WESTPHALIA — At their Sept. 29 meeting, Westphalia aldermen approved Resolution #26-09, which approves the city to apply for the Clean Water Engineering Report Grant. Aldermen had approved submitting the application at their August meeting, but were informed that they needed a formal resolution to complete the application.

“One thing I noticed is that they ask what our current rates are now,” said Mayor Delbert Wieberg. “If we submit this, they are going to want us to set our rates at the adjusted rate of 2% of the adjusted growth income.”

Wieberg believes that will set sewer rates at $104 per month. “I know we are all scared of informing the people of a big rate increase,” Wieberg said.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Alderman Chris Dickneite said.

Wieberg said that if the estimate for the new sewer plant came in lower than expected, the rate could be adjusted.

“I’ve been crunching the numbers, and if we have 5% interest rates at $2.5 million borrowed with a $10,000 a month monthly expense, we are going to need every bit of money we can get from 160 connections. We are going to need $110 per month just to stay afloat.”

“It will need to be paid now or later,” Dickneite said.

In other business, Westphalia Inn owner Dr. Sam Barnhart asked aldermen if there was any flexibility within the city’s ordinances for business licenses.

“We are putting together an annual event calendar where we want to hold different types of events throughout the year,” Dr. Barnhart explained, adding that his understanding of the city’s ordinances was that he could hold events at Westphalia Inn and if the money was paid through that entity, it would be legal within his current business license. Dr. Barnhart gave an example of a chef cooking for a special night at Westphalia Inn.

“Does our chef need a business license?” Dr. Barnhart asked.

City Clerk Tammy Massman said that if the food was prepared on-site and the money was collected by Westphalia Inn, the event would be covered by the current business license.

Dr. Barnhart was hoping to add a farmer’s market to the event calendar, and wondered how the business licenses would work for those vendors. He suggested that Westphalia Inn could purchase a business license for the farmer’s market and all the vendors could be covered under that one license.

“I think it is a little stickier than that,” Massman said. “They have their own business. You can’t operate another business under another business license.”

“Even if we created a new promoter license specifically for a farmer’s market?” Dr. Barnhart asked. “The idea is to try to get something started that’s never been here. I’m trying to create a way to attract people to the event, and hopefully the events would be recurring.”

Dr. Barnhart explained that he would like to create special events that would be on the calendar at the same time each year.

“That way people can start to depend on them,” Dr. Barnhart said. “If people knew something was scheduled, over time, in three to four to five years, it will grow, but we would have to stay consistent. I think farmers’ markets are cool. It’s an attraction because you never know what is available; that’s not available at a store.”

Wieberg asked if Dr. Barnhart thought the cost of Westphalia’s business license was a hurdle, noting that the initial application was $50 annually, with a recurring cost of $25 each year.

“I’m not saying it’s expensive,” Dr. Barnhart said. “I’m saying it’s a hurdle. If this had been going on for five years, I don’t think it would be an issue, but it just feels like when we are having conversations with these people it’s a bit of a sticking point that I would like to eliminate.”

Dr. Barnhart has other special events that he hopes to host at the Westphalia Inn, including fried chicken dinners, taco night, chili night, and local cook-offs.

“What we’ve learned from the last year or two is that we don’t want to have a permanent restaurant,” Dr. Barnhart said. “Given the size of the market in this area and when we are providing a luxury service, it’s risky.”

Dr. Barnhart instead hopes to provide events on a recurring schedule. “We’re not interested in owning a restaurant,” Dr. Barnhart said. “We want to provide something a little more event-based, a little more exciting. Something that creates more interest, not just sitting down to eat. The farmer’s market would be just one thing on that calendar. Most of the things we would like to do are covered under our license.”

Dickneite asked if the language of the city ordinance for business licenses was spelled out explicitly.

“It is straightforward and ties the business to a storefront,” Massman said. “It can’t include other business. There isn’t any subleasing or temporary hosting allowed. Right now, Westphalia Inn is not licensed for this type of business. When we look at a business license, it is very specific as opposed to having several vendors under one site. We don’t have any language that speaks to that.”

