WESTPHALIA — At last Tuesday’s meeting, Osage County Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin and Western District Commissioner Larry Kliethermes updated Westphalia aldermen on several upcoming construction projects that will affect the city.

“We have Bartlett & West Engineering down there surveying for the Pentecostal Bridge,” Griffin said. “We are hoping to start construction in early 2025.”

Griffin attributed a lot of the success of making the bridge rebuild a reality to Kliethermes’s experience and tenacity.

“We are lucky Larry was on the board,” Griffin said. “There were only three bridges for that year in Missouri that were lucky enough to get a grant.”

The Pentecostal Bridge will be rebuilt using a $1.5 million settlement from the trucking company that caused the bridge’s destruction and the balance from a Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) grant.

“Credit (getting the grant money) to Larry,” Griffin explained. “It was his experience with MoDOT that tipped the balance in our favor. There was a lot of work that went into it. We didn’t back down.”

Kliethermes expressed his appreciation for the project going through, noting there is quite a bit that still needs to be done, including environmental and archeological studies, before bridge construction can begin.

“But the project is moving forward,” Kliethermes said.

Commissioners noted they had reached out to MoDOT about the Hwy. 63 bypass. The project was continuing with surveys and studies but was still on the list for completion at some point. MoDOT did not have any further information on a schedule.

Griffin encouraged aldermen to attend the Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s (MRPC) monthly meetings. He informed them that MRPC has grants that became available on March 1, and there are grants for sidewalk and sewer projects.

“Two years ago, over $800,000 was available, and no one used it,” Griffin said.

He encouraged aldermen to get involved and come down to share in a good meal catered by Argyle Catering.

Osage County Sheriff Mike Bonham also addressed aldermen.

“We are working on your traffic problems, “Bonham said. Bonham said that the department understands there is concern about speeders on Hwy. 63, and on Main Street, when school gets out. Bonham noted he asked the Missouri State Highway Patrol for assistance with Hwy. 63.

“We do listen to you; it’s just a matter of having the resources,” Bonham said.

The sheriff warned that he plans to have a safety checkpoint when school lets out one day in the future.

“We did one at Linn R-2,” Bonham said. “The kids didn’t like it, but it does seem to have some effect.”

Bonham noted that he is meeting with the Westphalia Volunteer Fire Department this week to share the good news that Osage County First Responders are now a part of SafetyNet, an organization that provides financial assistance to the families of fallen first responders.

“It doesn’t cost the county anything,” Bonham said. “We hope we never need it, but there are a lot of young families, and I don’t know what they would do if they lost their loved one in the line of duty.”

SafetyNet only covers fatalities, and Bonham said that someone had recently informed him that there was a need for the same type of program for first responders injured in the line of duty.

Overall, Bonham said he does not see a lot of problems for law enforcement in Westphalia right now. He encouraged aldermen to keep communication lines open if they have any concerns.

* Dr. Sam Barnhart addressed aldermen with concerns he had about applying for variances for a business that he plans to open soon.

“The remodel is mostly complete, and as I look through the variance forms and we’ve been going over the codes,” Dr. Barnhart explained, “we’ve been trying to gauge what we can do to make the business more conforming. As I look at these codes, we are going to need a lot of variances.”

Dr. Barnhart is initially planning to reopen the Westphalia Inn with four hotel rooms, a coffee shop, restaurant events with an “Old Westphalia Inn” meal, and possibly a microbrewery.

“Of course, these are all just ideas; nothing has been approved,” Dr. Barnhart said. “If this is going to function like we are envisioning it, there is the potential for obstruction of street traffic due to parking.”

Dr. Barnhart has plans to excavate the yard and retaining wall on one side of the building to allow additional parking and access to the parking area behind the building.

He is concerned that the parking spaces would be better utilized if he could make them available by using a city alley so there could be a through-way to a street and making traffic to the parking areas one-way.

“When you look at it, it just makes sense,” Barnhart explained. “Obviously, this would include a lot of people. If the city is motivated to correct the issue of off-street parking, I don’t see how it can be done without creating new streets.”

Aldermen discussed other possible routes to make the parking lot more accessible and easier to maneuver.

“We would like to get things open in the next 30 to 60 days,” Barnhart said. “I’d like more clarification before we come to a meeting and present this.”

