WESTPHALIA — Aaron Lachowicz of Mid Mo Operations told aldermen at their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 28, that the Westphalia Highway 63 Lift Station was hit by lightning during a recent storm, and it will cost $20,000 to repair the damage.

“It cooked two pumps and messed up a bunch of conduits on the inside of the panel,” Lachowicz said. “It cooked breakers, fuses, the phase monitor — just about everything electrical in there got zapped. We did get one pump successfully running, so we have been able to maintain everything.”

Lachowicz said that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was notified.

Mayor pro tem Delbert Wieberg noted that the pump that is currently running the lift station by itself is one of the original pumps that had been installed.

“I was able to temporarily put everything back together and then ESA came out and put new parts back in on Tuesday evening,” Lachowicz said.

The new pumps with labor and installation will cost $18,000, and the work that was done on Tuesday will cost $2,200.

“The pumps are two weeks out,” Lachowicz said. “We need approval to get that process moving.”

Wieberg said that he thought it would be best to go ahead and approve the cost without waiting for the insurance claim to be approved.

“What I’m scared of is that if we use this one, we may get lucky and this will last, but if we have a lot of rain, I don’t know that it will keep up,” Wieberg said.

The city’s insurance policy has a $1,000 deductible, and everything has been submitted as requested by the insurance company.

“They understand the gravity of the situation, and that this is an emergency since we are only using one pump, and they are okay with us moving the project along,” said City Clerk Tammy Massman. “We are okay to proceed as we need to.”

“Just because this pump is running doesn’t mean it doesn’t have residual damage from the lightning,” Lachowicz said. “There is no way to know.”

Wieberg noted that the sewer account could absorb the cost of the pump replacement, and hopefully, the city would be reimbursed by insurance.

Aldermen unanimously approved the cost of the pumps.

Lachowicz said he would have the pumps ordered right away.

“We can take the $20,000 hit in the sewer fund, but we don’t want to start dipping into the certificates of deposit,” Wieberg said. “One day, we may need to build another treatment plant. We need to keep in the back of our minds that we may need to raise rates.”

Massman noted that the city had raised rates several years ago, and it has helped build the accounts back up.

“The rates are going to have to go up, so we can keep building up our accounts,” Wieberg said, adding he would like to look at surrounding cities and villages and see what’s being charged for sewer rates.

Lachowicz also reported that Mid Mo Operations was able to have the sludge land applied after last month’s meeting. Manhole inspections will be completed by mid-November, and quarterly samples have been collected and submitted, with the city in good standing.

Lachowicz explained that the city’s contract with Mid Mo Operations will expire on June 1, 2026. The firm plans to offer a five-year contract to the city of Westphalia, with no changes to the cost or scope of work.

The city will revisit the issue at a future meeting.

* Aldermen approved Corey Jaegers with Elite Landscaping to plow the city’s streets this winter. Jaegers had the lowest bid, charging $65 per hour for snow plowing, street pretreatments, and salt-spreading. Jaegers will charge $75 per hour if he needs to use his dump truck to haul off snow and $95 per hour for the skid steer.

The city is planning on getting volunteers to put the loose salt in the old salt shed into old mineral barrels so that Jaegers can utilize the salt for upcoming weather events. The city would also like to purchase a pallet of bagged ice melt that Jaegers would like to mix into the rock salt when the temperature is low this winter.

Wieberg will discuss pricing with Linn MFA. Initial pricing was $9.70 per 50-pound bag, but it would need to be picked up in the St. Louis area. Linn MFA is a distributor and may be able to provide a better price per pallet that includes shipping. Wieberg will check on the pricing and discuss how much the city would like to purchase at the next meeting.

Westphalia received two additional bids for winter snow plowing. Alex Hoelscher, owner of AAA Enterprises, sent the city an estimate for $85 for plowing and pretreatment and $110 per hour for hauling off snow. Struemph Lawncare submitted a bid of $200 per hour for plowing (three-hour minimum), ice melt, and pretreatment for a flat fee of $400, and snow-hauling at $400 per hour for a minimum of $700 and $300 per hour after that.

* The city has not yet received the special event insurance for the Christmas on Main event and parade.

“I’m concerned that outside vendors were not approved, but are being advertised as being present at the event,” Massman said.

“I saw the flyer,” Wieberg said. “It does stipulate that there will be outside vendors at an existing business.”

Christmas on Main flyers seem to be advertising that Everlasting Permanent Jewelry will be at the Westphalia Inn during the event.

“They (Westphalia Inn) have been informed several times about bringing in outside businesses,” Massman said. “It is not compliant with their business license.”

Wieberg noted that if food trucks or other vendors wanted to set up on private property and purchased a business license from the city, it should be okay.

Massman noted that the initial request from the Christmas on Main Street Committee stipulated that there would not be outside business vendors. If that has changed, it needs to be brought before the Board of Aldermen for approval.

According to Massman, an existing business would not be able to host other businesses within the same building.

“In those instances when a business is using an existing storefront, they have no responsibility to report sales,” Massman said. “The city attorney has already sent a letter telling them they are operating without a business license. This is beyond the scope of the event.”

“I had hoped this year, they (the Christmas on Main Committee) would have a well-planned-out event that didn’t require a lot of last-minute changes,” Wieberg said, adding that he would follow up with the committee.

* Wieberg was approached by a concerned citizen who would like the city to put a stop sign at the end of Devon Lane. While aldermen thought it was a good idea, Massman reminded the board that Devon Lane is not a city street but a private road.

“You are right,” Wieberg said. “We don’t plow it. We don’t maintain it. It’s private. We have no authority to put a stop sign there.”

Wieberg will relocate the speed limit sign and the children playing sign on Main Street that is being obstructed by a mailbox.

He will also put up the school sign that was blown off the post by strong winds.

* Wiberg was contacted by a citizen who would like rock hauled on one of the city’s alleyways. There was also a discussion between the owners about whether the alley could be accessed by other people.

“I’ve never known the city to put gravel on one of the alleys,” Wieberg said. “They were only really drivable with a truck.”

Massman noted that the alleys have been abandoned for years.

Wieberg asked if the alleys had been deeded to anyone or if the property had officially changed hands.

“When a city roadway is abandoned, it is absorbed by the surrounding properties,” Massman said. “Nothing is typically deeded or recorded.”

“Different property owners have maintained parts of the alley themselves,” Wieberg said. “No one can recall the city ever maintaining it. Some of the alleyways have grown up quite a bit.”

“I think we should leave well enough alone,” said Aldermen Stanley Heckman, with agreement from his colleagues.

Wieberg said that he will let the residents know and inform them that they will have to work the issues out for themselves.

* Aldermen will look into putting up Christmas decorations on Main Street for a future holiday season. The issue was brought up by several residents, but aldermen were not optimistic, noting that there are no electrical outlets on the poles to hook up Christmas lights to.

“About five years ago, this was brought up, and the hiccup was the electrical outlets and not being in compliance with Ameren,” Massman said.

Wieberg noted that the city would have to absorb the cost of the decorations and find volunteers to put them up and take them down.

Massman will forward the information found from the last time it was discussed.

* The city had the following receipts: city ($12,952.83), sewer ($9,001.79), and special road district ($9,305.31).

* Aldermen approved the following outstanding expenses: city ($31,679.30), sewer ($10,203.97), and special road district ($594.41).

* Westphalia had the following account balances: city checking ($133,542.97), sewer system checking ($76,336.35), special road district checking ($104,667.47), and special road district savings ($5,133.14).

* The city holds the following certificates of deposit: city ($462,920.83), sewer system ($549,421.86), and special road district ($553,364.62).

* The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 6 p.m.