LINN — At their meeting on Feb. 17, Linn aldermen approved moving forward on a splash pad that will be located at the City Park. Park Board President Neil Loethen outlined details for the splash pad, along with several other improvements and additions to the parks. The initial cost and installation of the splash pad will be funded privately at no cost to the city.

“It will be a freshwater system,” Loethen explained. “The water will just go down the drain after it is used. I spoke with several other cities, and they all recommended the freshwater system. It will not have a huge impact on the water supply.”

Alderman Bill Turner asked if there was an estimate of how much water the splash pad would use.

“I do not have a good estimate for that,” Loethen said. “This isn’t a large system, and there aren’t a ton of nozzles on it. A person would have to activate the system, and it can be set up to run for a different number of minutes and in different patterns. I think that is the reason I can’t get a straight answer on how much water it uses, because everyone uses it differently.”

Mayor Dwight Massey said that the city would need to know some specifications of how much flow is needed to understand what is needed to hook up the system.

Loethen believes the best location for the splash pad would be where the old sand volleyball court had been.

“I picked that location because it’s pretty flat and close to the water main,” Loethen said.

Massey agreed that it was the best location for the splash pad as well. “The only concern I would have is the runoff, and if that keeps the ditch wet, we may have to pipe it,” said Massey, who will meet with Loethen to walk through and verify that the location will work.

The area will not be fenced off or gated, and will be shut off during the winter months. The city will be responsible for ongoing maintenance and repairs, but Loethen hopes those will be minimal since the nozzles and housing have a lifetime warranty.

“How much is this going to pull kids to the free splash pad versus the paid City Pool?” Alderman Dustin Flamm asked. “Every year, we lose money at the pool.”

“We subsidize the pool every year; most municipal pools are subsidized,” Massey said. “It allows us to provide a place for young kids to take swim lessons, so we don’t hear about them drowning in the river or a pond.

“The community is built around amenities, and that’s what we provide — parks, pools, and so on,” Massey continued. “Being budget-conscious is one thing, but considering budget solely when deciding to keep something like the City Pool, I would be careful with that.”

Alderman Steve Boeckmann liked the idea of the splash pad as a place for toddlers since the city’s kiddie pool is not operational.

“How many years have we been talking about fixing the kiddie pool?” Boeckmann asked. “I think this is a great idea.”

Flamm agreed, noting that he liked the free access for taxpayers, and noted that he is not against the construction of the new splash pad.

• Loethen confirmed that the gates to Maguire Park have been unlocked and opened and will remain that way for the time being.

• Loethen announced the baseball season has started, and the town teams will have their meeting soon. Several improvements to the ball field are planned, including a netted backstop.

“Linn High School just installed a black netted backstop,” Loethen said. “Ours won’t look exactly the same because they have a larger budget than we do, and aren’t using existing materials like we are, but it is kinda what it will look like.”

Loethen also hopes to have the new dugouts for the Linn City field installed soon.

“As I told you, I will be funding those myself, and I can hopefully utilize some of the maintenance personnel to get those completed,” Loethen explained.

• He noted that the repairs to the truck, which was transferred from the Linn Police Department, have been completed, and that they are now looking for new tires.

• Loethen plans to get ideas from some landscaping companies to redo the flowerbeds, and possibly add some landscaping elements to replace the old white poles that keep people from driving into the City Park.

• Loethen has taken advantage of the nice weather to burn leaves when he has a chance.

In other business, BSA Eagle Scout Candidate Leo Massman received approval to add identification signs to different types of trees at Maguire Park. Massman plans to identify at least 10 different types of trees and will concentrate on the hiking trail.

“That is something we have talked about doing at one point,” Massey said, asking if Massman could include both the common and scientific names on the sign.

Massman thought that was a great idea. He will also include the average age and height of the different types of trees.

“We want it to be educational,” Massman said.

• Bartlett & West Project Manager Hope Drennan updated aldermen on progress regarding the Lee Mar Hills Regionalization Project.

“We had spoken with the property owner, and we made a few alignment changes,” Drennan explained.

Bartlett & West did a new cost estimate, and any additional cost will be absorbed in the grant.

“The next step is to have the new alignment okayed with one more property owner, and then we can get the cultural resource study underway,” Drennan said.

