LINN  —  At their Aug. 13 meeting, Linn aldermen approved Higgins Asphalt’s proposal of $341,747.90 for improvements to E. Lee Street from Hwy. 50 to 12th Street, and from 12th Street to South 10th Street, and the City Park parking lot. The proposal includes a 2-1/2” resurface of E. Lee Street, including full-depth repairs, full-depth resurfacing on the sub-base prepared by the city, and widening E. Lee Street with resurface and full-depth repair.

The City Park’s parking lot improvements will include gravel preparation with full-depth asphalt of between 2½” and 3½”. Aldermen budgeted $500,000 for city street repairs and improvements this fiscal year, with last year’s street improvement budget carried over to the current year. Alderman Bill Turner asked if the parks could cover the cost of the City Park parking lot, which accounted for $65,676.55 of the estimate.

Mayor Dwight Massey thought it was unrealistic for them to pay for all of it but hoped they would be able to cover some of the other expenses with the all-inclusive playground, including some of the cost of the new bathrooms.

In other business, aldermen approved $28,590 to purchase a new replacement pump for the Hwy. 50 lift station, including expedited shipping.

Utilities employee Alek Rowinski noted he began looking for solutions after the pump went down. He discovered that the pumps for the other lift stations are not interchangeable with the Hwy. 50 lift station. Rowinski had the option of renting a temporary pump, but the cost would be a third of the price of a new pump, which would still need to be replaced. Massey and Rowinski did not believe that was the best option.

“If we order the pump right away, I should be able to have it installed by Friday,” Rowinski said, noting that the influx of State Tech students would increase the strain on the wastewater system.

“I checked with Larry (retired utilities superintendent Larry Frederich), and he thought that one pump would be able to handle things over the weekend but not in the long term,” Rowinski said.

He also proposed having the old pump rebuilt and kept as a backup for future problems. The failed pump was over 16 years old.

“My last week has been a nightmare,” Rowinski said, noting that a main water line had broken, and a boil order was needed for city residents.

Rowinski and his crew have been helping to complete the concrete work for the All-Inclusive Playground and fixed the French drain on the Troesser property. Rowinski is scheduled to attend two conferences in November and has classes set up for the other employees for the fall.

“We’ve been cranking, cranking, cranking, to get stuff done,” Rowinski said, he noted that some overtime has been necessary to keep things running.

• Among several residents at the meeting to complain about issues that they felt needed to be addressed was Jerry Williams, who asked when the ditch on his property would be completely repaired.

“The guys had come out and got the pipe put in, and I know you’ve had other stuff going on, but they haven’t been back since the 26th of June,” said Williams, adding he believed only one more day of work was needed to complete the project.

Rowinski agreed but said things have been hectic. “Issues have popped up every time we have a chance to get down there,” Rowinski said. “It’s either rained, or we’ve had an emergency pop up. We haven’t been trying to put Williams off.”

Rowinski hoped that he would be able to complete the project soon.

— Lyle Garreau was also at the meeting and asked how he could get a stormwater grate installed at his residence at 505 Lincoln Street. Garreau complained that he has been trying to get the grate installed for more than a year.

“Every time I come to the city clerk’s office — she is a very nice lady — about this hole in the ground, Carrie is really polite and tells me it is on order,” Garreau said. “After three or four months, I asked to see the purchase order and there isn’t one. There is a hole in the ground, and it is dangerous.”

Garreau gave aldermen a copy of a service order showing that he came into the office and requested the storm drain grate eight times between January 26 and July 29.

Garreau also showed copies of letters he had sent to the city requesting the grate for a storm drain box on Sept. 10, 2023, and May 3, 2024.

Garreau has been consistently told the grate is on order.

He added he would appreciate having someone look into it before someone gets hurt and the city gets sued.

Retired alderman Rick Niewald was also at the meeting, asking that a sign of some kind be put at the end of the driveway where the post office has moved the mailbox. He said that every week, a car with a wheel is in the deep ditch there. The city has tried to put reflectors there as a warning, but they keep getting moved.

Niewald also requested the brush on 9th Street be cut as it has started to encroach on the road.

• Alderman approved an additional $2,700 in additional repairs for the Jaegers Regionalization Project.

“One of the houses had a gray water line that was missed,” Massey explained. “Bartlett & West took care of it but also wanted the city to cover the expenses.”

“Apparently, a line had been brought out of the house for a washing machine and a sink; it started backing up because it didn’t get hooked into the system,” Massey explained. “For some reason, it even bypassed the septic tank.”

