A lengthy discussion, including comments from local citizens regarding the Rock Island Trail project highlighted last Thursday's meeting for the Cole Camp city council.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Mayor Diana Burdick and the first order of business was to approve minutes of 4 previous meetings, as well as the night's agenda and to pay bills presented and the most recent financial reports.
City Clerk Dawn Paul recorded minutes for the meeting.
Under old business, the group received letters for credentials from 2 engineering firms; Bartlett & West and Great River Engineering for the Rock Island Trail project. Ron Benton of Missouri State Parks, specifically it's Department of Natural Resources division, spoke to the council on the Rock Island Trail, required maintenance, other cities and entities roles and presented some insightful knowledge on the topic. Mike Smasal, Cole Camp, also presented a letter of intent to the council to donate a piece of property to be included as part of the city's in-kind match for the TAP Grant being used for the Rock Island Trail trailhead.
After other questions were fielded from the crowd as well, Alderwoman Mindy Fox made a motion to accept Great River Engineering as the city's firm. Alderman Steve Knox seconded the motion and it was approved with all ayes.
The city received 7 bids for the 2015 Dodge Charger, formerly a vehicle included in the entity's police fleet. A high bid of $6,500 was accepted from Pam Brandt.
The city also received 3 bids to conduct it's 2024 audit with the winning bid being accepted from Decker & Decker at a cost of $7,500 for 2024. However, the contract is part of a 3-year deal with the cost to increase incrementally for 2025 and 2026.
Lastly the city accepted a bid from Kats Place Construction for the installation of new windows at city hall.
Under new business, city accepted three resolutions, 1) to pay a reimbursement for sales tax in the amount of $111.60 to Steve Knox for his up-front purchase of the city's new microphone and speaker system, 2) to accept Great River Engineering as it's firm to proceed with the sidewalk project on the west side of the city's streets, funded by a recently received TAP Grant, and 3) to approve Kevin Cupka from Missouri State University to complete a Cultural Resource Survey as part of a requested grant through the LWCF to improve Butterfield Park.
Jean Eckstein was re-appointed to the city's Planning & Zoning committee and presented 3 building permits, all approved by the board after a motion made by Dave Locke and seconded by Steve Knox.
Police Chief Jeff Canfield informed the council that he has preliminarily looked into security cameras for city hall but quotes were still incomplete.
There was no report from the city attorney.
Mayor Burdick gave updates on the culvert that needs replaced on Spring Street that was a victim of a recent, torrential downpour and also updated the council on RFQ's that have been sent out, moving forward on the Safe Streets For All Grant.
Scott Balke addressed the council with an issue that he has with his driveway located on Hwy 52 and rectification of that issue may come to light after an upcoming visit with MoDOT.
Tracey Duvall spoke to the council as well concerning animal regulations, particularly concerning 1 dog within the city limits.
Roy Wagner presented a check in the amount of $500 from the FOE Countryside AERIE Eagles to be applied to spaying and neutering stray dogs and cats.
The open session concluded and the meeting adjourned to executive session around 9:00 PM.
The meeting re-opened, however, at 9:38 PM and a motion was made by Mindy Fox, seconded by Dave Locke to re-consider the previous vote of accepting Great River Engineering as the city's firm to proceed on the Rock Island Trail project on their behalf. The motion passed with all ayes.
Locke then followed with another motion to postpone to a later date a decision to accept a firm. That motion was seconded by Steve Knox and passed with all ayes.
The second part of the open session was adjourned and the council re-entered it's closed executive session at 9:41 PM.
City Council meetings for Cole Camp are regularly held on the third Wednesday of each month. Visitors are always welcome to attend.