In response to a question from Dickneite about how other towns handle farmer’s markets, Dr. Barnhart said that he had done an internet search for a few details, but had not researched it in depth.

“The only problem I see is that I’ve run several mobile vendors out of town for not having licenses,” Wieberg said. “They sneak in here and advertise under other special events even when they have nothing to do with the event. If you had a special event that drew 300 people and someone randomly brought in a food cart, you wouldn’t like that, would you, Sam?”

“If we felt the food truck matched the atmosphere of the event … sure,” Dr. Barnhart said. “We are trying to attract traffic. We don’t care who they are paying. We believe if we get more people around Westphalia Inn, it is better for business. I’ve never been successful trying to make sure that people only paid us. That has never really worked.

“I would like to have things in place by next year,” he continued. “Do we need to get an association license, or does it make sense to change our existing ordinances to allow for something like this, or does the city say, ‘we don’t want a farmer’s market here?’ If a farmer’s market is not going to be allowed, I can stop working on it and move on to something else.”

Wieberg noted that he would like to look into how other cities handle farmers’ markets.

“I’m not trying to get around them paying the money, I’m just trying to get around the license impeding their participation,” Dr. Barnhart said.

He asked how long it took the city to issue a business license.

“One to two days, depending on if they have all the information and how they want to pay the fee,” Massman said.

Dr. Barnhart said that with that quick a turnaround, timing would not be an issue. “The real question here is do you want to allow something like this, because if so, you have to change the licensing structure some way or another,” Dr. Barnhart said.

“I appreciate what you are saying, Sam,” Dickneite said. “You want to be able to make your business profitable. We want to encourage businesses. I think the question is, do we want the city to be more open-minded and allow for special events city licenses.”

Dr. Barnhart agreed he thought this was the real issue.

“Currently, there is no availability for any type of license like this, for a mobile coffee shop, a food truck, or a farmer’s market, or anything,” Dr. Barnhart said.

“I think if Sam is willing to do something like this to promote us, I think we should come up with a solution,” said Alderman Dennis Peterman.

“There is no scenario where bringing more people to town in the mindset of shopping is bad for the city,” Dr. Barnhart said.

“We should be encouraging business,” Alderman Jake Plassmeyer agreed.

“I totally agree,” Dickneite said. “I would like to see how it is structured in other cities and to make sure we are protecting our existing businesses.”

Aldermen will research the issue and get back to Dr. Barnhart with additional details.

• Dr. Barnhart also asked for guidance interpreting the zoning laws since he was considering rebuilding the deck on the back and side of the Westphalia Inn. Specifically, Dr. Barnhart wanted to know if setbacks would apply if the area on the back and side of the building was landscaped at ground level with pavers to make for a more finished exterior space.

“That’s not really a structure,” Wieberg said.

Dr. Barnhart noted that this gave him a place to start, and he looked forward to hearing back from aldermen.

• Plassmeyer agreed to reach out to three contractors for snow-removal bids.

Wieberg reported that there are seven super sacks of old salt, two pallets of lower-grade salt, and one pallet of higher-grade snow melt currently available.

Wieberg didn’t know what the winter would bring and if the city should purchase more salt or wait.

• The Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) annual dinner and meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 29, in Rolla, and all the aldermen are invited to attend.

• Mid Mo Operations Operator Aaron Lachowicz reported that all of the quarterly samples were submitted and the results looked good. He dipped grease out of the pump stations, and they are waiting on the lab work to get back on the sludge so that they can land apply before the end of the year.

“Everything is running great,” Lachowicz said.

• The city had the following receipts for September: city ($13,335.25), sewer ($8,907.56), and special road district ($14,446.05).

• Westphalia had the following September expenses: city ($19,525.57), sewer system ($8,176.50), and special road district ($529.40).

• The city had the following account balances: city checking ($133,864.23), sewer system checking ($94,199.36), special road district checking ($93,892.95), and special road district savings account ($5,140.82).

• Westphalia has the following certificates of deposit: city ($471,520.99), sewer system ($555,966.24), and special road district ($559,917.12).

• The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 5:30 p.m.