Mayor Tammy Massman explained that this was not a realistic timeline or expectation of how the process works. She explained that variances must be submitted for review, and notification has to be given before a special meeting is called and the auxiliary board makes recommendations.

“I understand the process,” Dr. Barnhart said.

“The short answer is that it is not possible to get the variances process in less than 60 to 90 days,” Massman said.

“We don’t have a set schedule,” Barnhart replied. “We are just looking for a realistic timeline.”

Massman suggested that all the required variances should be submitted in one request but noted Dr. Barnhart wasn’t obligated to do it that way. He could submit the variances individually for consideration.

“But it would make the process a lot more efficient if I submitted them all at once,” Dr. Barnhart acknowledged.

“We want to make it more purposeful for you, so we don’t have to extend all those periods of time,” Massman said. “If we do them all at once, it will save time.”

Massman also noted that since the building had been vacated for a time, nothing could be grandfathered in.

Barnhart discussed his other ideas for the building, from replacing stairs to updating the handicapped-accessible ramp. He also considered restricting parking in front of the building to handicap-accessible-only patrons.

“Are handicapped spots something we would do on the street in front of the building?” Alderman Lori Asel asked.

“That street is not level enough to be ADA-approved,” Aldermen Delbert Wieberg said.

Massman agreed, saying it was no different than when a different business asked the city to put a spot in front reserved for pick-up orders.

“We can’t do anything like that on a public street,” Massman said.

Barnhart noted that he could designate handicapped parking on his own parking lot if needed.

Dr. Barnhart will meet with Massman in the coming days to clarify Westphalia codes and variance requirements.

* Aldermen discussed the 2024-25 budget options and received a working template that is very similar to last year’s document.

“This is just a working framework,” Massman said. “The main thing is to make sure we’re in the black and have money earmarked for projects.”

The aldermen will vote on the new budget at the March meeting.

* Westphalia business license renewals are due by March 31. Massman said that she has already received several after sending out notices and will send out secondary notices, if needed, by the middle of the month.

* Base rock has been placed under and around the recycle bins. Massman asked Republic Services to move the recycle bins perpendicular to the road instead of parallel to the road to stop driving around the recycle bin and encroaching on the field.

Kliethermes asked if the recycle bin was only for city residents. Massman responded that the city residents ultimately foot the bill for the recycle bin. However, it is included free of charge in the contract. She noted that there is no way to patrol who uses the recycle bin, but they don’t publish that it is for public use.

* The city is still waiting for the survey on the street near the Senior Citizen Center.

* Wieberg asked about an email he had received from a resident regarding the impact of Fatima High School potentially paving their entire parking lot will have on the stormwater and how it will affect the wastewater plant.

“If they are going to pave those lots, the way the land lays, I think it’s going to come down into the upper driveway and the treatment plant,” Wieberg said. “If they are going to pave all of that, they are going to need to install drop boxes and control the stormwater.”

Massman said that she had had several conversations with Fatima officials, and nothing had been decided regarding this situation yet.

“If the district thinks it is necessary, they will talk to the Board of Aldermen,” Massman said. “They are working with an engineering firm that has all our maps, and that would be something they would need to formally present as a district and speak with us. It’s an issue that’s not even an issue yet and probably won’t ever be an issue.”

* Aaron Lachowicz with Mid Mo Operations presented the report for the Westphalia wastewater system, noting that there was nothing much to report.

Lachowicz said that quarterly samples had been collected, as well as annual sludge and soil samples. The air filter and probe had been replaced.

“Overall, there has just not been much going on,”  Lachowicz said.

* Aldermen approved the following expenses for the month: city ($3,311.11), sewer ($6,500.47), American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) ($2,066.51), and special road district ($369.40).

* Westphalia had the following receipts for the month: city ($12,465.93), sewer ($8,660.41), and special road district ($14,279).

* The city had the following ending account balances: checking ($176,376.17), sewer checking ($71,996.12), special road district checking ($96,731.22), ARPA checking ($54,513.37), and special road district savings ($5,119.74).

* Westphalia holds the following certificates of deposit: city ($449,935.15), sewer ($534,350.85), and special road district ($532,964.21).

* The next meeting will be held on March 26 at 6 p.m.