Westphalia aldermen denied request for a September Car Show

By Theresa Brandt, Staff Writer
Posted 6/23/21

Westphalia Board of Aldermen denied a request to reconsider hosting the car show on September 3, 2021. The decision was unanimous among all the aldermen.

“Why would we approve this when it makes …

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Westphalia aldermen denied request for a September Car Show

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Westphalia Board of Aldermen denied a request to reconsider hosting the car show on September 3, 2021. The decision was unanimous among all the aldermen.
“Why would we approve this when it makes our town look like shit?” Alderman Stanley Heckman asked.
“They (the organizers) do make an effort to clean up the bottles and trash,” Mayor Tammy Massman answered.
“But all of the black marks on the street,” Heckman said. “All’s they do is make the town look trashy. I don’t think we should have it in this town at all.”
“Stanley is right,” Alderman Delbert Wieberg said. “It does make things look trashy.”
“We’ll have black marks all the way through the town,” Heckman said. “We spend all that money so they can repave it in tires?”
“We’ve spent over $400,000 over the last four years in street repairs,” Mayor Massman added.
“They are going to have it if we want them to or not,” Heckman said. “This is just about consent.”
“If they all show up at the same time there is nothing we can do to stop them,” Wieberg said.
“But they cannot impede traffic,” Massman said. “if they are in violation of sales of alcohol outside of these buildings or drinks are let to go outside the building, those are law enforcement issues.”
“It (the car show) does nothing for our town,” Heckman said.
“Our job is not to penalize certain groups or individuals but to protect those that are here to live, reside and who want to walk around safely,” Massman said.
*The Board of Aldermen also approved $65,847.90 for street repairs with Jefferson Asphalt. The repairs will include 4” of milling and a 2” asphalt overlay on Main Street.
“This essentially is from where we left off on the top of Main Street, right in between Andy and Wanda Rehagen’s and all the way to Exit A,” Massman explained.
Massman noted that she was unable to get a different company to bid such a small project.
“The other company that was in existence has since last year been bought out,” Masman said. “I don’t know of any other asphalting company to reach out to so I don’t have a comparable bid.”
Massman went on to explain that there are the funds in the account to cover this project but that there would not be a lot left over for additional projects this year unless the aldermen wanted to tap into reserves.
“I’m glad that you mentioned that about tapping into reserves,” Wieberg said.
“I don’t like to function like that,” Massman said.
“How much do you feel do you need in reserves?” Wieberg asked. “We’re looking at $470,00 in reserves. What do you foresee using that money for?”
“That’s up to you guys,” Massman said. “It’s not a bad thing to sit on some reserve (funds).”
“But there are a few people complaining and when they do, they always mention the large reserves,” Wieberg said.
“In the past two terms that’s been my personal orientation to function out of the working accounts,” Massman said. “We have done so and made tremendous improvements on the curbs, streets and sidewalks.”
“So, it would be up to us if we wanted to do this and something else this year?” Wieberg asked.
“If you guys want to spend more money that’s up to you,” Massman said.
The repairs on Main Street will be throughout the summer when school is not in session. Massman and City Clerk Kerry Bax agreed to get additional information regarding the budget and yearly revenues to Wieberg.
*The aldermen approved the new insurance premiums with the Missouri Risk Management Fund (MOPERM) through Naught Naught Insurance. The coverage remains the same as last year although premiums are slightly higher. The new insurance premium is $5,279 for the year. Last year’s premium was $5,178. The city will not need to pay the one time only membership fee of $651 which they paid last year to join MOPERM. The workmen’s compensation insurance was down slightly at $973. Last year’s workmen compensation insurance was $977. The total bill was $6,252, which was down from last year’s cost of $6,806.
*The Board of Aldermen approved the purchase of an oxygen meter and six membranes for a total cost of $860. Sewer Operations Manager Phil Peaks assured the aldermen that the meter would be used only at the Westphalia wastewater facility.
“This particular meter, I believe, has a really good value,” Peaks explained. “It’s very low cost to maintain and it’s going to last a long time.”
Peaks noted that the oxygen meter is needed for both daily and weekly tests that are required by the wastewater facilities permit.
Peaks informed the aldermen that the pump had not been able to be installed at the Highway 63 lift station.
