LINN — At a special meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25, Linn aldermen approved a final payment of $20,269.45 to Matt Lee of MOX Properties for the bathroom at the Linn City Park. The total cost for the restrooms was $132,000, to be paid in five equal installments of $26,400. The city was billed $26,400 for the final payment. Aldermen made an adjustment of $6,130.55 to the final payment, stating that “the city has monies spent that were to be covered in the bid presented by MOX Properties.”

The City of Linn listed the following expenses covered by the city, including 203 feet of trenching required for water and sewer lines ($2,157.89), water and sewer supplies, line and connectors ($356.08), two chrome wall hydrants charged to the city ($516.58), and M&D Electric adjustment to MOX’s electrical bid for City Park rewire ($3,100).

Aldermen discussed how to deal with the bill from MOX Properties at their regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Alderman Bill Turner was concerned that the work performed by the city would not be taken into consideration and deducted from the final bill.

“On the phone with me, he was discussing cost, and he got pretty upset,” Turner explained. “Basically, I terminated the conversation. I did not quite understand his rationale about where the tap was going to be placed.

“He thought it was going to be placed up next to the building, but whenever we discussed it, he knew where the main lines were,” Turner continued. “He said that if he had known we were going to charge for the trenching, he would have done it himself.”

“Why wouldn’t we charge him for the trenching?” City Treasurer Jeanna Monroe-Lansford asked.

Alderman Dustin Flamm agreed. “We would be paying him for our guys’ work,” he said.

“Did we just jump on the trenching, and he was planning on doing it later?” Alderman Chris Jaegers asked.

“We really didn’t ask,” Turner said. “We offered, and he said that would be great and would help because he was running behind.”

City Attorney Annie Willis proposed postponing paying the invoice until she could look over the agreement, which she did before the special meeting.

Flamm asked if the bathrooms were completed.

“Not yet, but I think for the most part they are done,” Turner said, noting that items to be completed included repairs to the doors, thresholds, and ceilings.

Aldermen will schedule an additional walk-through of the bathrooms to make sure all items are completed.

“Today is 268 days from the start of construction,” Turner said. “The contract said 60 to 90 days, or in a timely fashion.”

Later in the meeting, Turner pointed out that the new bathroom was not being cleaned.

“The walls are gunky, and the stainless steel has not been cleaned,” Turner complained. “If we want to keep it presentable, we have to clean it better.”

City Clerk Carrie Grellner said that utilities workers had been instructed on how to clean the new bathroom.

“It really looks crappy,” Turner said. “We need to request a cleaning service or set up a cleaning schedule or something.

• Aldermen approved an initial proposal from Our Little Store owner Lisa Smith to hold a bike rally on April 25, 2026.

“I’ve talked to a lot of businesses in Linn, and they are all behind it. I think it is a great idea,” Smith said.

Smith hopes to use the City Park for the event, close Lee Street, and reserve the ballfield for the event.

“We would have games, music, food vendors, and of course, all of the bikes,” Smith explained. “All of the proceeds will go to Bikers Against Child Abuse.”

Smith explained that it will be a family-friendly event. She hopes to have Bikers on Wheels attend the event and help with security.

Smith would like to have alcohol sales at the park, but will restrict participants from bringing their own coolers.

Linn Police Chief Sam Ford fully supports the event.

“There is always the potential for a problem, but it’s not a given,” Ford said. “I worked with the bikers for 20 years at the Lake of the Ozarks, and there weren’t any problems.”

Aldermen noted that a liquor license will need to be purchased and an ordinance passed for alcohol to be allowed in the City Park. Board members were asked to be updated as plans are finalized in the upcoming months, with a final plan to be presented in March 2026.

“I’m planning on trying to get as many people involved as possible,” Smith said.

• Bartlett & West Project Engineer Hope Drennan reported that progress was being made on the Lee Mar Hills Regionalization Project. “We have had our final meeting with the last property owner and had conversations about the alignment,” she said.

Drennan noted that Mayor Dwight Massey will be doing a walk-through on the property to alter the route for the wastewater lines to avoid some mature oak trees the landowner wants to keep on the property.

“That won’t really be a design change, just a field modification,” Drennan said. “We are proceeding as is with the plan.”

The next step in the Lee Mar Hills Regionalization Project will be to have the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) complete an environmental review. A cultural resource survey, as requested by the Osage Nation, also needs to be completed.

“The firm that we used for the last project is no longer eligible to participate in the project, so we will reach out to non-local firms,” Drennan said. “That cost has already been accounted for in the grant application.”

Drennan will coordinate with property owners as the cultural resource survey is being conducted.

“We will continue to work forward with the process,” Drennan said. “We have made some good progress since the last meeting, and we’re going to continue to keep moving forward.”

Drennan said Bartlett & West hopes to have the project out for bids by early spring or mid-summer.

“Our goal is to have the project completed by summer, but there are several things that could hold us up, including funding sources and the environmental study,” Drennan said.

• Aldermen Steve Boeckmann and Chris Jaegers are up for reelection in April 2026, as well as the position of mayor.

Anyone interested in running for alderman or mayor should contact City Hall. Candidates can file for election starting Dec. 9-30 until 5 p.m.

• Aldermen approved an hourly wage increase of $.25 per hour, per month for all city employees, starting in December.

“We didn’t really budget for this increase, but this will keep us in line with the state’s minimum wage increase,” Flamm said.

