January 11, 1999

Present: Mayor Scott Fleetwood
Alderman Delmar Guthery
Alderman Leon Harris
Alderman Herman Davis
City Clerk Marilyn Alms
Alderman Don Davidson is absent due to being out-of-town

Guests: An attendance register was provided for guests to sign.

Call to order: Meeting called to order by Mayor Fleetwood.

Roll call of aldermen: Roll call of aldermen present read by clerk. These aldermen were present: Delmar Guthery, Leon Harris, and Herman Davis.

Approval of minutes: Minutes of December 14, 1998 regular meeting, and special meetings on December 24 and 31, 1998 were mailed to aldermen prior to the meeting. Alderman Delmar Guthery made motion to approve minutes as presented; second to motion by Alderman Herman Davis. Minutes approved by vote of all ayes.

Citizen’s comments: Mayor Fleetwood said Rodney Streight called to say how much they appreciated city volunteer fire department and all city department’s efforts and how well they worked together on the day of the fire at the high school.

Snow route: Street Department has developed a list of streets to have top priority as a snow route for snow plowing and ice control. Mayor Fleetwood submitted a copy of the list to the aldermen. Mayor Fleetwood will discuss this in his newspaper article, along with the city’s policy on driveways, private lots and roads, etc.

Mirma: Last year’s evaluation score was 73% and this year the city will be at 92% to 94%. The Safety and Loss Prevention Policy statement was read by the city clerk for board approval. Motion made by Alerman Herman Davis to approve the Safety and Loss Prevention Policy. Second to the motion by Leon Harris. Motion approved. All in favor.

Police Training: Mayor Fleetwood told the aldermen about a program available from Missouri Southern College at a cost of $1,500 for guaranteed 2 seats in every POST seminar. City is required to provide this training. Every police officer has to be certified in a defensive driving course. Motion made by Alderman Delmar Guthery to approve this contract with Missouri Southern. Second to the motion by Leon Harris. Motion approved.

Locally-owned automobile/ police pkg.: Howerton’s have a 1994 Caprice car that is a privately-owned vehicle, available for sale at $12,000. The Aldermen felt that, since this is 5 years old, that it is too old for our fleet.

Annexation: Bill #1/99.1. An ordinance to extend corporate city limits of Ava, Missouri by annexing property located in Section 12, Township 26, Range 16, submitted by Rose Zella Wade and Sandra Amyx. First reading by City Clerk. Motion made to approve the annexation by Delmar Guthery. Second to the motion by Leon Harris. Motion approved. All in favor.

Second reading will be read at the next meeting. Record of vote: Davis, aye; Guthery, aye; Harris, aye; Davidson is absent.

Bids for block work on city building: City has advertised for block work on the Records Storage Building in the local newspaper; one spec sheet was picked up but no bids were submitted. It was suggested that Mike Lansdown blocked up windows at the fire station and might be contacted. Also, Vern Snow was mentioned.

Planning and zoning public hearing: John Hamer request for rezoning from B-2 Central Business to B-3 General Business for light auto repair shop at 506 South Jefferson St. This hearing is scheduled for January 19 at 6:00 PM.

Another hearing is scheduled for February 16 submitted by Ike Rhoades to rezone property from B-1 Neighborhood Business to B-3 General Business for light auto repair shop, no painting – this location is 610 S. Jefferson St.

Smoa/ada; The Southwest Missouri Office on Agency did an inspection of the Community Center for handicapped accessibility and there needs to be work done to comply with federal regulations. Mayor Fleetwood talked to SCOCOG and there are monies available for assistance. Mayor Fleetwood will provide a letter to SMOA stating the city’s intention to comply with ADA regulations.

EDA pre-application for industrial park road: SCOCOG is working on the EDA pre-application for funds to build industrial park access to Highway 5. The city will need to provide a preliminary engineering design. Motion made by Herman Davis to approve contacting Scott Consulting Engineers to draw up a preliminary design. Second to the motion by Leon Harris. Motion approved. All in favor.

Fire department: Fire Chief Tom Woods thanked the aldermen for approving the compressed air cascade system, which proved invaluable in the school fire. He requested purchase of some other equipment – gloves, hoods, replacement of a damaged flashlight. These items are needed immediately. Later the department will need 250 feet of 1 ½ inch fire hose. The Ford fire truck has an old tube-type communications radio which you can hear traffic on but cannot transmit. He said that he is seeking grant money for a defribulator. Mayor Fleetwood said this possibly will be eligible for 75% reimbursement through MIRMA’s safety program. The department is not asking for immediate purchase, but asking that it be considered in next year’s budget, for 8 sets of turn-out gear at approximately $800 for each fireman. Also, 6 ABS breathing apparatus at approximately $2,000 each.

Mr. Woods said they’d be attending fire school in February and vendors usually have "specials" for supplies. Last year’s school had a two-way radio at a cost of $250. The aldermen said they were in favor of purchasing a radio at this price, if available again this year.

Accounts payable: Motion made by Herman Davis to approve payment of A/P as presented in the amount of $74,955. Second to the motion by Delmar Guthery. Motion approved. All in favor.

Closed session: Motion made by Herman Davis to move into closed session pursuant to MoRS 610.021(3). Second to the motion by Herman Davis. Motion approved.

Open session: Motion made by Herman Davis to move to regular open session. Second to the motion by Leon Harris. Motion approved. All in favor.

Ice control on street: Pre-treating streets with salt-water brine is a procedure that some state’s are using for ice control. Purchase of a tanker truck for this purpose was discussed.

Insurance for retirees: There has been previous discussion about adding this to the employee benefit package providing continuous insurance coverage for retirees who work until age 55 and have 25 years employment with the city. The city would pay health insurance premiums until the

person is eligible for Medicare. The requirement on the City of Ava in regard to the retirees being able to be covered by the group plan: they must be eligible for continuation of coverage, they cannot exceed 10% of the group, they are not eligible for the group coverage once they become eligible for Medicare, and the employer must contribute the same percentage of premiums as they do for all the other employees. Motion made by Leon Harris to approve this addition to the employee benefit package for retirees. Second to the motion by Herman Davis. Motion approved. All in favor.

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned.

On January 25, 1999, minutes were:

_____ Approved by Board of Aldermen as written

_____ Corrected or amended by Board of Aldermen

_______________________________________

Mayor Scott Fleetwood