Meta aldermen last Wednesday approved a change in legal representation, selecting Nathan Nickolaus of Lauber Municipal Law, LLC, a Jefferson City firm. Nickolaus has the distinction of having served as the city attorney for Meta some years ago, and the law firm he represents deals exclusively with municipal issues, which was a plus for aldermen.

In an email to the city, Nickolaus said the six attorneys at Lauber Municipal Law because of their focus on municipal law “Bring more municipal experience and expertise than anyone else in this area. Because we are so focused, we have experience with almost every imaginable issue that cities face, and keep abreast of all of the new and developing issues.”

Within that focus is a specialized effort to keep up with nuisance and abandoned property issues, and the hourly billing rate of $160 — discounted from $215 per hour — was the lowest of four proposals, and the firm does not bill for copies, travel or calls or faxes.

Three other firms presented proposals:

* Cunningham, Vogel & Rost, of Jefferson City, offered billing rates starting at $165 per hour for associate attorneys and topping out at $370 per hour for principal attorneys.

* Pitzer Snodgrass has billing rates of $175 per hour for principal attorneys and $150 per hour for associate attorneys.

* Martin Pringle has billing rates of $350 per hour for principal attorneys, discounted to $300 per hour for municipalities, and a rate of $225 to $250 per hour for associate attorneys. The firm also wanted a $2,500 retainer.

Aldermen first began considering a change in its legal representation after City Clerk Deidra Buechter made the recommendation at the April meeting.

“I feel that possibly you guys aren’t getting your money’s worth out of the current lawyer,” she said then of attorney David Bandre. “Probably to get the most bang for your buck, you need someone who specializes in municipal law instead of someone who has their hands in all different types of law to be the best candidate to represent the city.”

Buechter added that issues like nuisance and dangerous property can get especially hairy, and an attorney well-versed in municipal law is preferable.

Alderman Ivie Helton said she was impressed with the fact that Lauber Municipal Law is focused on issues with which Meta has been dealing for several years.

Alderman Steve Sherrell agreed, noting that Nickolaus did well when he served the city of Meta years ago. After Nickolaus took the job as city administrator for Jefferson City, he left his role as the city’s attorney, and was followed by attorneys Kent Brown and Bandre.

While Helton said that based on the proposals she was leaning toward Nickolaus, but wanted to know if this was merely an opportunity to see what services were available or if this was a certain move.

“Are we talking about moving away from David Brandre?” Helton asked.

“I have no problem with Bandre,” said Alderman Lawrence Hoffman, who last week served as mayor pro tem in Mayor Harold Libbert’s absence. “He’s never steered us wrong with anything. For the price, Nickolaus is the same.”

Hoffman added that any time he was needed at a meeting or to become involved in a legal situation, Bandre was available, and if he didn’t know the answer to something, he endeavored to find it.

Helton cited Lauber’s firm specializes in nuisance and dangerous property as an important consideration, adding she has no real problem with Bandre.

“We haven’t encountered a situation when he was uncooperative or didn’t give us the answer we needed or anything like that,” Helton said. “But maybe we need to think about someone who has a bit more expertise, especially in areas that we need help with, someone we can lean on a bit more instead of just asking our attorney if it’s okay that we do this or that. Maybe we need a little more advice on how to proceed. That’s really the only thing I’m thinking about.”

Aldermen noted that Bandre has not been present at a monthly meeting for some time, and wondered whether that should be a consideration moving forward.

Sherrell noted the last nuisance property situation involved Melissa Williams, who retained her property after the city cleaned it up.

“We should have had a lawyer that said, ‘No, if we’re going to clean it up, you sign it over to the city,’” said Sherrell.

“Yeah, but I don’t know if that’s the legal way of doing it,” said Alderman Otto Wankum. “Maybe he said what he said because that’s the way it had to be done.”

Sherrell added that the Williams property is once again run down.

Buechter noted that aldermen usually see only end result of various legal issues.

“The last thing we had Bandre’s help on was the contract with Loethen Construction, and how to go about making a change order, and Mary did all the research, and sent him all the information she found, and he said it was good work and that we could do it,” said Buechter. “Then he charged us $75.”

Helton said she would like to see a more pro-active attorney. “It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have some good input,” she said. “We should get all our questions together and then ask the attorney to come to our meeting so we can ask them. I feel we’re stuck in a rut with a lot of things, and if we had someone helping us more, that would benefit the city.”

Sherrell said there are three properties in town that will need to be addressed this summer, and a pro-active attorney would be crucial.

“We need to know how to proceed when we don’t get the compliance we need,” said Helton. “We need an attorney to tell us what we can do, and we don’t want to fork out thousands of dollars to take someone to court if we don’t have to. We’re not offering charity to go around and clean up these properties and not get anything back from it. That’s something the attorney can help us with too.”

Treasurer Mary Plassmeyer noted there is already a lot of information on the nuisance properties, which can be turned over to the attorney for review before any action is taken. “We don’t want him spinning his wheels,” she added.

