WESTPHALIA — At their meeting last week, Westphalia aldermen approved putting gravel on both sides of the recycle bin in its new location on city property near the sewer plant. Alderman Jake Plassmeyer brought it to Mayor Tammy Massman’s attention that the area around the recycle bin was becoming a problem.

“It’s just dirt there, so if it’s going to be there for more than a year, we need to do something,” Alderman Stanley Heckman said.

Aaron Lachowicz of Mid Mo Operations agreed that around the recycling center and the entryway to the sewer plant were soft and in need of gravel.

Heckman asked if they should reach out to Osage County and see if they would put some gravel on the road to the sewer plant.

Massman thought the best idea would be to address Osage County commissioners, who are scheduled to attend the February meeting.

In other business, Lachowicz reported the gearbox on the clarifier needs repair. “The top seal and bearing went out of it,” he said, noting that Mid Mo Operations received several quotes of around $10,000 for replacement gearboxes. “That’s way too much money, and it wouldn’t have been an exact fit. We would have had to modify it.”

Mid Mo Operations purchased a gearbox on eBay, adding parts from the existing gearbox to get it up and running. Lachowicz noted the repaired gearbox has been working for the last week and a half without any problems.

Mid Mo Operations also installed a new motor for the blowers, and both are now operational.

Lachowicz reported that he submitted all quarterly reports, and the results were good. The annual sludge report and the inflow and infiltration reports have been submitted as well.

• Aldermen approved the following expenses for the month: city ($13,324.43), sewer ($6,564.60), American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) ($3,950.69), and special road district ($3,867.40).

• Westphalia had the following receipts for the month: city ($10,865.27), sewer ($8,609.59), and special road district ($17,561.32).

• The city has the following ending account balances: checking ($167,221.35), sewer checking ($69,838.18), special road district checking ($82,821.62), ARPA checking ($56,579.88), and special road district savings ($5,119.74).

• Westphalia holds the following certificates of deposit: city ($447,030.89), sewer ($530,212.47), and special road district ($532,501.68).

• The next meeting will be held on Feb. 27 at 6 p.m.