Hopkins changes late fee charges

By Kathryn Rice | September 21, 2026 |

FORUM FILE PHOTO
4-5-18 Hopkins city hall building

HOPKINS, Mo. — The Hopkins Board of Aldermen on Sept. 8 voted to change late fees on water and sewer bills to a flat fee for accounts less than six months overdue.

Previously, late fees had been charged at five percent for sewer and 10 percent for water bills. The new sewer and water billing system used by the city, however, requires City Clerk Mary Smith to look at every account to see if they have paid or not, figure any late fee amounts and add them to each delinquent account.

After considering multiple possibilities, the board opted to implement a flat fee of $15 for water and $10 for sewer accounts overdue. For accounts six months or more overdue, a percentage of the total delinquent amount will also be added to the late charge.

Other Hopkins notes

Aaron and Harley Howard were at the meeting to talk about an incident at the city dump in July 2026. Harley explained his side of the situation and apologized for any wrongdoing. Water Operator Chris Bird explained to the board what could and couldn’t be dumped per Missouri Department of Natural Resources regulations. At this time the board is not going further with the situation from July 2026.
The board discussed a bill from the Sheridan Express for running a tax levy hearing announcement when not asked to run the ad. Smith will call the Sheridan Express for explanation on the bill, and if still owed, would pay at the next meeting.
Overgrown tree update: Bird said he will finish tree-trimming when he is able to use the borrowed lift.
Trailer condemnation update: Smith received a certified letter receipt in the mail with the names of the trailer’s owners. She will call Jim Wiederholt to get a copy of what was sent and any deadlines.
Alderman Shadoe Miller spoke with Deena Poynter about moving forward with the two grants previously presented. She requested a board member be present when she made the phone call to apply for the grants. Alderman Roberta Boyd said she would be able to meet with Poynter for the grants.
Six CDs — three general fund, one each of cemetery, permanent cemetery and street fund — are set to renew on Sept. 25. The board approved renewing the CDs at the best rate possible.
Smith presented a DNR violation that Bird had already taken care of, along with DNR inspection reports. Discussion was held on what needs to be corrected to stay in compliance.
Discussion was held on a fence ordinance which is needed along with the current stockyard, livestock and animals in city limits ordinance. The matter was tabled until more information can be obtained from the city’s attorney.
Landlords of 208 N. Sixth Street had a major leak that did not go through the sewer. They asked to have a portion of the sewer fee waived. The council waived $396.00 of the sewer fee.
Smith received a letter from the Missouri Department of Revenue for House Bill 2819: Penny rounding. The letter explained that for cash payments, the amount could be rounded up or down to the nearest 5-cent increment in order to cut down on the use of pennies. She explained only a handful of customers pay cash and if she rounds up or down then that will throw the money box total off and then would have to put in credits to the accounts that she rounded. The board decided to just use the amount due with no rounding.
Smith will send a letter to the water customers saying since the status of lead water lines in houses is unknown, water customers will need to fill out and send back a form to update the system to stay in compliance with EPA rules. The board passed a $25 credit for each account that returns the form by the deadline.
The city website is not in operation currently while staff look at cheaper options. Discussion was held on other companies. Smith will check if Municipal Impact would do a reset on the current website and help get the site running without a setup fee.
In the next week or two, Maguire Iron will be in town to clean the water tower, per contract. During that time the city will get water from Public Water Supply District No. 1.
Resident Glenda Wyer-Nelson told the board that the corner of Barnard and 10th streets needs work to stop washing out. Also, just around the corner on 11th Street, she said there is a big pothole that needs to be filled along with tree branches that block the view around the corner to see if a car is coming or not. Bird said the road needs to be built up to fix the current street issues there. Miller said that if that was not one of the trees already on the list to be taken care of, it would be added.
After coming out of closed session, the board decided to post a part-time labor position opening.