a bid for $43,468.90 from Black Roads Group to apply surface sealer, patch potholes and cracks with hot mix, and add hot rubber crack-sealer on East and West Oliver Street, Old Vienna Road, Harrison Street, Pine Street, West Walker Street, West Gilbert Street, Spruce Street, South Cypress Street, CRs 634 and 636. 

Freeburg trustees received an additional bid from Ozark Asphalt for $41,180. Board members decided not to go with the lowest bid because they have used Black Roads Group for the past several years and were concerned that a different sealer may not adhere as well to the surface of the asphalt. They were also concerned that the job was too big for the smaller company to handle.

Public Works Director Doug Hamacher also contacted L. Keeley Construction and Higgins Asphalt Paving Company for bids on the same project. Both declined, citing scheduling problems.

Hamacher had been asked to present several bids for asphalt work that could be done to the village streets. He presented a bid from Jefferson Asphalt and explained that he was supposed to have received a bid from Mo-Ark Paving but had not received it. L. Keeley Construction and Higgins Asphalt refused to bid on the asphalt work for the village, citing scheduling concerns.

“I looked at this for two minutes, and what I am seeing right now is that we’re not milling the roads down,” Trustee Darryl Haller said. “We cannot raise our streets any higher than what they are.”

Hamacher explained that he had asked the companies to include milling the streets down two inches in the bids.

“What we have to watch is that we have the right bids,” Haller said.

He explained to Hamacher that trustees have been pushing to see estimates on the street repairs for the last three months.

“Last month, we said we wanted two inches milled and put two inches (of asphalt) back on,” Haller said. “Then we come to the meeting today, and it’s not like that. We have to get started because they are not going to do this in the dead of winter. We have to make a decision. We are already into August.”

Trustees asked Hamacher to have the project rebid to include milling and have them ready for the trustees to vote on as part of the public hearing on July 24. Trustees asked for those estimates to concentrate on East Oliver Street, East Lewis Street, North Chestnut, and North Pine Street.

In other business, trustees voted to open the street to Sam Welschmeyer’s property and take over the maintenance of the road. They granted Welschmeyer permission to cut in a roundabout at the end of his street and turn over maintenance to the village. He originally paid for the dozer work to cut in the road, and the village graveled the street. Haller abstained from the vote, and Zimmer voted against opening the roundabout and having Freeburg maintain the street.

“If we okay this, we would be in charge of maintaining it,” Zimmer said. “We are in charge of maintaining it forever and ever, and it only serves one person.”

“I don’t think the maintenance will be that much,” Haller said, adding that Welschmeyer was considering opening a business at his property.

“We’re basically upgrading him at the cost of the taxpayer,” Zimmer said.

“In my opinion, we are opening up a village street for someone in the street who needs it,” Haller said.

Zimmer said the necessary access was already granted to Welschmeyer.

“We are only talking about another 200 feet of a village street,” Haller argued.

“That we would have to maintain,” Zimmer said. “That’s what he’s wanting. For us to have to pay for it instead of him having to pay for it.”

“If it’s a village street, we need to maintain it,” Haller said.

“We haven’t opened it up as a village street,” Zimmer countered.

“Not yet,” Haller said.

Zimmer cited several examples of times when Haller, as the mayor, rejected projects that village residents asked to be completed. Zimmer noted that Haller advocated turning them down if the projects only benefited one person.

“You are being so hypocritical right now,” Zimmer said.

Haller said that he did not appreciate being called a hypocrite.

“That’s fine,” Zimmer said. “I’ll say it in front of God and everybody. You do things to benefit your friends.”

Zimmer and Haller then argued over whether the Welschmeyer property was within the village limits. After an unfruitful search for maps at Village Hall, Haller called Welschmeyer, who provided a map given to him by the Osage County Abstract office. The map showed that at least part of his property was in village limits.

Village Clerk Nicki Bax then interjected that Welschmeyer did not have a village business license for his existing business, Sam’s Custom Concrete.

“You’re not here to talk,” Haller said to Bax. “Nobody asked you to talk. You are here to take notes and not talk.”

Zimmer apologized to Haller for not believing the property was within village limits but repeated his opinion that the project benefited one village resident at the taxpayers’ expense.

“I don’t have a say, but he doesn’t have a license,” Bax repeated.

“Send him a business license,” Haller said. “I’m sure he’ll pay for it.”

Bax added that she had been unable to find anything in the meeting minutes about the original conversation regarding opening the village street for Welschmeyer.

Haller noted that he thought that Welschmeyer had planned to have the circle driveway from the beginning and that trustees were aware of it.

• Verslues Construction Company looked at the drainage problem at the Cyle Reinkemeyer property, and the company is working to present a plan to trustees. Mayor Scott Knoll said that he liked Verslues’ ideas.

“He acted like grinding the road down wouldn’t fix the problem,” Hamacher said.

Verslues Construction initially proposed adding a grate to the front of the Reinkemeyers’ driveway, dispersing the runoff with a trough, and piping the overflow off the property.

Trustee Jamie Kaesik noted that Bartlett & West said there were a lot of compounding factors causing the problems, including structural issues with the home.

“We can take care of everything that can help on our end, but we are not admitting fault at all,” Haller said.

“On the road part of it, we need to do our part to alleviate problems,” Zimmer said.

“We tried something, and now we are going to try this, and we’ll keep working at it until we figure it out,” Haller said.

Freeburg’s insurance provider, Missouri Public Entity Risk Management (MOPERM), has been in contact with Mayor Knoll and is looking into the situation.

In the meantime, trustees are not considering doing anything to the street until they have a clear path forward on what needs to be done. They will also investigate getting competing bids for the project.

• Bax asked trustees why the Freeburg Fire Protection District did not contribute to the electric or gas bills to heat or air-condition the building that houses both entities.

Haller reached out to the fire department, and the agreement in place for years is that the village pays the electric and gas bills, and the fire department pays to insure the building.

• Bax reported that all the liquor licenses had been paid.

• Trustees approved outstanding bills for the month: general revenue ($5,084.45), American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) ($66.87), sewer ($355.63), and water ($5,086.92).

• Freeburg had the following account balances: purchasing ($149.04), sewer checking ($29,018.39), general revenue checking ($23,903.73), sewer money market ($267,616), general revenue money market ($454,483.86), ARPA ($86,668.70), water replacement ($1,375.06), water works money market ($759,293.07), and water revenue ($9,722.30).

• Trustees will host a town hall meeting on July 24 at 5:30 p.m. at the American Legion Hall about the upcoming bond issue that will be on the August ballot.

• The next regular meeting is scheduled for Aug. 7 at 6:30 p.m.