Westphalia aldermen approved the appointment of Jake Plassmeyer to the seat vacated by recently-elected Ben Holterman, who is moving out of the city limits and no longer meets the requirements to be an alderman. Plassmeyer will hold the appointed seat from October 2022 through the election in April 2023. 

“At the next election (in April 2023), Delbert (Wieberg) and Stanley’s (Hackman) seat will be up for election, and the other one (held by Plassmeyer) will be up for election too, but only for one year,” Mayor Tammy Massman explained.

Holterman was vocal about his support for Plassmeyer filling his seat, noting that Plassmeyer had recently helped work on the city of Westphalia’s website.

Alderman Lori Asel asked if the positions for alderman were being advertised. Massman noted that the city is required to place the ad in the local paper for two cycles before the election and that filing would open in late December. The city could also post these openings on its website once it is up and running.

Several residents at the meeting questioned the best way to get the word out to residents that there was an election coming up in April. Massman noted there is an election every year.

In other business, aldermen approved the second annual Christmas on Main for Sunday, Nov. 27. Main Street will be closed for the event from Mill Road to Mill Road from 5-8 p.m., with the parade starting off the festivities. Event planners Nicki Bax and Kelsey Leverett noted the committee would obtain road closures for Hwy. 63 from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). 

“The plan is to keep the (highway) closures to a minimum,” Leverett said. 

She explained that the original intent of the parade was to give the residents of Westphalia Hills Christmas cheer, and they want to ensure that they are not leaving the nursing and retirement home out of the parade route. 

Wieberg suggested that the committee put up signs noting there are no detours through the town and that a limited delay due to a parade should be expected.

“We’re not going to make everyone happy with the highway shut down,” Leverett acknowledged.

“Not everyone that is passing through at that time is local,” Wieberg said. “You could put out signs on each end of town to notify travelers.”

At this point, the parade route is the same as last year, with parade participants gathering at Trimble Funeral Homes and getting onto Hwy. 63 and then circling the Stonebridge Senior Living Center and Westphalia Hills Retirement Center before crossing the highway to Castle Rock Road, traversing Main Street, and ending at the Fatima R-3 parking lot. Event planners have looked at crossing the field between the funeral home and the Westphalia Hills Retirement Center if the weather is favorable and avoiding crossing the highway twice.

Leverett and Bax acknowledged that they learned a lot from last year’s event and have made changes based on that experience. 

“We have kinda simplified the event to make things easier,” Leverett said. She and Bax plan to do a better job talking to all the city’s businesses so that they are prepared for the day and designating areas around the parade route as “No Parking” the morning of the event.

Leverett said that although they appreciated the city of Westphalia paying for the event insurance for the first Christmas on Main, they are not asking the city to pay for the event insurance this year and will list the city as being insured.

“We really did want to emphasize that we don’t want outside alcohol sales,” Leverett added. “We would prefer to keep it a family event. It’s not our intent to turn this into an outdoor drinking bash.”

Aldermen agreed that they would not provide letters of reference for any catering licenses for the event, which would allow businesses to serve alcoholic drinks outside. Besides the parade, which will start at 5 p.m., there will also be pictures with Santa, live music, and a tree-lighting ceremony.

• Aldermen approved Resolution #22-02 to adopt the Osage County Multi-Jurisdiction Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. Massman noted that Osage County needs approval for the resolution before the end of October. The county has been working with the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) on the plan, which would allow the city of Westphalia to request funds and assistance in case of a natural disaster from federal agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 

• After a review of the Driveway Repairs Assistance Program, aldermen agreed to several changes. The newest revision will add a description of the scope of work that will include an embedded metal grate system, where applicable, to help establish a uniform driveway entrance. The wording will also be changed to say that the Board of Aldermen will approve the scope of work, but the property owner will pick the contractor. Currently, the wording of the Westphalia Driveway Repairs Assistance Program requires that aldermen vote to approve the contractor bid.

“I don’t know if, in the past, it was so much selecting the contractor as basically approving the work,” Massman said. 

“There have been multiple contractors doing them, and we’re trying to keep them all the same,” Wieberg said. “It’s basically to keep all the sidewalks on the same plane, and that grates were easy maintenance for the driveways.”

“The main focus was uniformity along the main drag,” Massman added. “Then some of the residents along other streets started to utilize it.”

She noted that a driveway is an extension of a person’s property and, therefore, it is not the city’s responsibility; the Westphalia Driveway Assistance Program was created to give property owner’s an incentive to make repairs. 

“When we do that, we are utilizing city funds, and then we get to have a say in how it’s done,” Massman explained.

Property owners are not required to use the program or build their driveways in a specific way if they are not utilizing it.

Massman added that the number of projects done per year is minimal, and there are very few issues with any of them.

Aldermen left the city’s share of the cost at a maximum of $2,500 per driveway despite concerns about inflation.

Wieberg has agreed to help write the scope of work, and aldermen will vote on the changes at the October meeting.

• Flyers have gone out to announce the fall cleanup for Oct. 8-9.

• German Fest will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Oct. 16, and the Westphalia Historical Society will hold its walking tour on Oct. 23.

• Massman plans to contact Fatima R-3 about painting a crosswalk for students walking to and from school. She noted that any changes need to be a collaborative effort between the school and the city to address safety concerns.

MAINTENANCE UPDATE

Mid Mo Operations reported that there had been no emergencies for the wastewater treatment plant. The surge protector was replaced at the Hwy. 63 Lift Station. Mike Mueller has finished all repairs to raise the remaining three manhole covers. 

Wieberg is concerned about a back-flow pipe that had water running into it. The city will have Mueller dig up the line the next time he is in the area and see why it isn’t working.

Massman noted that the city had received all of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, a total of $77,188.18. She thought the best course of action was to ask Mid Mo Operations what they thought the priorities of repairs were for the Wastewater Treatment Plant and to start getting bids.

“We are going to need 10 times that just to replace the manifold,” Wieberg said.

“I don’t think it will be a problem at all spending that amount of money, but we do probably need to let (Mid Mo Operations) take the lead with prioritizing what needs to be attended to first and get the bid work rolling,” Massman said.

• Aldermen approved the following expenses for the month: city fund ($26,788.45), sewer system ($6,880.53), and special road district ($35,369.40).

• The city had the following receipts for the month: city ($11,871.21), sewer ($10,366.08), and special road district ($1,208.82).

• Westphalia had the following account balances: city checking ($163,172.80), sewer system checking ($44,296.25), special road district checking ($17,430.58), and special road district savings ($5,113.15).

• The city has the following certificates of deposit: city ($439,832.16), sewer system ($522,219.60), and special Road District ($522,442.61).

• The next regular meeting will be held on Oct. 25 at 6 p.m.