Mt. Vernon Board of Aldermen approves nearly $400K repairs to treatment plant

13 city streets to get chip and seal, McVey to get patch, overlay paving as city increases needed road repair
The Mt. Vernon Board of Aldermen approved multiple proposed repairs to the city’s wastewater treatment plant during their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
The first repair approved by the board was to have the plant’s sand filters rebuilt. Max Springer, city administrator, told the board that the repair was necessary because the filters are currently only able to handle 630,000 to 840,000 gallons of water per day, or 15 to 20-percent of the capacity they were designed to handle. The filters were designed to handle 9.4 million gallons of water per day.
Springer said the filters’ manufacturer, Aqua-Aerobics, inspected the filters and stated they could rebuild them to their original condition at a cost of $396,279; the other option would be to replace the filters with upgraded ones, at a cost of $1.2 million. Springer recommended having the filters rebuilt; he suggested using money from the utility reserve funds, and then pay back into the reserve fund later.
While discussing the wastewater treatment plant, Springer said a complaint had been made about how the city was spreading sludge to both the city and the Department of Natural Resources. Springer said DNR toured the wastewater treatment plant and watched the sludge being applied, and determined the city is in compliance. Springer also said the man who complained about the sludge said he’d had trouble with his well for the past 10 years, but the property the city is applying the sludge to is five miles from his property, and it was the first time that sludge had ever been applied there.
In a separate interview, Springer said the city has made significant progress in removing the sludge from the wastewater treatment plant, with only about 400,000 gallons left of the 1.4 million gallons which the plant held in December.
“All of the original sludge that was in the plant will be gone in 30 days or less,” Springer said. Paving on its way
During the meeting, the board also approved street repairs for the city. Springer told the board the city went out for bids to patch and overlay McVey Street, and the lowest bid came from Blevins Asphalt for $275,039. The other two bids received came from Coltrane Asphalt for $293,450 and Kelly Bishop Construction for $314,500. The board voted to accept Blevins’ bid on Springer’s recommendation.
The board also voted to have Blevins chip and seal 13 city streets: High Street, North Main, Hastings, Johnston, Patterson, Misty Creek, Meadow View, Tyler Court, Tracy Lane to Todd Lane, Tripper Court, Shady Lane, Oak Hill and Elder Court. The total cost of the chip and seal repairs is $171,252.
The board also approved having Railroad Drive patched and repaired at a cost of $128,748.
Springer also told the board the deadline for Timothy Hogan to make a final decision on whether to purchase the MRC building was drawing near, and they would have a decision about the building should Hogan decide not buy the building. He said he had seen five places where people were breaking into the building. He recommended holding a series of auctions to empty the building.
Elevator entrapment
Springer reported that he and Terry Moore, city code enforcement officer and planning administrator, rode one of the elevators in the building and got stuck, and had to call Joe Kelly, director of public works to come and get them out. Springer joked that he didn’t call Dave Hubert, chief of police, because “he would have left us in there.”
Ordinances passed
The board also passed three ordinances. The first ordinance authorized the Mt. Vernon City Clerk to issue a special tax assessment against FG Enterprises in the amount of $3,342.80 for expenses the city incurred in the removal of weeds and grass on their property at 1025 S. Market Street and also record the assessment as a lien on the property. The second ordinance authorized the execution of a state aviation trust fund project consultant agreement between the city and Olsson, Inc.
The final ordinance authorized the mayor “to apply for federal financial assistance on behalf of the City of Mt. Vernon and to execute any contract(s) resulting from such application for any grants between the City of Mt. Vernon and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission providing for capital, operating, and /or marketing assistance, comprised of federal funds to be expended for Commission-approved transit projects.”
Court duties discussed
During the meeting, the board also discussed the merits of transferring the duties of the city’s municipal court to the Lawrence County Circuit Court; no action was taken. In a separate interview, City Attorney Bill Petrus said there were some advantages for the city to do this.
“The pros would include the possibility of cost savings, because the city would stop paying a judge,” he said. “Toni (Buttram), the municipal court clerk, would possibly have more time for other duties, but her pay would not change. But, some of the money the city keeps now for court costs in municipal cases would go to the circuit clerk’s office instead of the city, so it is just a guess whether there would be net savings to the city.”
Petrus said the drawbacks to transferring the municipal courts duties include the risk that matters handled at the municipal court might not get the same attention at the circuit court.
“Some of our municipal court matters would be very minor things on the associate circuit docket but still contribute significantly to quality of life issues in a small town,” he said. “Those dockets will have rapes, murders, large drug cases, etc., and the judges might not be able to devote the attention that a municipal court judge does to cases involving nuisances like high grass and junk accumulations, dogs at large and dog bite cases and minor assault cases. I think our current judge does a good job of working with people to address the situation rather than levying a small fine and being done with it.”