At its November meeting, the California City Council officially opened the application window for the full-time Chief of Police position.
The deadline for applications is noon on Dec. 2, giving interested applicants about a month to submit materials for consideration. The length of this window is consistent with the city's hiring approach for its other recent hires at this position. Interim Police Chief Daniel Hurt began serving in the interim role on Friday, following former Police Chief Shane Templeton's exit at the end of October.
The City Council also approved an adjusted cost estimate for the aquatic park discussed at last month's meeting. While working on the application for financing, city officials were informed a spreadsheet error in last month's projection would add $376,000 to the original projection. This increases the cost estimate for the aquatic park to $3.5 million total - the Council approved this amendment and gave the go-ahead to submit the updated application.
The City received a good audit report for the year - auditors reported no significant deficiencies, beyond a lack of personnel leading to less-than-ideal segregation in City Hall accounting duties. This is rectified by checks and balances that prevent conflict, the auditors report. In its financial statements, the City received an unmodified report, meaning everything presented for audit is accurate.
The Council discussed, at length, changing CPD reporting software to Omnigo. The software is currently used by Moniteau County Emergency Dispatch, which switched over from its old software at the beginning of October. The CPD has reported problems with its incident reports starting approximately two weeks ago, due in part to issues with interfacing between the current company and Omnigo since they are separate entities. The CPD and Moniteau County Sheriff's Office recommended the switch to Omnigo - the Sheriff's Office and Tipton Police Department already use the program in the county, along with nearby Morgan and Camden counties, and report information can be shared across other departments that utilize the same system. The Council approved converting to Omnigo at a cost of $4,266 for the program annually, along with a one time "smart start" fee of $2,500.
The use of Smart911, already implemented in the county, was also discussed at length. The free service was made available to all Moniteau County residents back in September, but individuals have to create a profile online at moniteau911.com/smart911 and opt-in to receive alerts via the service. Discussion revolved around using the service more for internal and public alerts about everything from severe weather to road closures and power outages. Kevin Wieberg, Director of Moniteau County Emergency Dispatch, advised the Council that one benefit to greater public knowledge and subsequent use of the service is its utility across nearby counties. Boone, Callaway and Osage counties all currently offer the service, and Cole County is "close" to implementing it - in any county that uses Smart911, the information from citizen profiles will pop up when making a 911 call.
The Council approved a bid of $93,057.11 from Black & McDonald for phase one of the city's voltage conversion project, as well as a bid of $17,239.20 from Border States Electric for project materials. The project starts Dec. 1 and is projected to take two to three weeks. In related news, the city's transformer replacement project is set to take place the week of Nov. 17, with only minimal outages of four to five hours expected while one transformer is offline in part of town.
The Council also approved a bid of $879 for Falken tires from Brockes Tire & Auto for single axle dump truck tires for the Park Department.
The Council approved submission of a change order approval form for the West Aeration Basin Project. Back in September, sludge removal was approved at a cost of $3,800 per dry ton - the original contract did not include a specific number of dry tons, which is now projected at 28, bringing the cost of sludge removal to $106,400 total. The City's original estimate for this cost was closer to $38,000. Following sludge removal, it was discovered the basin's bottom is not level and will need to be leveled with $17,158 of compacted fill material to remedy that before the base can be reinforced with four inches of rock and six inches of concrete. The Council approved an amendment to the budget to reflect this higher cost.
The City submitted its comments on negotiations for an operating permit for the city's wastewater treatment plant with the Department of Natural Resources Oct. 31, successfully meeting the extended deadline granted last month.
The Council approved the following ordinances:
An ordinance clearing up confusion regarding the annual fee of $500 for use of rolloff dumpsters within city limits and prohibiting keeping such dumpsters in one location for more than 15 days at a time.
An ordinance closing streets to through traffic for the California Area Chamber of Commerce's Christmas Parade Dec. 7. Street closures will reflect the same route as is used each year. The parade route is as follows:
The Parade line up starts in the area of the Pool Complex on Stella Street. The parade will travel east on Stella to Owens, then right (south) onto Owens, then turning left (east) onto Patrick Street, then turning left (north) onto Oak Street, then right (east) onto South Street, then left (north) onto High Street, with the parade ending at the Moniteau County Courthouse.
An ordinance adopting standards related to the cultivation, manufacturing and testing of medical marijuana within city limits.
In other news, the Council agreed to schedule a special meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 to discuss IT needs. The meeting is open to the public.
Additionally, the city's municipal election will take place April 7, 2020, with filing deadlines reported as follows: opening filing date is Dec. 17 at 8 a.m., and the final filing date is Jan. 21, 2020, at 5 p.m.
The City Council's next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 2.