LINN — At their meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 16, Linn aldermen approved Park Board President Neil Loethen’s recommendation to have the city’s utility employees help with reseeding the City Park at an estimated cost of $1,600. Loethen had also priced hydro-seeding as an option, but the cost was prohibitive at $11,993.

“This is kinda a no-brainer to be honest,” Loethen said. “The Park Board is fine with whatever we decide, but they requested that I talk to a professional about what they would do. Overwhelmingly, they said to do hydro-seeding or sow the seed with straw. The hydro-seeding is just so much more expensive.”

Loethen’s price included using Kentucky 31 fescue seed and has someone who is willing to donate the straw blower and trailer for the city to use.

“It’s basically a three-person job,” Loethen said. “If we go with this recommendation, I would like to have the maintenance crew spread the straw. It would save a lot of money if we didn’t have to hire an outside crew.”

Loethen said that he would spread the seed and fertilizer.

“I don’t see why we can’t use the straw option, and I don’t see why maintenance can’t help,” said Alderman Steve Boeckmann.

Loethen hopes to plan for several days of predicted rain to seed the City Park, and to have the area seeded by the first part of October.

Alderman Bill Turner said that the new grass will have to be watered if there isn’t rain in October.

“Part of the point of the straw is to hold the seed in place and hold moisture,” Loethen said. “If we can time it properly, when the rain is coming, that may be the best we can do.”

Loethen noted that there is not enough water pressure at the park to water a large area.

Turner asked if Kentucky 31 was the best type of grass seed to use.

“It’s a field fescue seed,” Loethen said. “It’s not going to be the most beautiful green-colored grass, but it establishes easily, and it holds up pretty well and has some drought tolerance.”

Loethen said that it’s not the greatest grass seed, but he isn’t sure that the grass will grow well in the park anyway, and he would hate to spend additional money on more expensive seed.

“We are just not sure the grass is going to grow,” Loethen said. “It’s shady. There are a lot of roots under those mature trees. We’re going to fertilize and give the grass the best start, and see how it goes.”

In other City Park news, the pickleball courts are completed, and Loethen hopes the basketball court will be finished soon.

Alderman Dustin Flamm reported that the bleachers were going to need some work fairly quickly.

“The steps are breaking off on the sides,” Flamm said.

City Clerk Carrie Grellner reported that she has put in a work order for the repairs.

The city is waiting for approval for the demolition of the milk barn. The hope is to have the milk barn torn down so that the area can be seeded with the rest of the park.

The City Pool closed for the year, although Grellner warned that the area has not been cleaned up yet. City Treasurer Jeanna Lansford-Monroe reported that the city pool made several thousand dollars in revenue over the last year due to staying open later and the popularity of some of the programs, including water aerobics and adult-only nights.

Loethen asked if the pool manager, city clerk, or city treasurer could prepare a year-end report. Grellner said that they would work on that.

Flamm noted that the city pool was going to need some repairs before next year.

Paint has been chipping off the pool, and the tiles are popping off. The water heater went out, and the pumps were leaking.

Grellner noted that she will look to see if any of the items are still under warranty.

• The City Hall roof will be repaired shortly, but Grellner was not sure of an exact date yet. Grellner noted, however, that the approved estimate also included the roof on the park pavilion, so both projects will be completed for the approved cost of $36,000.

• Aldermen approved Bill #2025-020, accepting the bid from Brightly Software for computerized maintenance management software. The cost of the program will be $6,607.49.

The program will begin setup on Oct. 1 and be ready to launch within 13 weeks.

“That’s how long they give us to implement the process,” Grellner explained.

She will reach out to Brightly Software to get the process started.

• Utilities Supervisor Alec Rowinski has been researching the cost of buying a new locator.

Utilities employees had backed over the city’s last locator, and it is beyond repair.

Rowinski had two different quotes for a radio-detection system that costs up to $8,200.

