St. Mary will ask Spectrum to reimburse it for water loss

/ News, Ste. Genevieve News

ST. MARY – The St. Mary Board of Aldermen met Thursday and discussed the recent water main break which resulted in the loss of considerable water and inconvenience the residents of Circle Drive.

 

According to the minutes of the May 2 meeting:

 

“Spectrum did not have the (right of way) to dig inside of city limits. The boring crew is not (allowed) in the city to do anything until we get things settled with the loss of the water main and the loss of water. Mayor Adam Bequette states that he has been in (c)ontact with the company and told them that we as the city and the residents should not be responsible for the loss of the water since it was their fault.”

 

THE CITY OF ST. MARY, MISSOURI

Board of Aldermen Meeting

Thursday, May 2nd, 2024

6:00 PM

 

  1. Be it Remembered: A regular meeting of the St. Mary Board of Aldermen was called to order by the Honorable Mayor Adam Bequette on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024 beginning at 6:00 PM at         City Hall located at 782 3rd Street, St. Mary, Missouri 63673.

 

  1. Pledge of Allegiance: The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.

 

  1. Roll Call: Aldermen answering the roll call were Alderman Annette Hacker, Alderman Dr. Zen Duda, Alderman Brenda Thompson and Alderman Kathy Bergmann.

 

  1. Agenda: A motion was made by Alderman Dr. Zen Duda to approve the agenda. Alderman Annette Hacker seconded the motion. Alderman Brenda Thompson, Alderman Kathy Bergmann, Alderman Annette Hacker and Alderman Dr. Zen Duda voted yea on a voice vote. Motion carried.

 

  1. Consent Agenda: A motion was made by Alderman Dr. Zen Duda to approve the Consent Agenda which consists of the following: Minutes from Previous Meeting, Treasurers Report,             Collectors Report and Bills Paid and City Manager to pay previously appropriated expenses as     they come due as allowed by the budget. Alderman Annette Hacker seconded the motion.         Alderman Brenda Thompson, Alderman Kathy Bergmann, Alderman Annette Hacker and      Alderman Dr. Zen Duda voted yea on a voice vote. Motion carried.

 

  1. Public Forum: Nobody signed up to speak.

 

  1. Department Assignments:
  2. Police Department: Alderman Zenon Duda
  3. Fire Department: Alderman Kathy Bergmann
  4. Street Department: Alderman Zenon Duda
  5. Water/Wastewater Department: Alderman Annette Hacker
  6. Park/Cemetery/Animal Control Department: Alderman Brenda Thompson

                        Alderman Kathy Bergmann made a motion to approve to keep the departments that they               have     been over. Alderman Annette Hacker seconded the motion. Alderman Kathy                                  Bergmann,       Alderman Brenda Thompson, Alderman Zenon Duda and Alderman                                   Annette Hacker voted yea      on a voice vote. Motion carried.

 

  1. Review of a right away ordinance: Mayor Adam Bequette stated that we need to have this ordinance since the boring crew hit one of our water mains in circle drive. Spectrum did not         have the right-a-way to dig inside of city limits. The boring crew is not aloud in the city to do   anything until we get things settled with the loss of the water main and the loss of water. Mayor        Adam Bequette states that he has been in Contact with the company and told them that we as the city and the residents should not be responsible for the loss of the water since it was their           fault. The board of Alderman agreed to table this ordinance until the next meeting. Alderman Brenda Thompson made a motion to table this review until the next meeting. Alderman Annette        Hacker second the motion. Alderman Kathy Bergmann, Alderman Brenda Thompson, Alderman             Zenon Duda and Alderman Annette Hacker voted yea on a voice vote. Motion carried

 

  1. BILL NO. 997 AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH THE CITY OF ST. MARY MAYOR WITH THE CONSENT AND APPROVAL WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE BOARD OF             ALDERMAN TO APPOINT OFFICERS AND CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

 

            Alderman Annette Hacker made a motion to Hire Jermey Brauer as the city attorney and the        city’s prosecuting attorney Alderman Dr Zen Duda second the motion. Alderman Kathy Bergmann, Alderman Brenda Thompson, Alderman Zenon Duda and Alderman Annette Hacker voted yea on a voice vote.

 

Motion carried.

 

  1. AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH THE CITY OF ST MARY ALDERMAN AND MAYOR AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER AN AUCTION AGREEMENT.

Mayor Adam Bequette stated that we have several things at the sewer plant that we could get auctioned off. Alderman Annette Hacker stated that they would have to have a list of the things that needed to be auctioned off and the board of alderman would have to approve of those items.

 

Alderman Annette Hacker made a motion to table this ordinance until the meeting next month.

 

Alderman Brenda Thompson second that motion. Alderman Kathy Bergmann, Alderman Brenda Thompson, Alderman Zenon Duda and Alderman Annette Hacker voted yea on a voice vote. Motion carried.

