BELLE — Three additional agenda items were added to the June 28 special meeting by Belle Mayor Daryl White Jr., two days after they had originally been posted on a June 26 meeting that was canceled. According to the original agenda, the board of aldermen planned to discuss the city’s liability insurance.

White added the agenda items at the beginning of the meeting.

“There are a few things I would like to add to the agenda while we are here,” White began. “The first item is tires.”

Alderman Barb Howarth asked why they were talking about tires if they were there for insurance.

“I’d like to add it,” White said. “Insurance first, skid steer tires second, and I would like to talk about temporary superintendent third.”

The agenda was approved with a 3-0 vote.

The first item, liability insurance, was researched by MGI Risk Advisors.

MOPERM  is going from $28,295 to $40,556, just shy of a $12,000 increase.

“We had two other companies that gave us a proposal,” said Charro Reasor, city treasurer. “We had two other companies that gave us a proposal. One being an ENC insurance for $35,269 and includes a $3 million umbrella coverage for the police department and Missouri rural.”

Howarth asked if the coverage was comparable and Reasor said one is better than the other.

“Missouri Rural is $1 million, but with EMC we would have a total of $4 million.”

White said the city has been working toward finding a new provider since their’s left them.

“One thing that Mike and I did talk about is to make sure we have the best cyber protection as possible,” Reasor added.

Howarth said EMC is less money with more coverage.

“I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t go with them,” Howarth said.

The board approved EMC with a 3-0 vote.

White introduced the topic of the skid steer tires, which he said were “all the way down to the cords.”

“They had one blowout yesterday so they put a used tire on it to use it,” White said. “Something that they are using every day, I hate to put it off ‘till the next council meeting. I went to the two tire places in Belle and these were the bids we got.”

Alderman Pudd Mitchell asked if the brands were any good and White said they are the same ones he sells and he likes them.

“But I am not selling these tires,” he said. “Don’t get that confused in the paper. I don’t want to be misquoted.”

Alderman Adam Padgett made a motion to accept Rector Radiator’s bid on four tires and Mitchell seconded. The purchase passed with a 3-0 vote.

The board asked when the tires would come in and White speculated sometime that week because he thinks their shipment comes on the same trucks.

White passed out a rental agreement for the city’s new campground.

“Charro printed this out for us,” White said. “It is a new rental agreement for the campground if you all want to see it.”

White said he had one thing to bring up that didn’t need a decision, but he wanted the board to think on before the next board meeting.

“Amy (Kiso) has located us a couple of grants that she is pretty confident in,” White said. “It is not on the agenda, just FYI.”

White said these grants are in addition to what she is already working on for the city. Reasor asked what Kiso’s rates are so she could include it in her records.

“One other thing on the agenda I put on there,” White began. “I have been watching our summer help and stuff, there have been some issues. I would like to recommend we appoint someone as a temporary, I don’t care if we call it superintendent or supervisor, until the next council meeting. I think we have some people that, I am not running anybody down, they are hard workers, all of ‘em, but sometimes they’ve lost some focus and stuff, I’ve been noticing. I think we need somebody to organize them until we can talk about it at the next meeting.”

Alderman Barb Howarth said the public works department needs to keep their phones in their pockets.

“I am the last guy you will have to hear throwin’ a fit about somebody takin’ a drink or takin’ a break or goin’ to the store, but I have seen people at Thomas’s and stuff, and I’ve seen the other guy in the dentist’s office. I’ve spoke to Clay about it the other day, and he said he would be over steppin’ his bounds to, you know, jump on to somebody.”

White said it would be more effective until they figure out what they are going to do to have everybody organized in the mornings under one supervisor.

“It would eliminate a lot of aggravation,” White said. “I am not asking for full-time, I am asking for two weeks or whenever our next council meeting is. I feel there is a chance that we — that there are things that we will need to address before our council meeting. I have been componed quite a list that we are going to need to take care of at the next meeting. I don’t know if you guys want to break that into two meetings.”

Howarth questioned what would happen if Ridenhour stepped into the role now, what would happen later. White said he would explain the position is temporary.

“You can’t have someone working over here and someone brushing hogging over here,” White said. “The right hand has to know what the left hand is doing. I am concerned somebody’s gonna get hurt.”

Alderman James (Pudd) Mitchell said he didn’t have an issue appointing Clay Ridenhour to the position temporarily. Treasurer Charro Reasor asked if she could ask a question for insurance purposes.

“One of them is driving a personal side-by-side to do city work. Is that allowed?” She asked.

Alderman Jeanette Struemph said she isn’t sure. White said it would be a question if he got hurt on the job while using it. Mitchell asked why he was driving the side-by-side.

“He told me today that Frankie (Horstman, city clerk) told him that if it was easier just to drive it,” Reasor said. “But I don’t know. When he said that to me, I cringed. He said it is easier to do trash.”

White said he would be concerned if the employee got in a wreck or if the side-by-side was damaged while conducting city business.

“I think we would be responsible to repair or replace his vehicle,” Howarth said. “I make a motion to appoint Clay Ridenhour temporarily over all the public help.”

The motion passed with a 4-0 vote.