Turner didn’t believe that the city should bear the whole responsibility for the expense, since aldermen had hired an engineering firm.

“I think it is just one of those unforeseen things,” Massey said. “Even the homeowner didn’t know it existed.”

• The board agreed to renew the city’s membership in the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) for basic membership of $1,210.40, including 15 service hours.

Aldermen also approved a $1,000 contribution to MRPC for the upcoming annual dinner to be held at Osage View.

• The board approved two police officers to attend firearms training at a discounted rate of $350 each. Chief Sam Ford explained that finding firearms training has become increasingly difficult. While he has locations to use for training, it has always been hard to find instructors.

“I think it is a good investment for the department,” Ford said.

He added that any funds received from Linn officers training police personnel at other departments would be put towards training for the Linn City Police Department rather than for the officers since the city paid for the training.

— Ford reported that there has been a drop in property crimes and crimes against other people, though there is an increase in domestic violence cases he attributes to increased alcohol and drug use.

There has also been an increase in credit card crimes, with a recent case that affected about 30 people.

“Someone took pictures and went on a spending spree,” Ford said.

The suspect has been cooperative, and they expect to close the case with the Osage County Sheriff’s Office soon.

• Aldermen approved Bill #2024-011, an ordinance establishing procedures to disclose potential conflicts of interest and substantial interests for city municipal officers. The conflict of interest ordinance is reviewed and passed every two years, and the wording has not changed from years past.

• Grellner has contacted property owners for whom the city will need easements for the Lee Mar Hills Regionalization Project to set up meeting times. The easements need to be agreed upon, and property owners need to sign service agreements before the Oct. 23 deadline.

• Grellner is preparing an amended budget to be presented to the board at the September meeting, which has all the information required by state regulations. She has reached out to the Missouri Municipal League (MML) to ensure all the information is correct.

• Grellner also proposed that the city switch to Smart Sights, the 911 service it currently uses, which charges an annual rate of $800.

“They are going to a subscription-based service that offers 24/7 support and upgrades we currently don’t have,” Grellner said.

The city can sign up for a three-year contract for $4,800 or a one-year contract for $1,450.

When aldermen pointed out that the numbers didn’t quite add up, Grellner noted she thought they may be accounting for the price increase in the three-year contract. She will contact the company to confirm pricing and bring it back to the next meeting.

• Aldermen watched a presentation with Barry Howell representing Visu-Sewer, a St. Louis company offering trench-less rehabilitation sewer service. Rowinski worked with Howell during a recent class and believes this is something the city needs to consider for the future.

“We don’t dig up or re-lay pipe,” Howell said. “We fix pipe in place and evaluate the pipe by doing inspections. We do pretty much everything to a pipe except dig it up.”

Visu-Sewer has worked with Bartlett & West, and mid-Missouri cities, including Fulton, West Plains, and Vandalia.

Along with mapping sewer lines and identifying problems, Visu-Sewer analyses the data for cities and prioritizes what needs to be done, as well as the budget for sewer expenses and repairs.

Visu-Sewer offers a free estimate. Howell noted that the typical cost for the service is $8 to $12 per foot but warned that the price could increase depending on the type of pipe and the level of problems. Rowinski estimated that the city had about 18 miles of sewer pipe, and the evaluation would take 12 to 14 weeks to complete.

“It’s a lot of information for the dollar spent,” Howell said. “It serves the city well to have the information.”

• The City Pool’s last day will be Aug. 31. They will be open from 4 to 7 p.m. during the week and regular hours on the weekend.

• City Hall will be closed on Sept. 2 in observance of Labor Day, and the Linn License Fee Office will be closed on Saturday, Aug. 31, and Sept. 2.

• Aldermen approved outstanding bills for $142,769.01.

• Linn had the following account balances in their governmental fund accounts: general ($851,845.15), pool (-$30,345.57), park ($114,122.07), police training ($1,352.66), park-improvement and equipment (-$374,426.05), and pool-improvement and equipment ($1,948.24).

• The city had the following account balances in their business-type funds: water ($490,963.45), water replacement ($101,688.36), sewer ($421,863.17), sewer replacement ($47,454.81), and grants (-$87,672.72).

• Linn holds nine certificates of deposit totaling $1,323,572.60.

• The city will hold a public tax-rate hearing on Aug. 27 at 5 p.m., and the next regular meeting will be on Sept. 10 at 5 p.m.