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  1. Department Reports:
  2. Emergency Management – Emergency Management Director April Grindstaff reported that the Mississippi river is up as of 1:30 the river at Chester was 30.81 feet and is set to crest at 31.6        feet. Alderman Dr Zen Duda asked Frankie Ullman what the break point was. Frankie stated    that at 36.1 feet the water will be over the curve on Hwy 61. When the river does get that high,            he doesn’t mind that smaller vehicles travel down 3rd street but the Semi trucks they are going to damage 3rd street. Alderman Dr Zen Duda asked if or when the water get that high, we could           have a group email or text to inform the Alderman about what we are needing to do. Frankie             stated that we will keep a close eye on the raising river. Mayor Adam Bequette asked the board            if they were familiar with ordinance 819. So, we can get April trained on FEMA. She is           working on the certifications.

 

  1. Police Department – Alderman Zen Duda stated our police officer is out of commission due to a family crisis. He spoke with Mayor Adam Bequette to ask for county to help out. Mayor   Adam Bequette stated that they could only do so much but they would help out as much as they     could. Mayor Adam Bequette stated that they could not enforce any city ordinances. Mator        Adam Bequette donated a dash cam for the police car. It maybe a good Ideas that we have a            substitute for Officer Corbette

 

  1. Fire Department – Alderman Kathy Bergmann gave the floor to Fire Chief Frankie Ullman. Frankie stated they had 7 calls, 3 medic, 1 mutual aide, 1 vehicle fire and 2 fire alarms.     Everything else is going good at the fire house. They are hopefully getting ready to do some   ISO testing to help with the ratings. They were trying to push the Spring BBQ put things just     didn’t come through right. Sorry it didn’t happen. In July they will be discussing the fall BBQ f          for October and hopefully get that information out early. They did discuss maybe a fish fry for   the summer time.

 

  1. Street Department –Alderman Dr. Zen Duda reported he main issue he had was the right a way issue with the boring crew. He has got all the trees planted. He wanted to acknowledge     Hunter and Charlie, and a little girl name Katelyn that were in second or third grade for the help           that they provided. He stated that the children were always a step ahead of him. Also         acknowledge the Bader’s and Wyatts for weeding around the trees on their property. Mayor    Adam Bequette asked Alderman Duda if there has been any large traffic that has been through           there since he noticed that it was washing out. Frank Gerardot stated that having your street sign      and house number is important for life saving purposes. He stated that we need to get with the           county to see what they would charge to get those things done. April Grindstaff stated that the houses should have the numbers on the house, that is one of the items on the occupancy permits            to pass the home. Alderman Annette Hacker stated that she has had some people from circle             drive ask if we could put up a sign that says no thru traffic, because some people think they          could get through circle drive to Highway H. Frankie Ullman stated if he had some help to dig   out the road to patch the streets where the water leaks have been. Alderman Zen Duda and          Citizen Eric Bergmann stated that they would me more than welcome to help him out with      repairing the streets. Frankie also stated that we could possibly get some estimated or repairs             from other companies.

 

  1. Water / Wastewater Department – Alderman Annette Hacker gave the floor to Frankie Ullman who reported We had a major water leak in circle drive from the boring crew that was in town. The leak on 4th street has been fixed and will not leak again. Thanks to another company that lets us use their locator to locate the leak better. They found the leak and that service line is out          of place and pout of service. We were suppose to have an inspection with DNR the 24th of April      but that did not happen because of the water leak in circle drive area. They are going to call next    week to set up another date for the inspection. The chlorine injector messed up they tore it a part            and cleaned it and it is back up and running. For the sewer side the UV system us back up and      running. It will cost us a little bit more than it was suppose to because the pit is down a low             grade level and when the creek comes up then it floods so they are going to move the main        panel up to the top of the stairs.

 

  1. Park / Cemetery / Animal Control – Alderman Brenda Thompson reported she met with Mayor Adam Bequette about the park situation. We are going to see what it will cost to fix the     park versus relocating the park. At the Cemetery she stopped taking pictures of the old tombstones because there are so many of them that have fell over. She is going to talk to some           local restoration society to figure out what we could do about those tombstones. On the animal          side, there are still dogs running at large through the city. Alderman Dr. Zen Duda stated that             there was a guy on a motor cycle that stopped and said that he was worried about hitting the      dogs in the road.

 

  1. Citizens Participation – Frank Gerardot stated that he wanted to reiterate that the vital important life saving to get the signs and numbers on the houses. Then send a letter to the     citizens that need to those numbers or signs.

 

  1. Regular Session Adjournment: There being no further business before the board, a motion was made by Alderman Annette Hacker to adjourn at 7:24 p.m. Alderman Dr. Zen Duda seconded the motion. All the aldermen voted yea on a voice vote. Meeting adjourned.

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​​MAYOR – ADAM BEQUETTE

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CITY CLERK – APRIL GRINDSTAFF