VIENNA — The Vienna Board of Aldermen met Nov. 17, at City Hall to discuss several pressing matters, from utility rates to community projects. Public Works Director Shon Westart let the aldermen know he reached out to Valerie Main of the Missouri Rural Water Association, who reviewed the city’s finances and presented options to bring services back into balance. Main led much of the discussion on water and wastewater rates, highlighting concerns the city’s systems are underfunded resulting in the city losing money annually for the last couple years and is in need of immediate attention.

“This one is pretty urgent, to get yourself out of the red pretty quickly,” Main told the board.

According to her report, wastewater operations currently face a $6,400 annual deficit, while water services are running $48,000 in the red each year for a total deficit of $54,400 a year at the moment.

“I would like you (talking to the aldermen) to make more than $1,800 or $1,600 a year,” Main said. “The rates that I’ve given you are just to get out of the hole, and then in a year or two, we’ll have to adjust again.”

Main presented two options to address the deficits. Option A would apply an $11.75 flat increase to every household and a $2 increase to wastewater, spreading the cost evenly across the community.

Option B would focus on usage, keeping minimum user rates stable while increasing charges for households that consume more. Main said the city could adopt different approaches for water and wastewater, giving the board flexibility to balance fairness with financial stability.

Board members including mayor Tim Schell weighed the options carefully. Schell asked questions about how each option would affect households and businesses. For example, he brought up and discussed whether spreading increases evenly would be fair to local businesses versus using a tiered approach that reflected actual usage.

Westart, who has been with the city for more than 15 years, noted the infrequency of past rate increases.

“I’ve been here a long time and we’ve only raised water one time,” he said. “Even with this, we’ll still be lower than everyone else.”

At the moment, no final determination was made and the aldermen plan to revisit the rates at a future December meeting, after doing research into the issue, with changes likely to take effect in early 2026, sometime in the first couple months. The Advocate will continue to monitor the situation for further developments.

Beyond utility rates, the meeting included updates on several city projects that aim to enhance community spaces.

The city has completed the purchase of the Kelly building, a structure that had previously been slated for demolition. At the ballpark, plans for a new dugout are moving forward, thanks to Beth Wulff who addressed board members about materials, durability and design, ensuring the dugouts will be safe and functional for young athletes.

“We want it to look good, but also hold up over time,” Wulff said.

Art and culture were also featured in the meeting. Volunteers and staff including Vienna Main Street are preparing grant applications to fund murals on downtown buildings.

Other city updates included marking additional parking spaces downtown to improve accessibility, coordinating holiday events such as the lighted Christmas parade and working on better banner placement throughout the community. The meeting concluded with a closed session motion.