WESTPHALIA — Westphalia aldermen tabled any decisions on the future sewer plant and raising sewer rates after talking to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Clean Water Section Chief Stacia Bax at their meeting on Tuesday, July 28.

Bax had read the article in the Unterrified Democrat about the June meeting and reached out by email to the city, noting that the aldermen’s initial research that the city would have to wait for a March 2027 deadline to apply for a grant for engineering services was correct. Bax outlined that the Clean Water Engineering Report Grant would be available to the city and could be applied for at any time throughout the year for an amount up to $50,000. She noted that disadvantaged communities would be allowed a larger grant amount up to $62,000. Bax volunteered to come to the next board meeting and help aldermen through the process.

“Since she is offering us this service, even though it is 30 days out, I almost think that we need to wait to make any decisions to make sure we don’t lose the sequence of what has to happen,” said Aldermen Chris Dickneite. “We don’t want to lose eligibility for those funds because we didn’t want to wait.”

Mayor Delbert Wieberg noted that one more month of waiting would not make any difference.

“I think the sewer rates should be raised right away to start accumulating some funds, or do you want to wait until she can give us the whole rundown?” Wieberg asked.

“A rate increase is going to have to happen whether we get a grant or not,” Alderman Jake Plassmeyer said.

“I definitely think at some point we are going to have to raise the rates, but it would be nice to utilize what Stacia is offering,” Dickneite said. “She (Bax) said in her email that there were project managers and other professionals who are available to help communities. It would be foolish not to take advantage of that.”

“I think we have to take every avenue we can to try to save the people some money,” Wieberg said.

He also noted that in the information that Bax sent, DNR expects construction to be completed within 18 months of receiving the grant.

“That seems like a challenge,” Dickneite said.

“It’ll be a challenge to even get a contractor here in that amount of time,” Wieberg agreed. “They want us to use the money quickly and not hoard it or hold on to it. They want to see action with any type of government money.”

Aldermen hope that utilizing the grant money may open the door to more funding sources for a new sewer plant.

“I think we are pretty fortunate that she saw the article and decided to reach out,” Dickneite said.

Wieberg said that Bax had explained that the median income for the city had gone up by $24,000 and she estimated the sewer plant would cost $3 million, with 116 active connections.

“I don’t think the plant will cost $3 million; I think it will be more like $2 million,” Wieberg said. “It’s hard to say what criteria DNR will require within the next couple of years. I have every intention of building a better plant than what we have.”

Wieberg said that DNR would probably want to know how much inflow and infiltration (I&I) the sewer plant has currently, which the city will have to do research to figure out.

Aldermen will send any information they have to Bax and plan to talk to her in person at the August meeting.

In other business, the aldermen approved the Westphalia Car Show for Sept. 11.

“Everything is pretty much the same as it was in years past,” Wieberg said.

The event will run from 5-11 p.m., and the street closures will be the same as they have been in the past. Businesses with active liquor licenses that would like to sell alcohol outside their building during the event will need to apply for a special caterer’s license.

One big change is that the city will allow outside vendors if they have a city business license. The city will pay for six porta-potties for the event and will arrange to have them delivered and picked up. Westphalia Car Show organizers will pay for event insurance.

• Aldermen approved $1,487.97 for a new computer for the city from Remote Computer Services (RCS) of Westphalia. At the June meeting, the board approved a new computer at a cost up to $1,000, but City Clerk Tammy Massman had reached out to RCS for a recommendation. Since the estimate was more than the original approved amount, she wanted to ask for permission to move forward with the purchase.

The estimate includes the computer, with Microsoft Office and standard malware installed, and the transfer of city files from the old computer to the new unit.

“I’ve looked the specs over, and it’s pretty beefy, but if you want it to last for eight to 10 years, that’s what it needs to be,” said Alderman Jake Plassmeyer. “It’s an investment.”

• The board approved up to $1,000 to hire someone to cut the grass and weeds in several overgrown locations around town before the parish picnic.

Wieberg noted he will utilize someone who needs to complete community service hours to weed-eat a ditch in the city limits that is overgrown.

“Since we have had so much rainfall this year, even though I did spray everything, it is all growing back again,” Wieberg said.

The mayor added that if more individuals need community service hours, he will have them paint the school crossing sign on the street at St. Joseph Catholic School and clean out drains.

“Here is the thing about the community service hours: it’s all fine and dandy to have people come and do the service, but someone has to line them out, oversee the work, and sign the paperwork,” Wieberg said. “So, it’s my time I’m giving up too.”

• Wieberg told aldermen that he wanted to go on record that he opposed an additional entrance for the town of Westphalia as requested by Western District Commissioner Dale Logan.

“I saw that our local commissioner is fighting for a south entrance into town with the redirection of Highway 63,” Wieberg said. “The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has no plans to put one in now. They are planning on a north entrance, but there is nothing planned for a south entrance.”

Wieberg is worried that the additional entrance may cause traffic problems for the city.

“I, myself, am living in that area and I don’t want a south entrance,” Wieberg said.

He added that he hopes that once the new highway is completed and with the north entrance only built, the traffic flow for Fatima students will be better and a lot of pressure will be taken off Main Street.

“It (the south entrance) seems like a lot of extra construction for our little town,” Plassmeyer said.

Aldermen speculated on why the county commissioners would be pushing for the additional exit but did not come to any solid conclusions.

• All street projects have been completed, and Massman is waiting for them to be invoiced.

• Mid Mo Operations Owner Aaron Lachowicz reported that he drafted the initial Request for Proposal (RFP) for the new sewer plant. He also submitted the quarterly reports to DNR. The new pump approved at the June meeting had arrived, and Lachowicz planned to install it soon. He is doing a cost comparison for a different lab for the samples to make sure the city is getting the best deal possible.

Lachowicz reported that there was no overflow during the recent electrical outage.

Massman noted that the city will not need to pay $3,000 to DNR for the permit modification because the modification was due, in part, to the bridge reconstruction.

“We will be able to keep the renewal allowance,” Massman reported.

• Aldermen approved the following expenses: city ($2,147), sewer system ($7,014.43), and special road district ($729.40). They also approved the following receipts: city ($12,543.46), sewer ($12,733.98), and special road district ($.10).

• Westphalia had the following ending balances in their accounts: city checking ($160,008.84), sewer system checking ($95,477.35), special road district checking ($152,197.07), and special road district savings ($5,138.90).

• The city has the following certificates of deposit: city ($468,368.74), sewer system ($554,065.77), and special road district ($557,281.44).

• The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 25 at 6 p.m.