Increased police officer pay, the purchase of a fire truck and upcoming holiday events were among matters discussed Monday by the Cabool City Council.
As a result of the closed session, council members voted unanimously to increase police officer pay by $1 per hour, enabling Police Chief Jerald Sigman to offer a starting wage of $20 per hour. Members are hopeful that this will attract officers to fill two vacant positions. The increase is effective beginning the pay period starting Dec. 4.
Fire Chief Brent Honeycutt and Mayor Danny Cannon inspected a fire truck recently that could be used as a rescue truck, with the current one being used as a brush truck. Members approved the $170,000 purchase of the truck, and will determine later whether to finance it or use certificate of deposit funds to purchase the truck outright.
Janet Roberts, chamber board, gave an update on the Friday, Dec. 1 Christmas parade, stating that they have received 80 entries. The project prom Christmas Bazaar will take place the following Saturday alongside Christmas on Main which will feature several vendors and activities. On Sunday, the annual Christmas concert will take place at the United Methodist Church.
In other matters:
- Brad Roberts, alderman, stated he would like to see a ticket written for dogs running at large. Sigman said he would look for stray dogs to write a ticket.
- Mike Scott, Barker Phillips Jackson Insurance (BPJ), told the council that they are not incurring an increase and that they received a rebate from Anthem this year totaling $18,484.80. The council approved the renewal of its current health insurance plan with Anthem and changed life and disability insurance to KCL to save money and eliminate a bill.
- Upon investigation requested by James Gray, Sigman stated that police records since 2010 show no accidents at the intersection of Cedar and Davis.
- Ron Scheets, city administrator, told Gray he would check on culverts believed to be causing flooding near the library.
- Gray requested pot holes, trees around power lines and flowers around town be taken care of. He was assured they would all be looked into as far as the city can control.
- Conway Hawn, city attorney, informed Gray he would look into the procedure to add term limits for aldermen upon his request.
- Gray questioned the current MoDOT sidewalk project and if there could be one in front of Cabool Drug. Scheets said he would investigate.
- Scheets informed Gray that citizens can pay a refundable deposit for a key to the Roberts Park restrooms. Vandalism keeps the city from leaving it open.
- Roberts informed Gray that anyone can speak to city officials during meetings, thus it serves as a town hall meeting.
- An appreciation dinner will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, at Shetler’s Cafe. Those attending need to let Kim Elliott, city clerk, know in advance.
- Members approved extra compensation of $75 for full-time employees and $50 for part-time employees.
- The council accepted the results of the Nov. 7 election authorizing a one-half cent sales tax to provide revenue for the operation of the fire and police departments.
- Scheets reported paving, sidewalk, lighting and seasonal decorating among other city improvements.
- The City of Cabool is featured in the MPUA Alliance magazine this month. It provides wholesale power to Cabool and Houston.
- The South Central Solid Waste District is planning to schedule a waste tire pick up to be hosted by Cabool.
- A 2007 Equinox is out of service, so the city is looking for a new vehicle.
- The city will sponsor a chamber meeting noon Tuesday, Nov. 28, at the First Baptist Life Center.
- Members declined to have A Squared Brewery from Mountain Grove be part of downtown Christmas activities to keep it family-friendly. Roberts dissented.
- Scheets stated that Lynette Montgomery, deputy city clerk, will retire around April of next year. They plan to advertise for the position soon so Montgomery can train the new employee.
- The council did a first reading for an ordinance calling for the annual city election to be held April 2, 2024, and a second reading of the ordinance.
- Hawn stated the city received a petition from Merica Dental to rezone a portion of 1310 Parker Ave. for commercial use instead of residential. The council referred the petition to the planning commission.
- 911 contacted the city about a mass notification system that would notify residents of emergency situations, including severe weather. Scheets will obtain more information for the next meeting.
- In closed session, members increased the hourly wage of Tyler Shehorn to $18.50 per hour.
The next regular meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18.