META — Meta City Clerk Deidra Buechter told aldermen at their May meeting that she is still working to identify the owner of property on Linn Street, where a culvert needs to be repaired or replaced.

She noted that the owner of one vacant property no longer lives in town, and the leak is being investigated. The end of the culvert on Linn Street is caved in, but it also has another culvert running perpendicular to it.

Buechter said she is trying to schedule a time for contractor Rueben Wieberg to dig it up.

Meta owns the collapsed culvert on John Deere Lane, and officials are likewise awaiting a contractor.

In other business, the city approved renewing its insurance through the Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund (MOPERM). Initially, Buechter noted, the city approved a 6% increase in its annual premium, which jumped to $10,951. However, aldermen wanted to include $50,000 in coverage for the new park and equipment, so the price will increase after a full review.

• The city inked a one-year agreement with Gerding, Korte & Chitwood CPAs of Boonville at a cost of $8,900 for an audit of the fiscal year ending on June 30.

• Aldermen hired Eli Libbert to work through the summer at a rate of $15 per hour.

• A budget workshop was held on May 19, and aldermen will take action next month to approve the FY27 budget and amend FY26 actual figures to the budget.

FINANCIAL NEWS

• In her regular monthly financial report, Treasurer Karla Buechter noted income/deposits of $27,714.30 and debits of $11,406.02 for a balance on hand as of April 30 totaling $668,103.31; the money market balance was $143.894.17, the CDBG balance was $97,129.12, and two certificates of deposit totaled $177,991.15, giving the city a total of $1,087,117.75 in all accounts.

WATER UPDATE

• A total of $6,459.19 in water sales was recorded in March, with $1,822.50 charged for trash, $240 in late fees, and $219.68 in sales tax. Total charges were $8,741.37 with a previous surplus of $801.49 and payments received in the amount of $7,819.05, leaving a positive balance of $120.83.

• Meta’s water loss was 42%, with 596,981 gallons pumped, 330,116 gallons sold, 15,000 gallons flushed, and 3,000 gallons used by the fire department, leaving 348,116 gallons unaccounted for.

• The next meeting will be held on June 11 at 6:30 p.m.