“I’m not opposed to the brand he’s looking at; I’m just wondering what model would be best for the city,” Turner said. “For as much as this costs, they’d better treat it better than they did the last one. You don’t run over something that expensive.”

Both Flamm and Boeckmann asked if there had been an allowance in the budget for the purchase.

“This was not included in the budget,” Monroe-Lansford said, noting that the money for the locator could be split between the water and sewer fund.

Turner asked how many times the city has used or needs a locator?

“Sometimes they need to use it multiple times a day,” Grellner said.

Currently, the city is borrowing a locator from the Public Water District. Aldermen will decide on the locator at a future meeting.

• Aldermen approved a three-year term for the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software system for the city’s wells. The cost of a three-year renewal is $6,300, and the amount has gone up only slightly since the last time it was paid, per Grellner.

• Aldermen approved a Homecoming Parade for the Linn R-2 school district for Oct. 3 at 2 p.m.

The route will start at the Square, travel down Hwy. 50 to the water tower at City Hall, and go around the City Park.

“They really don’t have permission from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), but they will turn a blind eye to it for 15 minutes,” Boeckmann said. “No one is walking. It will be all floats and pickup trucks. They want to get off the road as soon as possible.”

The Osage County Sheriff’s Office will handle traffic control with help from the Linn Police Department.

“I think it’s a good thing for the community,” Boeckmann said.

• Grellner announced she has passed her Class C Wastewater Certification course.

• The Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) is having its annual meeting on Oct. 23 in Salem.

Anyone interested needs to RSVP with Grellner by Oct. 9.

• Resident Cherie Osterhoff attended the Board of Aldermen meeting thankful for Chief Sam Ford and the other members of the Linn Police Department.

“I’m here to thank Sam Ford and the Linn Police Department for everything they have done for myself and my family,” Osterhoff said.

Osterhoff’s husband was involved in a tense situation last year, where a gun was shot in a house and Ford was able to get everyone out of the house safely and diffuse the situation.

“Since then we’ve been able to call on Sam and everybody in the department,” Osterhoff said.

“I’m very grateful to live in this town with such great police officers,” Osterhoff continued. “They have always been there for us. My husband has called them in the middle of the night, and they have been there for us.”

Osterhoff relayed some of the hardships she and her family are currently going through.

“I hope everyone appreciates our police officers because they are truly wonderful,” Osterhoff said.

The Alderman and Chief Ford thanked her for coming in and wished her the best.

• Turner asked Grellner how the codification of the city’s ordinances was going.

“I’m still working on it,” Grellner said.

“Come on,” Turner said. “We need to get it done.”

“I need time when I’m not getting constantly interrupted,” Grellner said, assuring aldermen that the process is almost completed.

• Aldermen approved the annual 5K to raise funds to fight human trafficking scheduled for May 30, 2026.

“I first came to you 11 years ago and asked your approval to have a 5K on the streets of Linn to raise funding to fight human trafficking,” Project Organizer Diane Hopke said. “I wish I could tell you human trafficking has ended, but it has not. One thing that has happened is increased awareness.”

Hopke said that this year, they plan to change the route to start at Maguire Park and go to the Linn City Park for the 10th annual race.

Hopke noted that there has been some concern about runners going down the hill on Rt. U since the road is hard on runners’ legs, and that the change would be a safer option.

• Aldermen approved outstanding bills totaling $208,176.62.

• Linn had the following ending account balances in their governmental fund accounts: general ($574,194.33), pool (-$84,754.97), park ($81,952.09), police training ($688.66), general fund-improvement and equipment (-$819.28), park-improvement and equipment (-$3,459.39), and pool-improvement and equipment ($1,948.24).

• The city had the following ending account balances in its business-type funds: water ($539,634.46), water replacement ($137,008.36), sewer ($416,683.69), sewer replacement ($73,454.81), and grants (-$100,620.45).

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

• The next regular meeting will be held on Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m.