Following the Cultural Resource Study, Bartlett & West will work on the specifications.

“It will be a little different than the Jaegers Project, but very similar to what you have seen before,” Drennan said.

• The Wobbly Wagon, a mobile bar owned by Nick Robinson, was given permission to provide beer and alcohol at the upcoming motorcycle rally sponsored by My Little Store.

“We are fully licensed through the state and county for liquor, beer, and wine, and we carry general liability insurance,” Robinson explained.

The Wobbly Wagon also has approval through the Osage County Health Department and will purchase liquor liability insurance for the event.

Robinson requested that aldermen allow open containers at the City Park for the event.

Massey noted that this has been requested for several events and is not typically an issue.

Robinson would like to utilize the concession stand under the bleachers for his sales.

“We wouldn’t need to use anything except electricity and have access to the building,” Robinson said. “We have several more meetings to work out the details, but we need official approval to get the insurance process started.”

Police Chief Sam Ford noted that his main priority is public safety.

“We care about safety, too,” Robinson said. “We want people to be responsible and safe. We want to make money at the event, but we want to do it safely.”

• The city of Linn will plan to renew its contract with Republic Services for trash removal within the city limits.

Republic Services will increase rates to $21 per month for a single cart and an additional charge of $7 per month for an additional cart.

City Clerk Carrie Grellner noted that there is not a lot of competition for trash service, and rate increases have been standard throughout the years.

Republic Services is offering a 5% increase to trash service in years two and five, and would like the city to sign a five-year contract.

• Grellner informed the board that an individual called requesting additional handicap parking at the square.

• The Linn License Fee Office contract is up for renewal, and would like to extend the contract for an additional five years without going out for bid. Grellner expects to get the new contract for consideration soon.

• Ford said that the city of Linn has been accepted into the Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force, and he will attend his first meeting on March 10.

• Ford announced that things are going well in the fully-staffed department.

“I think we are going to see the benefit of having two officers working in the evenings,” Ford said. “I’m appreciative to the board, that over the last two years we’ve been able to make that happen. We’ve come a long way.”

• Ford has applied for a Blue Shield Designation for the Linn Police Department, and he will know within a few weeks if the application will be accepted.

“Once we are accepted into the Blue Shield Designation, there are grants available to us,” Ford said. “They are well-funded, and I’m expecting a sizable grant from that.”

Ford is hoping to use the grant money for additional equipment.

• The department has purchased another used vehicle and is outfitting it to be a part of the regular rotation.

“We will have all all-wheel drive vehicles, and after our last snow, the officers made comments that they had zero problems getting around, and felt a lot more comfortable with the all-wheel drive vehicles,” Ford explained.

Ford is pleased that they have been able to equip the vehicles with additional lights and sirens, additional cages, and other equipment for improved safety.

• Shelley Klebba, representing the Linn Betterment and Christmas on Main Street committees, asked the board if the city was considering purchasing new, lighted Christmas decorations.

Grellner said that she is working with Ameren to see what poles could be used for decorations.

“There have been a number of outlets taken out when poles were replaced, and the new replacements would cost hundreds of dollars each,” Massey said.

Grellner noted that all the outlets would need to be upgraded at some point, at a cost to the city.

“I love the idea of it,” Massey said.

Aldermen had researched repairs for the existing Christmas decorations that the city already owns, but it would be cheaper to buy new decorations.

“Is there funding in the city budget for new Christmas lights?” Klebba asked.

“I would love to have new Christmas decorations, but I don’t know about spending that much money, “Boeckmann said.

Aldermen agreed to discuss it at their next budget meeting.

• The board approved outstanding bills for $195,701.11.

• Linn had the following ending governmental fund account balances: general ($583,920.21), pool (-$87,299.85), park ($66,296.82), police training ($1,195.66), general fund-improvement and equipment (-$15,984.28), park-improvement and equipment (-$11,562.38), and pool-improvement and equipment ($1,948.24).

• The city had the following ending business-type account balances: water ($514,947.03), water replacement ($163,498.36), sewer ($434,443.15), sewer replacement ($59,838.93), and grants (-$90,060.04).

• Linn holds nine certificates of deposit totaling $1,415,379.98.

• A budget meeting will be held on March 3 at 5:30 p.m., and the next regular meeting will be held on March 24 at 5:30 p.m.