LINN — Linn aldermen tabled the decision to upgrade electrical receptacles on electric poles for Christmas lights for $11,875 at their meeting held on Monday, Sept. 21. Aldermen Bill Turner has been working with Ameren Missouri and planned to put in nine new electrical receptacles and update 11 others for a total of 20 poles that would have lighted Christmas decorations. Turner contacted four different electrical contractors, including Schaefer Electric, Meyer Electric Co.,  Schneider Electric, and Jeffries Electrical Services. Only Schaefer Electric submitted an estimate and indicated they could have the work done before Dec. 1.

Turner explained that the ATV/UTV license fees had totaled $4,200 and were designated for Christmas decorations, so the city would only have to come up with $7,675.

City Clerk Carrie Grellner said that City Treasurer Jeanna Monroe-Lansford had reported that it was not in the budget for the current fiscal year.

“This seems like a lot of money,” Mayor Mike Troesser said. “You guys have been doing this for longer than me; how do we get the money?”

“Can’t we tag some money for it?” Turner asked. “It seems minimal to what the budget is for the city.”

“Most of the money in our accounts is for water and sewer,” Grellner said. “You can’t use water and sewer money for Christmas lights. It would have to come out of the general fund.”

Turner said that he had asked Ameren if they could use the existing receptacles for Christmas lights this year if they don’t upgrade them and has not received a response.

“If they don’t allow us to use the old receptacles, there won’t be any Christmas lights this year,” Turner said.

He added that he would like to compare the number of ATV/UTV licenses that Osage County is issuing compared to the number the city is issuing because the number seems to be dropping. “We didn’t get nearly as many licenses purchased this year,” Turner said.

“I just don’t know where we can get this money,” Troesser repeated.

Alderman Dustin Flamm said that they wouldn’t be able to decide that night, and that the city would not be able to afford to buy new Christmas decorations this year, regardless.

“I’m not shooting for new Christmas decorations this year,” Turner said. “The problem is that, for a big part of town, we can’t put lights on the electric poles. That was a big complaint last year: that the decorations seemed sparse and erratic.”

“I would really like to have Christmas lights this year,” said Alderman Steve Boeckmann.

“I don’t know how we are going to get the money,” Troesser repeated.

Turner asked if most of the money in the checking account was tied up with the water, sewer, and parks accounts.

“There is money in the general fund right now, but I don’t know how much of it is allocated for other things,” Grellner replied.

Turner said that Park Board President Neil Loethen thought the city could decorate the poles that couldn’t have electrical receptacles with holiday banners. Turner asked if the city could purchase Christmas banners if the electrical upgrades were too costly.

“Where would that money come from?” Grellner asked.

“The banners could be used for more than one year,” Boeckmann said.

Turner noted that banners cost between $90 and $115 each and the city would need about 15.

Troesser thought the city could squeeze that amount of money out of the budget.

Turner also noted that the city owns four streetlights in the square and they have working receptacles. He suggested that the Linn Community Betterment Association or the Christas on Main Street Committee may consider purchasing lighted decorations for the streetlights.

Aldermen agreed to decide how to handle upgraded receptacles at a special meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 29.

In other business, the board agreed not to pay for a culvert pipe as requested by a resident. A resident cannot access his property off Hwy. 50 and would like to put a culvert in an existing ditch so that he could have easier access to his house. He is asking the city to buy the culvert pipe, and he will do the work to install it.

“There are several places in town where people have changed their driveways and not put in a culvert pipe,” Troesser said. “They haven’t even asked us about it. They just did whatever they wanted to do. They are asking for us to buy the pipe, and they will do all the work.”

Troesser went on to explain that there is constant water flowing through the ditch when the pool is open, and it is in the best interest of the city to have a culvert installed.

“If you give one resident a culvert, you have to give everyone a culvert,” Flamm warned.

Troesser asked what would happen if the city did not pay for the culvert and the resident filled the ditch with rock to make a driveway to access his property without a culvert pipe.

“We don’t want that ditch to fill up,” Boeckmann said.

“There are all kinds of ditches that need to be dug out all over town,” Turner said.

Troesser noted that the city had a galvanized culvert that was ordered by mistake, that cost $810 that could possibly be used.

Boeckmann thought that with the water from the pool containing bleach and other chemicals, the culvert would need to be made from plastic instead of metal.

“I say no to paying for it,” Turner said. “We can’t come up with the money for electrical receptacles for the Christmas lights. I don’t think we should spend money on something that is not our problem. I’m fine with digging it out for him, but I don’t think we should be putting any money into it.”

Flamm noted that if a new driveway entrance is made, the homeowner will need to asphalt or concrete it within a year, per city ordinance.

“And we are enforcing that how?” Boeckmann asked. “We have that ordinance in place and haven’t enforced it. We have an apartment building built seven to eight years ago, and they still have gravel parking lots.”

Flamm asked if the city needed to get rid of the ordinance.

“We need to start enforcing the ordinances,” Boeckmann said.

City Attorney Cathy Zacharias noted that her office could be of help with code enforcement if needed.

In related news, Grellner told aldermen that she is still working to get the ordinances displayed on the city website. “I am waiting for the final draft to be sent to all of you for review,” Grellner said. “After everyone has reviewed it, we will have to submit changes. When it is finalized, you’ll have to pass an ordinance adopting the new code.”

Grellner has no timeline as to when it will be completed.

• Bartlett & West Project Manager Hope Drennan reported that she is still working on the internal review of the Lee Mar Hills Regionalization Project.

