WESTPHALIA —  Note: This story was supposed to run on March 8, and the March meeting will be published next week.

At their February meeting, Westphalia aldermen voted to get an estimate from All Season Roofing to remove the chimneys from City Hall and seal them with stainless-steel caps to prevent leaking.

“(Alderman) Delbert (Wieberg) was on the roof a while back, and he said it’s not that bad,” said Aldermen Stanley Heckman. “It’s leaking around the chimneys.”

Wieberg agreed. “I think it just needs some attention,” he said. “You know, rubber roofs do need some attention now and then.”

“The Board of Aldermen in previous years have gone back and forth on how to replace it, whether to put a different roofing system altogether, to reseal it, to take out the chimneys, to leave the chimneys and the previous boards, since I’ve been in this seat, have never come to an agreement or how to handle the situation,” said Mayor Tammy Massman.

“Step one, we need to remove the chimneys,” Heckman said. “They are not functional anyway, we would never use them, and they are a potential hazard.”

“And as for keeping the old look of the building, I’ve never even noticed the chimneys,” Aldermen Jake Plassmeyer added.

Massman and Wieberg noted some additional leaking can be seen inside City Hall. They believe it is seepage from water that the limestone rock is absorbing. Wieberg thought the stone cap could be cut back and caulked, with special caulk applied that could help with the seepage problem. The rock walls and caps could also be sealed.

Heckman suggested it would be best to do the work on the roof and then wait to see if this solves the problem before doing any repairs to the inside of the building.

Plassmeyer also noted that the roof on the city’s salt shed may need to be looked at and the shingles repaired or replaced.

In other business, Massman explained that the end of the fiscal year would be on March 31 and that the aldermen would need to approve a new budget at the next meeting.

“It is important to remember that these numbers are not fixed; it’s just a template,” Massman explained. “It doesn’t hold us to these numbers. We can transfer between accounts as needed. It’s just a working document.”

The proposed budget shows the city in a good financial situation, with estimated revenues at $258,378 and estimated expenses at $231,600. Notably, the city will not have to account for the $4,500 usually budgeted for trash and recycle bins because Westphalia signed a three-year contract with Allied Waste. Those services are offered at no cost to the city.

“The account for the sewer is slowly growing each and every month with the rate increase we implemented two years ago,” Massman pointed out.

Proposed revenues from the sewer system for the 2023-24 fiscal year are estimated at $116,000.

Aldermen proposed adding $10,000 to the line item for city repairs to help with roof repairs.

Massman also noted that the final disbursement to the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund has been completed. She was looking to Mid Mo Operations to direct the city on sewer repairs or improvements for which to use the money.

“It would be good if we could use all the funds on one project,” Massman said. “It’s an easier method of reporting.”

Aaron Lachowicz from Mid Mo Operations said that the firm would still recommend that the diffuser at the sewer plant be repaired and estimated that it would cost between $75,000 and $100,000.

Alderman Lori Ansel suggested the city budget for and create a city maintenance manager position to oversee construction projects.

“I was actually thinking about Delbert,” Ansel said. “He has his eye on everything in the city, and I just thought it would be nice to have a part-time, paid position. He could bring the bids in like we talked about (for driveway repairs) and do some of the smaller jobs so we would have someone officially being on staff and paid.”

“The bid process (for the driveways) is actually the responsibility of the homeowners to bring that to us,” Massman said.

“We look to Delbert because he has all of the knowledge,” Ansel said. “He would kinda look at them (the bids) and give us his advice. I just thought it would be nice to have someone in sort of that type of position that could come and share the information and kinda guide the council in that respect.”

Massman asked if Ansel was suggesting creating another employed position for the city.

“Right,” Ansel continued. “Obviously, he wouldn’t be able to be on the council as it’s a conflict of interest. But he would be able to guide us in our decision-making.”

Ansel clarified that she had not talked to Wieberg about this position.

Heckman asked exactly what the title of the position would be.

“Sorta a manager position,” Ansel said. “Someone to kinda oversee things. We’d have to work out the details.”

“Typically, with the projects that we have here in town, they are contracted out for services,” Massman said. “I don’t disagree that Delbert has a wealth of knowledge, but I don’t know that one person would be able to be assigned to what is, in essence, in other cities, a city inspector.”

Massman went on to explain that when they hired Mid Mo Operations to do the sewer work for the city, aldermen agreed to defer to them for technical questions and advice, with the ultimate decision and oversight being that of the Board of Aldermen. Massman added the same would be true for all contracted services, including concrete work, asphalt repairs, etc.

“The ultimate judgment would still fall on the board to make the decisions,” Massman said. “I don’t know that necessarily creating a position would be a great benefit.”

Ansel went on to explain that the position would be someone who would bring things to the board that they think needs to be done.

“Realistically, we could all be doing that stuff,” Heckman said. “We see stuff. We notice stuff. We bring it to the board. We don’t need a paid position for it.”

Massman asked aldermen to email or call her with additional suggestions to add to or change the proposed budget and that the aldermen would be asked to vote on it at the next meeting.

• Massman reported that city business licenses sent out are slowly trickling back in. She will send out reminders to anyone who hasn’t paid by mid-March.

• Curtis Wheat with Mid Mo Operations reported that the wastewater system is working well.

“It has been business as usual,” Wheat said. “Everything has been running pretty good.”

Wheat noted that they have pulled soil and sludge samples and are waiting to get the results back so they can move ahead with land application as weather allows. Wheat explained that they would be using Shawn York with Mid Mo Environmental to haul sludge as he still had the lowest price they could find.

The firm will look at the UV lights, as one had burned out at the end of the last season, and ensure they are ready to be installed at the beginning of April per the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Wheat noted that they replaced a bad float at the Devin Lane Lift Station.

“There was a little bit of grease in there that we dipped out (of Devin Lane Lift Station),” Wheat said. “We haven’t seen a lot of grease since we’ve taken over, but lately, there has been a bit more.”

The light at the sewer plant has been repaired.

“All the other lift stations look good,” Wheat said. “The plant looks good. Nothing major to report.”

• Wieberg relayed that Westphalia Fire Protection District Chief Jim Roark had asked him about the driveway at AT-HIIT.

“SUVs and trucks are pulling out everywhere,” Wieberg said. “You can see where there are tracks everywhere. It’s very dangerous with the intersection. It needs to be a designated driveway.”

Wieberg went on to say that the city shouldn’t allow a 150-foot driveway to pull out onto a city street or highway.

Massman explained there was a proposed entrance and exit.

“Just because they have not put in the driveway does not mean it is the city’s job,” Massman said. “Driveways are the extension of personal property, and if there is an issue, it needs to be attended to by the owners.”

Wieberg and Roark are concerned there could be a potential accident.

Massman said that she would talk to the business owners and ask them to make a more formal entrance.

• Wieberg asked Massman why the city truck was at Corey Jaeger’s house. Massman said that Jaegers had asked her if it was okay to clean up the Bobcat and truck after the winter, and she readily agreed, asking him to do what he could.

He will park them in the city shed for the summer.

• Aldermen approved the following expenses for the month: city fund ($2,672.14), sewer system ($6,362.38), and special road district ($369.40).

• Westphalia had the following receipts for the month: city ($10,746.37), sewer ($9,935.23), and special road district ($14,287.97).

• The city had the following account balances: city checking ($170,468.90), sewer system checking ($56,974,58), special road district checking ($34,794.78), and special road district savings ($5,113.84).

• Westphalia holds the following certificates of deposit: city ($440,910.78), sewer system ($523,787.84), and special road district ($523,329.74).