CHAMOIS — The Chamois Board of Aldermen approved a memorandum of understanding with the Friends of Chamois Cemetery (FCC) during its June 24 meeting, formally establishing a partnership that defines how the city and the nonprofit organization will work together to maintain the historic cemetery while keeping finances and responsibilities separate.

The agreement had been revised after review by the city’s attorney.

“You forwarded to me the changes recommended by your attorneys, and I added that into the original document verbatim, and I thought they were very good changes,” Steve Duncan told the board. “I drafted that document. I am not an attorney, but I belong to an organization that had memorandums of understanding with other partners, and I took those documents and tried to put this document with our clauses in that format.”

Duncan said the memorandum recognizes that the city owns the cemetery while the Friends group will focus on maintaining it. “Again, we are equal partners in this,” he added. “The city owns the cemetery. We’re proposing to try to maintain it. We’re both going to be publicly scrutinized, which is fine, we want to be as transparent as we can be. We will try and provide financials. We’re very dependent upon donations and perhaps some fundraisers. We are going to be held accountable by our donors. You guys will be held accountable by the voters.”

Alderman Justin (Jay) Bathke asked about a provision calling for an annual report. Duncan said the organization intends to provide updates more often.

“I would propose that we do more frequently than that, you know, perhaps quarterly,” Duncan said. “Now, obviously, there will be little activity in the winter and spring, but we will provide whatever financial statements in whatever format you would like to see.”

He also emphasized that the $21,000 transferred from the city would be limited to maintenance.

“The one thing I would stress in this partnership, any money that comes to us from the city will be used strictly for maintenance and will not be for any enhancements,” Duncan said. “The enhancements, such as fences, arches, landscaping, and stuff, that is strictly on our donors, and the financial statements that we’re providing our board, we break it down that way.”

Bathke made the motion to approve the memorandum. Dylan Barnes seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Representatives of both organizations then signed the agreement.

Following the vote, Duncan reiterated the organization’s commitment to working alongside the city. “We are equal partners in this, in that you know our sole purpose is to enhance and maintain that cemetery, and it’s been very gratifying to people that are coming out of the woodwork, you know, to support this,” he said.

Friends of Chamois Cemetery President Michael J. Nolte said the restoration effort has generated widespread community support and attracted descendants of families buried there back to Chamois. “It’s very cool,” Nolte said while discussing an upcoming visit from a Hutchinson descendant traveling from Huntington Beach, Calif.

Duncan credited numerous volunteers and organizations for helping with both the cemetery and other community improvement projects.

“The fire department has just been absolutely fantastic to work with,” he said. “I want to commend the mayor. We’ve been patching potholes. Yeah, we had three Lions Club members volunteer that day. One day, we had some youth in the community. Those are the kind of projects that we need to be doing.”

Nolte said the restoration effort has strengthened community involvement.

“What’s cool, reaffirming to me, is every single person here at this table, I personally know. Every single person here at this table has put in labor up on that hill, lots of labor,” he said.

Mayor Shawn Mitchem echoed those remarks.

“The number one thing you got at this table is, someone’s been here long, some has been here not, but every single person at this table cares about the community, and that’s just that is what it is,” he said. “They care about it.”

Nolte said the cemetery has undergone significant changes in a short period of time.

“When you think about it, guys, I mean, the cemetery is 198 years old and has had minimal work or improvement in almost 200 years, and now look like, but look at what’s happened in just eight months.”

He said the next phase of work is expected to be completed before Labor Day and the Cemetery Walk, including replacing the existing chain-link entrance with a decorative iron fence and arch, adding landscaping, and continuing to reset fallen tombstones. He said those improvements have already been fully funded through donations.

Before leaving the meeting, Nolte added, “Thank you for our partnership.”

In other business, the board approved a $3,500 advance payment to the contractor repairing the city’s grandstand after learning the funds were needed to purchase materials before work begins. Mitchem said the contractor hopes to begin work on July 5.

• Aldermen also voted to hire attorney Rob Schollmeyer to serve as city attorney in addition to his duties as municipal prosecutor. Schollmeyer’s cost of $250 per hour is equivalent to what the city was paying previous city attorney David Bandre.

• Police Chief Riley Lewis reported issuing three citations, including two for tall grass and one involving a driver accused of spinning tires on city streets.

Mitchem told the board he had offered to help one of the residents cut their grass, using his own equipment rather than city property.

“I have no problem helping any of the public whatsoever with my personal stuff, as long as they are helping,” he said. “I’m not gonna do it for them.”

