LINN  — At their regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21, aldermen awarded a bid to build the new restrooms at the City Park to MOX Properties for $155,819.33. Aldermen noted some change orders would be needed to address the electrical issues. Current plan calls for the electricity for the bathrooms to be connected at the milk house.

Mayor Dwight Massey was opposed to this plan, noting the milk house was to be torn down. “We can spend money and then turn around and spend money again,” he said.

Alderman Bill Turner explained that there is nothing in the bid to do anything to the milk house; it only includes getting electricity to the restroom.

“We’ve been talking about moving everything to the restrooms and having that as our central location and feed all of the electrical out of there,” Turner said. “But this bid only includes getting power to the bathrooms and nothing else.”

“It doesn’t make sense to tie into something that we are going to tear down,” Massey said. “They are going to have to work with Ameren to get a new connection and not use the milk house at all. That’s like running an extension cord to your neighbor’s house.”

Turner noted that a change order would be required.

“I personally would like to get it all done at once and not worry about it later,” said Alderman Chris Jaegers.

Turner asked how easy it would be to tie into the other electrical lines, including the ballpark lights.

City Clerk Carrie Grellner thought that retired Utilities Supervisor Larry Fredrich had all the Park electrical lines mapped out and in conduits, which would make the job easier.

Grellner planned to check with Fredrich, and Turner agreed to reach out to MOX Properties to ask how much it would cost to adjust the electrical system.

Massey noted that he would like to make it a change order with MOX Properties but that it might not hurt to get an additional bid if they thought the cost was too high.

“I would prefer to do it all at one time, but if that becomes an obstacle, we’ll just move on,” Massey said.

Aldermen will also look at moving the designated location for the bathrooms, with Turner and Massey believing that the current site is too close to the existing pavilion.

Turner will email a list of bathroom amenities to all aldermen for approval. The original specifications did not have all of the pieces made of stainless steel, which is something that Turner would like to have changed.

• In other business, aldermen gave approval for Mayor Massey to continue discussing the sale of city property off Jefferson Street. Red Ox Distillery is interested in the property and hopes to build a distribution center that will employ up to 20 people.

“They said if they can get an agreement, they would have concrete on the ground as early as March,” Massey said. “I think that is ambitious myself, but that means they are interested in moving forward.”

Massey said the company distills some liquor at another location and has commercial bases in three states.

“They think they have a product ready to go beyond their borders,” Massey said.

Alderman Steve Boeckmann asked if work would need to be done to the streets to facilitate the business.

Massey said that was part of the ongoing discussion and that it would need to be worked out.

“Our roads aren’t ready for semis,” said Boeckmann.

“At some point, we are going to have to be,” Massey replied.

The mayor added he would continue with negotiations with Red Ox Distillery and would not commit to anything without bringing it to adermen for discussion.

• Aldermen approved reapplying for a Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) State Revolving Fund (SRF) grant for the Lee Mar Hills Regionalization project.

Bartlett & West Project Engineer Hope Drennan suggested reapplying for the SRF loan since it is a two-year funding cycle.

“Generally, what we are seeing is that most projects last longer than two years,” Drennan said. “DNR sees a lot of re-applications for the same projects.”

Applications are due in March.

Drennan hopes to have a walk-through with property owners once the weather is a little warmer.

“All the plans and specs are pretty much done at this point; it’s only the modifications that the property owners have, and then we need to start the cultural resource study,” Drennan said.

Drennan warned that the cultural resource study could delay the project, depending on how in-depth it needs to be.

• St. George Parish Cemetery Representative Patrick Muenks asked aldermen to continue working forward with changes and improvements for the cemetery. The parish is ready to transfer the deed for the necessary property for North 12th Street.

Muenks has discussed and documented the condition of the chainlink fence between the city’s maintenance property and the cemetery.

He added that the cemetery board believes the city would need to address that.

Muenks proposed the parish and the city work together to do what is best for both entities. He has already contacted the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) and the Missouri Department of Economic Development to discuss the chances the city of Linn would have in obtaining a Community Betterment Development Grant (CBDG). Both agreed that Linn would be eligible but weren’t sure how competitive they would be in getting the grant.

“That is somewhat dependent on how much federal money is coming down to the state,” Muenks explained. “We want to continue to move forward and take advantage of the grant opportunity if possible.”

Massey instructed Grellner to contact MRPC and Bartlett & West Engineering to get things together for the grant application.

• Aldermen approved $65 to sponsor one of the presidential pages in the special inauguration issue for the Unterrified Democrat. They agreed to sponsor the page with facts about Jimmy Carter, if possible. They picked President John F. Kennedy and President Dwight Eisenhower as secondary choices.