The increases will cost the city an additional $20,417.15 annually.

Monroe-Lansford noted that the total increase to the city was a rough estimate based on current employees and a projection of what salaries could look like next year.

• Aldermen plan to host a food drive in December. They hope to put together something in the next several weeks.

• The board approved basic membership in Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) for $1,240.68, which includes 15 membership hours.

• Aldermen voted to stay with Anthem health insurance for the city employees, with an increase of 1.93% in premiums for the coming year. The city will also continue to use WageWorks to manage insurance premiums before taxes.

• The new roof was to be completed over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“They thought we would be closed and they wouldn’t be interrupting anything,” Grellner explained.

Grellner is looking at getting quotes to replace the facia and put new gutters on City Hall. She has not received a quote to reroof the smaller pavilions at the City Park.

• Park Board President Neil Loethen reported that he is pursuing bids for the dugouts for the City Park, and he should have proposals together before the next meeting.

All the costs for the dugouts would be covered by donations.

Loethen also spoke with Aplex owner Ronnie Helmig about putting curbs and gutters along the park.

“The estimate is a pretty big number,” Loethen said.

He is looking for more affordable options to control water running into the City Park and to keep cars from potentially driving into the park. Turner proposed using salvage metal to make a fence, and Loethen said he was considering mounding dirt that could be landscaped around the edge of the park to control drivers.

“Either way is going to cut our cost by quite a bit over curb and gutters,” Turner said.

Loethen would also like to place some boulders strategically in the parking lot to prevent drivers from driving onto the edge of the park.

• Loethen reported that Osage County Special Services had approached him about putting a splash pad in the City Park at no cost to the city.

“We would just need assistance connecting the water,” Loethen said. “They have funds available, but the city would have the ongoing cost of the water and maintenance.”

• Loethen is considering using the space where the sand volleyball court had been, but there are still a lot of details to work out.

• Ford noted that he has had his officers lock the gates to Maguire Park at night to help cut down vandalism.

“The gates are not being unlocked early enough in the morning for people to walk through from Fifth Street,” Turner said. “We had this issue several years ago where the gates were locked, and there was no way to get around.”

Turner said that they had solved the issue by shortening the cables between the posts to allow for an opening big enough for a person to walk through.

“We are having the officers closing it at dusk and opening it at dawn, just like the sign says,” Ford replied.

“The gate wouldn’t be a problem if it didn’t get opened early enough, if there was access to the park from Fifth Street with the gate closed and the cable put back where it shouldn’t have been put back,” Turner said. “I’m not sure why anyone did that.”

“If you are talking about why the cable was put back up, it was cut down,” City Parks employee K. P. Nilges said. “That cable was lying in the grass, and I put it back up.”

Turner insisted that the cable should be put back the way it was before to allow people access to the park.

“My concern is people having access to that park if they have a disability or whatever,” Turner said.

“With all due respect to those people, they could park on the Highway U side,” Loethen said. “There is really no parking on the other side if the gate is closed.”

Loethen and Nilges agreed to look at the situation and see what could be done.

• Aldermen agreed to close the bathrooms at Maguire Park for the winter. The bathrooms at the City Park will remain open throughout the season.

• Utilities Supervisor Aleks Rowinski had discussed getting repairs to the Christmas decorations before they were put up on Main Street.

Flamm looked at the Christmas decorations and reported that they needed to be rewired, sandblasted, repainted, and new lights added.

“There is no way they are going to get all of that done by Christmas,” Turner said.

“They are in bad, bad, bad shape,” Flamm said.

Aldermen decided they may only have the better decorations put up this year and then start earlier to make repairs to the decorations for 2026.

Flamm estimated that the total cost to redo the decorations would run between $2,200 and $2,500, not including labor and time for the utilities employees.

Flamm also suggested that the city invest in a rack to store the decorations once they are refurbished so they don’t get damaged during installation, removal, and storage.

• The Linn Police Department will donate a truck acquired years ago through the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESSO) Program, which it no longer needs. The truck will be transferred to the Parks Department, and any repairs or improvements will be the department’s financial responsibility.

• Ford purchased a 2014 police utility vehicle for $7,000.

“I drove it, and it drives good,” Ford said.

The vehicle has 99,000 miles on it and will need lights added.

“We are going to keep the cost to a minimum,” Ford said. “We are way under budget.”

The city had budgeted $31,900 for an additional police vehicle for the 2024/25 fiscal year.

• Ford also reported that the new compliance officer would graduate from the Police Academy on Dec. 12 and report for training with the department on Dec.14.

“The Linn Police Department is sitting well with personnel, equipment, and we are under budget,” Ford said. “We are doing really well and getting a lot accomplished.”

• Aldermen approved outstanding bills for $192,807.01.

• The city had the following ending account balances in its governmental fund accounts: general ($505,851.87), pool (-$82,377.31), park ($64,749.57), police training ($1,200.66), general fund-improvement and equipment (-$819.28), park-improvement and equipment (-$3,734.94), and pool-improvement and equipment ($1,948.24).

• Linn had the following ending account balances in their business-type funds: water ($507,774.10), water replacement ($163,498.36), sewer ($434,756.16), sewer replacement ($53,338.93), and grants (-$100,620.45).

• The city holds nine certificates of deposit totaling $1,384,592.

• The next regular meeting will be held on Dec. 16 at 5 p.m.