Budget decisions loom for council
The Maryville City Council will get down to some serious budget business this week during a 90-minute workshop preceding Monday’s regular session.
Scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, the budget workshop will be followed by the regular meeting at 7 o’clock.
Other fiscal matters on the agenda for the council include budget presentations for Maryville Parks & Recreation and the Maryville Public Library, each of which have their own revenue streams and operate as quasi-independent agencies.
The city’s new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
During the regular portion of Monday’s meeting, Library Director Stephanie Patterson is expected to outline a $265,000 spending blueprint for the coming year based on an anticipated $256,000 in revenue plus $8,500 to be raised by the Friends of the Library organization.
Parks & Rec officials will submit a $1.5 million budget for review by the council, a total that includes $133,000 in capital spending made possible by voter approval of a tax levy increase in April.
On other fronts, the council will consider a re-zoning request by Kelly Morrison and Cris Wilmes for a residential lot located at 531 W. Halsey.
If approved, the property would be re-zoned from R-2 Single Family to R-2 Single Family Modified, allowing Morrison and Wilmes to tear down an existing house on the property and construct a duplex.
The owners stated in their request to the city that the house is uninhabitable and should be demolished.
According to a staff report, the neighborhood surrounding the house in question consists primarily of owner-occupied single-family homes with a mix of single-family rental properties to the north, south, and east.
The Fox Cove apartment complex is located across the street immediately to the west.
City staff is recommending approval of the request, which also gained support from the Planning & Zoning Commission.
Other issues before the council Monday include:
• Approval of a $473,845 contract with Visu-Sewer Inc. for the lining of 18,000 linear feet of sanitary sewer main identified during smoke testing carried out late last year as vulnerable to significant storm water inflow.
The 2015 budget includes $700,000 allocated for sewer repairs related to storm water inflow and infiltration, $163,000 of which was used to purchase a closed-circuit pipe camera.
City staff has determined that proceeding with the repairs will reduce the likelihood of sewer backups and cut electricity costs at Maryville’s newly completed wastewater treatment facility.
• Proposed execution of a contract change order in connection with construction of a new paved hiking trail at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park by Orr Wyatt Streetscapes.
The change relates to a 50-foot section of trail where, according to the state Department of Natural Resources, the slope is out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Performing the needed modifications will raise the cost of the trail project from $82,000 to $104,000, which exceeds the $100,000 in grant funds available.
Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland stated that DNR has agreed to roll over surplus funds from another Mozingo trail project in order to cover the difference.
• An ordinance to execute a contract with Nodaway Contracting for demolition of a substandard residential structure located at 212 W. Second Street. The measure repeals an earlier ordinance awarding the contract to Madget Demolition of St. Joseph, which withdrew from the project.
Cost of the proposed demolition is $6,350, which will be taken from the $75,000 General Fund line item earmarked for the removal of unsafe buildings.
• An ordinance to eliminate fiscal liability assigned to the city’s Solid Waste Fund due to past subsidies taken from the General Fund.
• An ordinance to refinance Tax Increment Financing bonds issued in 2005 to reimburse the developer for a portion of the costs related to improvements at Maryville Town Center.
• An ordinance to continue a work-release program in cooperation with the Maryville Treatment Center, under which inmates from the state Department of Corrections Facility perform such chores as cutting grass and picking up litter on city property.
• A request from local “farmers market” producers for $610 that would be used to purchase group liability insurance and fund efforts to recruit new vendors.
Market organizer Alisha Francis said the goal is to transform the ad hoc group of gardeners into a “sustainable, vibrant community attraction.”