• The board discussed another lot with tall grass after learning there was uncertainty over who owned the property. Officials said they would determine ownership before deciding whether additional enforcement action was necessary.

• They tabled a decision on spending money to pothole an individual water service line until the city’s new attorney can determine whether the city has any liability if a property owner identifies the material without excavation. City Clerk Meghan Birmingham said state regulations will eventually require every unknown service line to be verified.

The board approved a resolution authorizing Meramec Regional Planning Commission to apply for lead service line grant or loan funding through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources on the city’s behalf.

“Eventually, we will have to do all of them,” Birmingham said, adding the city hopes to obtain grant funding but may instead receive a loan or no funding at all.

• The board then approved increasing the fee for primitive tent camping from $5 to $10 per night while leaving campsites with water and electrical hookups at $25.

Board members discussed complaints from campers about the condition of the park while also noting the city continues to provide restroom and shower access for campers. Officials also discussed recurring problems with campers failing to reserve sites or notify City Hall when extending their stay, resulting in reserved campsites being occupied when other campers arrived.

• Aldermen also approved purchasing two loads of gravel for the city’s wastewater lagoon after Birmingham described dangerous conditions caused by recent heavy rains.

“The ground in the lagoon, when it’s been raining this hard, you can’t get traction,” Birmingham said. “I almost ended up in the lagoon with my car.”

She said city vehicles and Mid-Mo personnel have become stuck while trying to reach the lagoon and told the board, “That was the scariest thing I’ve experienced in a while,” she said. “I thought I was gonna die in (explicit removed) water.”

• The board agreed to obtain prices for additional gravel needed to repair potholes elsewhere in town, but postponed action on those purchases.

• Board members also approved spending $4,065 to repair a deteriorating sewer mains along Highway 100 after Birmingham said repeated emergency repairs have already cost the city thousands of dollars.

“We’ve already spent thousands of dollars on the fixing,” she said, explaining that Mid-Mo operator Aaron Lackowicz had warned the city it was “on borrowed time” with the aging sewer line.

• A proposal to relocate water meters from inside homes to outdoor pits was tabled after board members questioned the estimated cost of approximately $2,855 per installation and requested additional information before proceeding. The proposal stems from ongoing difficulties obtaining meter readings from some residents with interior meters, making it difficult for the city to detect leaks and accurately bill for water usage.

• Birmingham also informed the board that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources now requires the city to install a new sampling tap at the municipal well so chlorine levels can be tested directly at the source.

“They are not giving us a choice,” Birmingham said. “Either you do it or you’re going under a noncompliance.”

Mid-Mo will obtain an estimate for the work.

•Treasurer Theresa Walter also requested additional time to complete the city’s annual budget because continuing QuickBooks problems have prevented staff from preparing accurate financial reports. The board approved extending the deadline until the next meeting.

• Aldermen approved purchasing three city cell phones through Cricket and authorized staff to pursue Starlink internet service if residential service is available. Walter said city business is currently conducted on employees’ personal cell phones, while Birmingham said slow internet speeds have prevented the city from using recently purchased laptops during meetings or reducing paper copies, and that she and Walter were often unable to use the internet at the same time which affected productivity when they were both in the office.

• The board also approved purchasing a $66 color advertisement in the Unterrified Democrat’s America 250 special section.

• Aldermen discussed updating the city’s ordinance book and dangerous buildings ordinance.

• Board members also denied a request to allow private citizens to install speed bumps on city streets, citing concerns about liability, maintenance, and setting a precedent for similar requests elsewhere in town.

• Bills totaling $12,112.19 were approved for June.

• The end-of-month bank balances for June showed a total of $577,483.82 in checking, including General Fund ($69,800.94), City CDBG In & Out ($10), City Park ($8,565.30), Cemetery Fund ($2,638.89), ARPA Funds ($12,084.78), Water Fund ($284,320.71), Sewer Fund ($130,010.04), City Police ($1,233.25), Online Bill Pay ($31,536.24), and Street ($37,283.67).

• Savings account balances totaled $102,086.05, including Sewer Bond Reserve ($24,778.05), City Cemetery ($20,911.37), Water Repair ($30,230.47), Meter Deposits ($19,194.18), and Sewer Repair ($6,971.98).

• CDs totaled $12,342.93, including two one-year ($2,138.44 and $1,483.67) and three two-year ($2,520.82, $5,200.00, and $1,000).

• Water loss of 41% (339,975 gallons) was reported.

• The next regular meeting was scheduled for July 22.