FREEBURG — Freeburg trustees, at their meeting on Monday, May 4, approved a temporary construction easement for the contractors who will be working on the construction project for the Holy Family Catholic School. 

Mayor Darryl Haller noted that the village alterations were made to the easement at the request of the village attorney.

“This is a temporary easement that more or less says that they need some space to keep their equipment,” Haller explained. “When they are done with the project, it goes back to normal, and the easement is terminated.”

Utilities Supervisor Doug Hamacher reported that he had put a camera through the sewer lines that the church hoped to tie into and found them to be in working order. Church representatives had concerns that the sewer lines would need to be replaced, but with Hamacher’s investigation, they will be able to tie into the existing lines.

Church representative Ryan Libbert noted they would start working on writing up a permanent easement as discussed in previous meetings, along with an easement between him and the city for access to the village lagoon.

In other business, Derek Stuecken was present to discuss water issues.

“In a hard rain, some water might seep into his basement,” said Hamacher, who confirmed that after the last big rain, the water had risen in the resident’s basement and had not drained back out. “We pumped it out because it was getting pretty high. We dug it up. Usually, we don’t deal with lines coming out of a resident’s basement, but they said that when we put a water line in four years ago, this started happening.”

“We’ve lived there 10 years, and it’s never been a problem until recently,” Stuecken said. “About the same time as the water deal was done, we started to see some wet floors, but now the water is getting up to about a couple of inches and not draining. It’s bringing in mud. We are worried it is backing up (from the sewer system).”

Hamacher said that he did not believe that was the case, but admitted, “I don’t know for sure.”

Hamacher explained that a clay tile that tied into the Stuecken house had broken when a new sewer line had been installed.

Haller said that he believed that several houses were tied into the sewer line together with Stuecken’s in the 1960s or 1970s.

“That’s what I was warned about,” Stuecken said. “I think it is backing up in there. It was suggested that we put in a sump pump, but is that really fixing the problem? If it is backing up, it will continue to back up.”

Stuecken also noted that his wife is opposed to putting in a sump pump to fix the problem.

“Have you ever smelled sewer in there? “Hamacher asked.

Stuecken replied that he had not, noting that his house was built in 1915, so there were a lot of unknown factors.

Haller explained that he had installed sump pumps in his house before, and he thought they had worked well.

“We could probably help with the responsibility if you put in a sump pump, but I don’t know if we’re willing to dig up the whole thing,” Haller said.

Haller suggested that Hamacher view the line to see if they can figure out where the water is coming from.

Stuecken also complained that the ditch in his yard is washing away because of too much runoff water from the Holy Family parish grounds.

“There is a lot of water coming off the school,” Haller agreed. “It’s hard to get rid of the water as it is coming off the concrete. Originally, there was a lot more grass on the parish grounds.”

Haller suggested putting a load of bigger rocks in the ditch to stop it from washing.

“A concrete trough would be ideal,” Stuecken suggested.

“We have to watch our money,” Haller said. “When we tried to get a property tax to pass to bring in more money, it failed. That money could have helped pay for projects like this. We need to do a project that fits in our budget, but it is something we need to look at.”

“You all can chew on this one for a while,” Stuecken said. “There is no reason to get in a hurry.”

Haller said that both things needed to be assessed, but they would make the sewer issue a priority.

• Trustees asked Hamacher if he had received an estimate for street repairs or street sealing for the year.

Hamacher replied that he does have someone coming out to look at options, but thought the village was not committing to street repairs this year.

“I’m not sure what the cost of asphalt will be this year,” Haller said. “This may be a bad year since the price may have jumped because of the conflict overseas. We may need to wait, but we should still get a quote.”

Village Clerk Danielle Holterman noted that the city had $50,000 set aside in the budget for street repairs and $40,000 for sealing streets.

“That’s how much it costs to get the equipment here,” Hamacher said. “We can’t get much done for that.”

Haller repeated that the village would still like the project quoted.

“We only have so much money to spend right now,” Haller said. “We still have the best streets in Osage County.”

Hammacher said he agreed with several complaints that the sealer the village is having put on the asphalt is too slick.

“It’s oil,” Haller said. “That’s what is holding our streets together. That sealer keeps the water from soaking into the asphalt. There is really nothing we can do about it.”

• Bartlett & West sent a report to the village noting that the sewer project was on schedule. Currently, the Jefferson City engineering firm is waiting for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to complete its review.

• Haller warned any residents filling their pools this spring that they need to contact Hamacher if they hope to get a sewer credit for the water used for the fill-up.

“This is a one-time offer in the spring,” Haller said. “If you want a sewer credit, you have to get in contact with Hamacher ahead of time and let him know the date you filled your pool and how much water you used.”

• Trustees tabled discussion on what to do about the sidewalk and retaining wall around the old bank since property owner Nicole Krieg could not attend the meeting.

• The board approved the following outstanding expenses: general revenue ($4,475.18), sewer ($506.23), and water ($766).

• Freeburg had the following ending account balances: purchasing ($318.37), sewer checking ($12,663.61), general revenue checking ($17,222.86), sewer money market ($433,050.86), general revenue money market ($525,943.10), water and sewer ($64,134.06), water revenue ($8,299.07), water replacement ($241.54), and water money market ($1,056,831.69).

• The village had a 3% water loss for March after pumping 1,651,898 gallons of water and billing 1,612,000 gallons.

• The next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on June 8.