“We’ve got some additional comments to alleviate any future change orders,” Drennan said. “They really went into the nitty-gritty, and I’m working on the changes on that.”

Drennan said she has written up 10 easements that are ready to be signed by property owners.

“We have another meeting with the other property owner coming up, but we haven’t got that scheduled yet because we are waiting on one more draft of the easement,” Drennan said. “The property owner had some different requests on how things should be drafted, so we are working on that now.”

Drennan noted that the last easement is over the largest property and is more complicated than the others.

“Do you foresee any problems?” Turner asked.

“I do not,” Drennan said. “We’ve had a lot of communication with the property owners, and based on the back and forth over the past month, I think we are in good shape.”

“It seems like there are certain trees they are trying to save, but they have been willing to work with us,” Troesser added.

Drennan noted that some of the property owners’ requests may even cost less money for the project overall.

“It is a situation where everyone is gaining,” Drennan said. “My goal is to finalize plans and specifications this month and get them to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR).”

• Aldermen approved a payment of $11,430 to Vandevanter Engineering for two Pratt six-inch check valves and four six-inch flange nuts, bolts, and gasket kits, including installation.

“These are the valves to the Highway 50 Lift Station near State Technical College,” Grellner said. “If we don’t do anything else, this needs to be done because this will end up messing up the pumps. This needs to be done as soon as possible.”

Grellner reported that Vandevanter Engineering had spoken to the former Utilities Supervisor Aleks Rowinski last year.

“They explained this to me, and it could shut the whole thing down,” Troesser said.

Grellner noted that there was plenty of money to cover the repairs in the Sewer Replacement Fund.

Vandevanter Engineering is working up an estimate for a faulty digital controller for one of the pumps. They are also getting extra parts for a faulty fuse on one of the other pumps.

• Aldermen also approved a payment of $1,300 to retired Utilities Supervisor Larry Fredrich.

“Are these calls our maintenance employees can’t handle?” Turner asked.

“Yes; they do not know what to do,” Grellner said. “He has either walked them through it or come out. He is teaching the guys at the same time.”

Troesser noted Fredrich believes that a lot of the problems the city is having right now are because of a lack of routine maintenance and neglect.

In other Utilities Department news, Grellner handed out copies of the water tower inspection report for Tower #2.

Aldermen approved the purchase of a used receiver from Midwest Meter for $2,000.

“This is what we use to read our meters, and they no longer make these,” Grellner said. “This would give us a backup.”

• One city employee is taking water certification classes in Rolla after failing his first exam.

• Flamm mentioned that something needed to be done with the two pumps that Rowinski had sent off to be diagnosed, and no decisions had been made on what to do with them.

• Turner noted that he had asked for some of the bushes near Court Street to be trimmed months ago. They had never been cut back and were making it hard for drivers to see around them.

• Troesser has looked at the fence around the city shed and believes that repairs can be made to make the fence more acceptable. The fence is on the property line between the city maintenance shed and the St. George Catholic Cemetery. The church has complained that the fence is an eyesore and in disrepair.

“I think it is something we can work on,” Troesser said.

POOL & PARK UPDATE

Grellner said that she has asked Pool Manager Christina Wells to make a list for the board of all the things that need repairs before next year.

“There is nothing crazy on the list,” Grellner said, “just the stuff we already know about.”

The list included repairing a gap in the concrete in the bathrooms, repainting the pool, securing the slide hose to the pool, fixing the gate, and repairs to the kiddie pool.

Turner noted that he reached out to Pools Made Possible about the repairs to the kiddie pool and no one had gotten back to him. He noted that it may be something that the city has to fix in-house.

“I think we should get things going and not put off everything until April,” Turner said, adding that the grate in the bathroom was another thing that needed to be repaired.

Backes Plumbing will provide an itemized list of what repairs they think need to be made when they winterize the pool. Grellner will reach out for estimates on resurfacing the pool.

• Grellner noted that the faulty sensors and automatic doors at the All-Inclusive Playground bathroom had been assessed, but that Loethen had not received an estimate for the repairs.

Hometown Lumber received a letter from the city attorney regarding the garage doors in the city shed that do not work. “He (John Knollmeyer) responded to me, asking when we could get together,” Troesser said. “I replied anytime would work for me, and that’s it. I’ll call him, and if he has the same song and dance this time, I’ll call Dulle Overhead Doors to make the repairs.”

The estimate for the garage doors was originally $5,500, and the city will subtract whatever the cost of the repairs is from the total.

FINANCIAL NEWS

Monroe-Lansford reported that the 2023-24 fiscal year audit has been sent to the aldermen for review, and 2024-25 fiscal year reconciliations have been made.

She noticed that she would need to amend the 2026-27 fiscal year budget to add the grants for the walking trail and t-ball field. The city has received money from the sale of excess equipment on the Purple Wave auction and the sale of several old police cars.

• Monroe-Lansford is working on the financial statements due to the state by Oct. 31.

• Aldermen approved outstanding bills for the month totaling $305,369.32.

• Linn had the following ending balances in its governmental fund accounts: general ($309,503.13), pool (-$18,402.98), park ($64,878.61), police training ($2,873.66), general fund improvement ($243,502.22), park improvement ($39,229.33), and pool improvement (-$1,117.01).

• The city had the following ending balances in its business-type funds: water ($547,554.88), water replacement ($181,158.36), sewer ($578,137.02), sewer replacement ($69,868.73), grants (-$137,000.33).

• Linn has nine certificates of deposit totaling $1,439,648.15.

• City Hall and the License Fee Office will be closed on Oct. 12 for Columbus Day.

• The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 19, at 5:30 p.m.