WESTPHALIA — Mayor Pro Tem Delbert Wieberg advocated for raising sewer rates and building a new wastewater treatment plant at the board’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25.

“This plant has a 25-year life, and it’s 20 years old now,” Wieberg said. “We have the option to revamp what we have now.”

He noted that the city has already installed a new header. If the goal is to make additional repairs to the plant, the city would have to absorb the cost of pumping the wastewater and hauling it elsewhere as repairs are being made.

“We would still have to pump out what is left in the plant itself and haul it off and hope we don’t find anything else wrong,” Wieberg continued.

Wieberg asked Aaron Lachowicz of Mid Mo Operations for his advice on whether to revamp the existing plant or build a new one.

“He suggested that we go ahead and build another plant and just route the system over,” Wieberg said. “There is land available to build a second plant, since that was the plan when this one wore out.”

Wieberg plans to attend a Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) meeting about infrastructure and grants in January.

“If we decide we want to build a new plant, which is what I suggest, if we ask for grant money, the first thing that DNR is going to ask us is ‘Why are our sewer rates so low?’” Wieberg said. “They are going to want us to raise the rates.”

Wieberg said he has been asked several times why the city is not raising the sewer rates to keep up with rising costs.

He noted that even if the city can get a grant, it would have to use reserves for matching funds.

Wieberg predicted that a new wastewater plant could cost the city $1.2 million to $1.5 million.

“How much do we want to raise the sewer rates?” Wieberg asked. “Do we want to raise them 10% a year for the next five years?”

City Clerk Tammy Massman said that she could go back and pull out the rate study that was created when the city raised sewer rates the last time.

“We had a 10-year plan with the expectation of rate increases,” Massman said.

Unterrified Democrat Reporter Theresa Brandt asked if the current plant was having any problems.

Wieberg and Lachowicz both responded no.

“Typically, aren’t grants given a priority to plants that are having issues that need to be fixed?” Brandt asked.

Again, Wieberg agreed, reiterating that he believed that the city needed to raise the sewer rates.

“If we don’t do anything, pretty soon Aaron’s going to be coming to us because he can’t meet DNR specs, and when Aaron comes to us, and we can’t afford to fix things, we’re going to lose a good operator because he’s tired of fighting with us to get things fixed,” Wieberg said. “I’ve seen it happen before in other small towns that don’t want rate increases. Then what happens?

“When we can’t meet the DNR specs, Aaron quits, and we’re up s•it creek, and we sell to American Water Company, and then the rates really go up,” Wieberg continued. “They will be more than happy to buy it.”

Wieberg asked what was required to increase the sewer rates.

“There needs to be public hearings and a new ordinance; it’s a whole process,” Massman said.

Wieberg will revisit the issue after the DNR meeting in January.

Lachowicz had reported that everything with the sewer system was running well. Currently, Mid Mo Operations is having new brackets created so that they can be installed when the pump for the Hwy. 63 lift station arrives. Mid Mo operation replaced a roller chain on the clarifier drive at a cost of $70 to include labor and parts. Quarterly maintenance was completed, and manhole inspections are 90% completed.

In other business, aldermen approved the purchase of two pallets of road salt for $6.50 per 50-pound bag, and two pallets of ice melt for $10.50 per 50-pound bag from Linn MFA. Wieberg will haul the ice to the city’s shed.

Wieberg, with help from Toby Bruce, had picked up 103 mineral totes of salt from the city’s old salt shed.

Wieberg admitted there were probably several tons of salt remaining.

“I spoke with Corey (Jaegers of Elite Lawn Care LLC), and he has a spreader bed like the old city truck, and he’ll bring the skid steer over there and use it for the roads this year,” Wieberg said. “After this season, it will all be out of there.”

Wieberg said that he hopes to be able to buy salt and ice melt by the semi-load next year.

• Aldermen approved up to $5,000 to clear, dig up, and repair the culvert near Hwy. 63 and South Maries Avenue, and along Linn Street. The culvert was found to be blocked when Wieberg worked with All Clear Plumbing to clear several culverts in the city. All Clear Plumbing was able to clear two, one on Bridge Avenue and another along Linn Street. Several culverts were unable to be cleared and may require additional repairs in the future.

• Aldermen approved changing the date of the Christmas on Main Parade and events to Dec. 7 due to cold weather.

All other perimeters of the event were to remain the same.

The city also received an anonymous letter complaining about Christmas on Main and the street closures caused by the event.

The letter was somewhat confusing, and it was impossible to ask additional questions since the letter was not signed.

“It’s sad to hear someone so upset about a Christmas parade that is only affecting the city for one day,” Wieberg said, adding he hoped that the Christmas on Main committee would start organizing the event earlier in the year in the future, and that it could grow with additional vendors and events.

• The Christmas decorating contest will be held on Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. First prize will be $50, second prize will be $40, third prize will be $30, and fourth prize will be $20. There will be no honorable mentions again this year.

Results and pictures will be published in the Unterrified Democrat.

• The board will look at the values of the items the city has insured at the request of the Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund (MOPERM).

“After the recent lightning strike, the entire amount was not covered because our insured value was so low,” Massman explained. “We’ve been asked to look at increasing the value since we might be undervaluing what we are insuring.”

Lachowicz offered to look up some of the replacement costs to help aldermen make an informed decision.

• Aldermen approved an exception for a resident who had planted seed in their yard in November and had been watering it through the dry month.

“They are asking to be able to use last year’s average as their average for the upcoming year,” Massman explained.

She went on to explain that residents are billed for the year based on the average of their water usage for October, November, and December.

• Aldermen received an email from resident Joyce Weber complaining about Fatima students speeding on the city streets before and after school.

“The traffic is pretty much back to full-speed-ahead in the afternoon, and the morning is getting almost as bad,” Weber wrote. “I guess I’m just wanting to know if it’s a problem without a solution, or if there are any options on the table?”

Weber went on to say that she has heard that there have been concerns raised at the school board meeting, and residents have been told to call the Osage County Sheriff.

Wieberg said that he has noticed the problem as well and thought that the city could reach out to the superintendent again to see if anything could be done.

• The city had the following receipts: city ($13,128.89), sewer ($25,679.03), and special road district ($57.17).

• Aldermen approved the following outstanding expenses: city ($2,283.53), sewer ($9,254.68), and special road district ($376.75).

•  Westphalia had the following account balances: city checking ($144,483.33), sewer system checking ($92,760.70), special road district checking ($104,347.89), and special road district savings ($5,133.14).

• The city holds the following certificates of deposit: city ($462,920.83), sewer system ($549,790.35), and special road district ($553,611.62).

• The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 6 p.m.