Aldermen agreed unanimously to hire Lauber Municipal Law, and request that Nickolas attend the June 10 meeting. Additionally, a letter will be sent to Bandre announcing the city’s intention to terminate the contract with his law firm, with 30 days notice.

In other business, the board approved a request from Brandon Otten regarding use of the ball field for a four-team youth baseball scrimmage event to be held this weekend. Games will start at 6 p.m. Friday, and again at 8 a.m. Saturday, and no more than two teams will be out of their cars at once.

A barrier will be put in place in the outfield to create separation so that teams can warm up, and the dugouts will be disinfected between games.

Otten said that social-distancing requirements will be observed.

“These kids have been cooped up long enough,” said Otten. “This will be something fun for them.”

Restrooms will be open during the weekend, and maintenance employees confirmed they are clean and need only to be stocked before use. The only request was that Otten and the teams take care of the trash so that city employees are not left with a big mess to clean up.

Grass-killer has already been sprayed on the infield, and maintenance employee Kenny Loethen said the outfield will be mowed prior to the event.

Really the only question was whether to charge for electric since at least Friday’s games will require lights. However, Plassmeyer noted there was not a big jump in cost last year, and aldermen agreed to forgo any additional charge.

* Due to limited parking at St. Cecilia Catholic Church Cemetery, the cemetery association, represented by Charlie Schroeder, will put in a parking lot in the grassy area between the road and the chain-link fence, and between the two drives, at least. Schroeder said that since this was city property, the association wanted to get permission before taking any action.

As with any project completed involving city property, should a water-line break or mishap occur, and the concrete is removed to make repairs, the cemetery association will be responsible for any repairs to the parking lot.

Schroeder said the plan is to use angled parking to get the most cars on the lot as possible.

* Loethen and fellow maintenance employee Mitch Stumpe told aldermen that the lawn mower needs to be replaced as soon as possible. The mower does not cut, and there are many mechanical issues on the unit, which has more than 700 hours of use.

Loethen and Stumpe agreed that a zero-turn model designed for ditches and hills the way to go, though its price tag of $10,000 is steep.

Wankum said he wasn’t convinced this type of mower would be ideal for the many hills and ditches in Meta, adding he wants a demonstration.

Loethen noted that Crown Power in Jefferson City has agreed to provide such a demonstration, and told Otto he could go there to test it himself. Conversely, it may be possible — and even preferable — that the demonstration take place in Meta.

Loethen noted the maintenance equipment budget still has $8,300 available in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and suggested the additional funds wouldn’t be hard to allot.

However, Plassmeyer said that this needs to be done after July 1 when the new budget will be in force, to make sure the city does not deficit-spend on this purchase.

Since the purchase will exceed $5,000, Loethen was directed to get three bids for the board’s consideration at a special budget workshop, which has been scheduled for May 28 at 6:30 p.m.

* Aldermen signed off on a one-year deal to have Gerding, Korte & Chitwood conduct the city’s audit for the 2019-20 fiscal year, at a cost not to exceed $6,100. Prior to next year’s audit, aldermen agreed it was a good idea to solicit bids for services, including a multi-year option.

* Loethen and Stumpe are working to replace 10 posts and top rails at the park. Fencing will be attached at the top while the bottom will be loose to allow flood water to pass through, along with most of the debris. About two foot of water went through the area in the last flood, and a lot of debris was caught in the fence.

This project is expected to be completed soon, when the ground dries, and the posts will be reused once concrete is knocked off, in the same holes.

* Aldermen approved a revised records destruction list to ensure that all documents are properly disposed of as the city cleans out files.

* Buechter said the new maintenance building is coming along nicely, and should be done in mid- to late July.

WATER UPDATE

* City Clerk Deidra Buechter reported 471,340 gallons of water were pumped during the month of April, with 340,901 gallons sold, 2,500 gallons used by the fire department, and 5,000 gallons stolen, leaving 122,939 gallons of water lost, or 26.08%. Buechter said the theft of water has been reported to the Osage County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating.

* As of April 30, a total of $2,917.21 in water sales were recorded, with $1,064.92 collected for trash service, $80 in late fees, $70 in connection fees, $120 in reconnection fees, and $100.25 collected in sales tax. Total charges were $4,352.38 with a previous balance due of $137.47 and payments received in the amount of $4,782.28, leaving a positive balance of $292.43.

FINANCIAL NEWS

* In her regular monthly financial report, Plassmeyer noted income/deposits totaled $15,669.49 and debits of $30,779.48 for a balance on hand as of April 30 totaling $432,750.78; the money market balance was $139,903.55; the escrow account totaled $910; and two certificates of deposit total $51,907.78 and $122,703.39, respectively, giving the city total funds on hand of $748,170.50. A total of $31,614.43 in expenses were paid in the month of April.

* The next meeting of the board will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 10.