• Aldermen Bill Turner and Dustin Flann have filed for reelection for their respective seats in the April 8 election.

• Massey explained that the city’s crew had a hard time with the recent snow and ice storm.

“This was a tough one,” Massey said. “Our guys ran as hard as they could. There are cinders everywhere. They worked their tails off.”

Massey noted that the city had problems with cinder spreaders and had to contact Osage Lawn Care to spread them where needed.

Resident and local business owner Travis Greer volunteered to help clear ice and snow from the city streets.

“There is not a better person in the community,” Massey said. “He volunteered and took time away from his business and family to help the city. He is an amazing individual.”

Greer had backed into a mailbox while helping clear the streets, and the city will pursue repairs as soon as the weather is more cooperative.

Police Chief Sam Ford praised the city’s workers for doing such a good job on the city’s streets.

“I think the guys did an excellent job,” he said. “Our streets were better than Highway 50 was.”

• Ford reported that his department only had a few minor accidents to report from the recent weather event. He credited the good work done by the city’s street department and the city’s Ford Explorers with keeping the police department moving.

Ford is looking for additional police officers. “We are a little short-staffed right now,” he explained. “It’s the same problem we’ve had since I got here. It’s so hard to compete with bigger cities and the Highway Patrol for wages and benefits packages. It’s a real challenge.”

Ford has an ad on Facebook and has asked Grellner to put one on Indeed.

Ford praised the staff he has now but warned that new annexations made additional staff a priority for his department.

Ford reported that his department is doing a good job of making sure the department is compliant with state and federal regulations.

He said that he plans to talk to aldermen about the department’s training needs and budget additional money for training in the next fiscal year. “We have to have training, and what we have set aside is not enough,” Ford said. “A lack of training is one of the biggest liabilities for any police department.”

Ford noted that six new shotguns and six new rifles have been delivered and are now in service to replace outdated weapons. The shotguns that the Linn Police Department had dated to World War 1.

Mayor Massey said that a recent officer-involved shooting in Richland put into sharper focus why radios, equipment, and training are so important.

“In the interviews with the sheriff and officers, their number one complaint was that they were limited on communication,” Massey said. “The tools we are trying to provide our department are important. A year ago, it was a struggle to try to justify all of the radios and crap (Chief Ford) was bringing us, but hopefully, we’ll never be the ones who are being interviewed saying our guys couldn’t communicate, or their guns did not work, or they didn’t have training.”

Ford confirmed that the new radios that the city purchased are set up and working well.

Chief Ford and one other officer will be attending Critical Intervention Team (CIT) training soon. Ford has been asked to serve on the CIT board for this area.

• The city will submit a grant application with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) for alternative transportation to develop a trail that links the city’s two parks. Linn started a grant application several years ago but did not complete it due to landowner issues.

Alderman Jaegers is also looking into a walking or hiking trail that would go all the way to State Tech. He will continue talking to MRPC. The grant application deadline is March 3.

Jaegers has also investigated the details of putting a dog park or play area at Maguire Park.

• Mayor Massey has requested that aldermen consider giving City Clerk Carrie Grellner a raise for all her hard work and for taking over City Treasurer Janelle Jaegers’ job until a replacement can be found.

“I cannot tell you what kind of Herculean task she is doing right now,” Massey said. “She is my go-to. For all her years of service and the job she is doing, I would ask you to consider a raise above and beyond what we do for everyone else.”

Aldermen voiced their approval and will address this issue at the next meeting.

The city has received several applications for a part-time city treasurer.

• Aldermen gave Grellner permission to put the Sparklight (formerly Cable America) internet bill on automatic payments to avoid a rate hike.

• The Linn License Fee Office is down to two employees and has put out an ad for the job openings. Grellner reported several people have applied.

• Aldermen approved outstanding bills totaling $641,671.66.

• Linn had the following ending account balances in their governmental fund accounts: general ($520,129.21), pool (-$39,865.41), park ($103,079.98), police training ($982.66), park-improvement and equipment (-$405,442.59), and pool-improvement and equipment ($1,948.24).

• The city had the following ending account balances in their business-type funds: water ($516,903.63), water replacement ($119,348.36), sewer ($467,161.29), sewer replacement ($60,454.81), and grants (-$123,836.41).

The Aldermen approved moving $200,000 from the water account and $150,000 from the sewer account into certificates of deposit to make additional money off of the interest.

• Linn holds nine certificates of deposit totaling $1,331,121.24.

• The city will hold a budget workshop on Feb. 11 at 5 p.m., and the next regular meeting will be held on Feb. 18 at 5 p.m.