“We are still waiting on Shawn (from Mid Missouri Environmental) to be able to come down and do it,” Peaks said. “He’s swamped right now and it will probably be the first part of July before we can get to that.”
Peaks noted that the Highway 63 lift station has been operating without any problems since the last repair. There are also some problems with the pumps at the City View lift station and they are on the schedule for Mid Missouri Environmental to look at as well.
The city is also scheduled for land application of sludge as soon as Shawn with Mid Missouri Environmental has time.
Wieberg asked Peaks if the three pumps were being cycled throughout on the lift stations.
“It’s designed to alternate through a cycle so the pumps get even run hours,” Peaks said.
“The sewer system has become a pet peeve of mine,” Wieberg said. “There have been 15 to 20 people who have had deficiencies (from the smoke testing) and other than the school (St. Joseph Catholic School) over here, there are just a few little cast iron clean outs.”
Wieberg went on to describe how his neighbor has been cited for a deficiency from the smoke testing. His house is across the street from a manhole with a backflow device with an 8” line ties to that. In a hard rain one of his concerns is that if he has a tight-fitting cap on his fitting, the wastewater will back up into his basement.
“The deficiencies of these manholes do not account for 20,000 gallons of overflow,” Wieberg said. “Is there a bad gasket the city has? Do we have a cracked pipe?”
“So that manhole down in that area is one of our main deficiencies that the board needs to address,” Mayor Massman said. “There might be some issues with flooding that has occurred in the past and caused damage to the manhole itself or leading into the manhole. That is a big source of infiltrations during flooding and big rains. We know that.”
“The time has come for him to fix it but if we get a good rain and his backflow isn’t working and we get backflow in his basement, the city is liable,” Wieberg said.
“Right,” Massman replied.
“So should we let him slide for now?” Wieberg asked.
“He needs to be addressing the issue and we need to be addressing ours,” Peaks said. “Communication between us would be good. But I know from the experience of all these years and looking at the flow meter down there that the only problem we are having is instantaneous flow when we get a big rain. Within a day it is back to normal. Infiltration is not such a worry as inflow is.”
“Does that mess with your chemical balance down there?” Wieberg asked.
“I haven’t had any issues with the plant,” Peaks said. “I see the high flows but the plant is designed to handle up to 100,000 gallons a day. In the past five years we haven’t had any problems with it based on excess flow but I feel one of the reasons we haven’t is because we do a pretty good job of operating the system.”
Once all the issues that were discovered because of the smoke testing are fixed, if the city’s sewer still has high flow days because of the rain, the city will have to do more exploration.
“As we fix things, we should see a difference down there,” Peaks said.
Wieberg asserted that he believes that this is an issue that can be fixed. Peaks agreed.
“Overall, you guys aren’t in bad shape but there is evidence of a problem,” Peaks added.
“I want to know how this system works,” Wieberg said.
Peaks offered a tour of the wastewater facility to everyone on the board.
“I’m glad you guys are interested in learning about how it works,” Peaks said. “It’s my job to help educate so you make good decisions.”
*The city is looking into variance requests of their zoning rules and ordinances. Currently the engineering firm that helped draft the codes is looking at exactly how the code should be interpreted.
Bax warned the aldermen that the request for variances require postings, public hearings, convening of the planning and zoning board.
“This is something that could drag out until next fall?” Wieberg asked.
“Yes, it could,” Bax replied “But understand that these rules are not set by us.”
“We need to start enforcing and living by these rules or we are just going to be the same old hillbilly town we’ve always been,” Wieberg said.
*The board of aldermen approved the following expenses for the month: city fund ($1,905.07), sewer system ($6,389.44) and special road district ($369.40).
The city had the following receipts for the month: city ($7,192.47), sewer ($8,766.89) and special road district ($3,216.96).
*The city has the following balances in their accounts: city checking ($162,690.10), sewer system checking ($21,023.45), special road district checking ($72,340.36) and special road district savings ($5,109.96).
*The city holds the following certificates of deposit: city ($437,836.22), sewer system ($519,575.68), special road district ($520,732.98).
* The city will be loaning out traffic cones to the Relay for Life.
*The next meeting is scheduled for July 20, 2021 at 6:30 p.m.