META — At their May meeting, Meta aldermen accepted a bid of $10,000 from Hayden Otto of Otto Recycling in Iberia to clean up the Papunta property. Jared Buechter of Jefferson City offered a price of $13,800, and Matt Kliethermes Excavating of Jefferson City bid the project at $15,000.

City Attorney Nathan Nickolaus confirmed the city had received a judgment against the owners.

Alderman Otto Wankum noted the owner had moved three old cars that wouldn’t run, but the property needs attention.

With the bid awarded, Clerk Buechter asked if the city should send a letter notifying Papunta of the decision to hire a clean-up crew. However, Nickolaus said it was unnecessary and that if the owner refused to pay the amount to be outlaid by the city, Meta could be attached to a property lien as a way to recoup the cost.

Wankum said the three vehicles were moved to several locations on the property. “The only reason he moved it up there was so he could hide it better than where it was,” he added. “I had a debate with him when he had a boat parked in the middle of the alleyway. It had a broken axle, so it was not movable.”

Wankum added he gave the property owner an option to move the boat or it would be towed, even if he had to drag it away with his truck. “It was right in the middle of the freaking public alleyway,” he noted. “He moved it but he wasn’t happy.”

Buechter asked if notification would encourage the proper owner to clean up the mess, but aldermen noted that 30 days’ notice was not much in the grand scheme of things.

Should the owner clean up part of the property, would that affect the price paid to the contractor?

“I’m of the opinion we can’t give the guy any wiggle room whatsoever,” said Nickolaus.

“I just want to try and avoid paying $10,000 but it’s up to you guys,” Clerk Buechter said. “Unless somebody says something, I’m not sending out any letters.”

Aldermen agreed that not sending notifications was the best option.

“Well, that’ll clean up one of your favorite properties,” said Nickolaus. “Now all we gotta do is clean the one up the other one.”

No judgment has been secured on the Werdehausen property. “They are claiming they sold the property, but there’s no evidence that they sold the property,” said Nickolaus. “We went ahead to get a judgment on them, but the judge wouldn’t give us a default judgment, which is really odd, because he’s decided that this should be in the associate circuit court.”

Though the case was postponed, Nickolaus is confident the city will secure a judgment soon.

Regarding the Welch property, Nickolaus said a judgment has been determined but the order has yet to be signed. Nickolaus noted he needs a specific list of everything the property owner has yet to complete regarding improvements. Wankum promised to deliver a list and photos to document the situation.

Nickolaus continues to pursue legal remedies for other nuisance properties.

In other business, aldermen looked at ceiling options for the new meeting room at City Hall, which is the old garage revamped to provide more space in the front of the building.

One option is an eight-inch by 12-foot, six-inch white beaded, solid vinyl soffit. A second option is a Carolina beaded vinyl siding, and the third is white PVC, beaded planking for walls and ceilings.

“I gave you guys some options because whichever way you go, it’s going to be expensive,” said City Clerk Deidra Buechter.

The board agreed to go with the white beaded vinyl.

Aldermen acknowledged that some items would have to be removed from the garage. One suggestion was to store them at what once served as the concession stand at the ballpark but has been unused for some time.

Rubber pellets for the playground are already stored there.

• Aldermen approved the application to renew its cyber liability insurance. Buechter noted the city scoured the field several years ago to find coverage. “Not many people wanted to cover us, I guess, because we’re not really big in terms of money,” she added. “And cybersecurity is kind of a big deal.”

• Wankum noted that following the Memorial Day weekend, he and maintenance employees planned to work on cleaning out the creeks. “It’s not a hard job,” he said. “It’s just a matter of doing it.”

• Renting a street sweeper was justified for $400 because Wankum said there is always gravel to remove. “There’s a big pile of gravel that looks like part of a dump truck dumped all over the road,” said Alderman Steve Sherrell.

An alleyway was also washed out, sending debris downhill. “Even with a bucket on the front of the tractor, it’s hard to get that off the road,” said Wankum. “You can scoop up some of it, but you’re going to leave traces of it, here, there, and everywhere.”

WATER UPDATE

• Clerk Buechter reported 487,401 gallons of water were pumped during the month, with 336,391 gallons sold, 10,000 gallons flushed, and 750 gallons used by the fire department, leaving 140,260 gallons of water lost, or 28.78%.

• A total of $6,321.95 in water sales were recorded in March, with $1,345.41 charged for trash, $233.49 in taxes, and $300 in late fees. Total charges were $8,200.85, with a previous surplus of $527.76 and payments received in the amount of $8,740.25, leaving a surplus of $1,067.16.

FINANCIAL NEWS

• In her regular monthly financial report, Treasurer Karla Buechter noted deposits of $26,002.92 and debits of $9,041.83 for a balance on hand of $729,991.95 as of April 30; the money market balance was $142,962.14; the CDBG account totaled $55; and two certificates of deposit total $180,653.67, giving the city total funds on hand of $1,053,62.76.

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