Steelville City Council notes from meeting held Monday, Nov. 2:

• Liz Bennett, President of the Chamber of Commerce, provided a thank you letter to the council and expressed her appreciation for allowing the chamber to move its office into a small section of the Jonas Museum. She and Elaine Bell, of the Jonas Museum Board, also reported on a clarification from the last meeting’s misunderstanding regarding cutting trees around the museum. In actuality, the request was for some tree-trimming, not to have trees removed.

Both also asked the city to continue in the general maintenance as needed at the building, including removing leaves from gutters and walkways, especially the ramp that leads to the side door. Bell reiterated the request to have a water spigot in the back yard turned off, as it leaks and has even killed the grass in the area. Bennett also reported two signs are being made to advertise the chamber’s new location—one to be added at the bottom of the existing Jonas Museum sign, and one with an arrow pointing to the side door where the chamber office is situated, to be mounted on the railing to the ramp.

• Karen Halleman, owner of the home that burned on High Street last Christmas, approached the council regarding the plan for the city to take over cleanup efforts on the place. She reported that the former building inspector had not given her specific requirements other than knocking down the chimneys and removing the metal, but then she got a letter in July giving her one month to have the place cleaned up.

“I need to know what the problem is and how to fix it,” she said. She doesn’t want the existing basement filled in because she wants to build a new home at that location, but it could be two or three years before that happens.

Current Building Inspector Alan Thorpe stated the current foundation will not support a new structure and added he was afraid if the basement area isn’t backfilled soon, the nearby sidewalk could collapse.

Mayor Terry Palmer told Halleman and Thorpe to meet and go over what needed to be done at the site.

• Leo Pellek with Ferrell Gas questioned the council regarding what was necessary to expand the business, which already has a plant at 630 Frisco Street, to include a reestablishment of an office at 108 W. Main Street. The concern is that City Hall wants a Social Security number to fill out paperwork, since that’s what the ordinance states, while Ferrell Gas is a corporation.

It was generally agreed that an expansion of the existing business license should suffice and that a business tax-identification number would be appropriate information.

• The mayor and alderman asked Public Works Supervisor Tommy Murray to have city department heads take control of the issues involved in their specific areas and report on what needs to be done to take care of ongoing problems. One example was the continuing situation where some places are not being metered for water usage. “We need the water department to tell us what to do so we can write the letters to the people involved,” said Palmer.

Alderman Dave Hatcher agreed, “We don’t know what needs to be done, but it’s our responsibility to get it taken care of. We have to initiate or it’s not going to change.”

• There was discussion regarding giving raises to some city employees who have achieved certifications in areas such as wastewater management. The argument presented by Murray, and agreed to by the council, is that the achievement of those certifications requires initiative and hard work on the part of the persons involved.

Murray also argued that the city’s salary schedule could be unfair since some office personnel will make more at five years than other workers who’ve been with the city for ten or fifteen. However, there are questions about other employees who have had training, but do not hold specific certifications.

According to Alderman Charles Chipman, of the city’s 17 employees, about six would get a raise under this recommendation, and that could create some problems with those who don’t.

• A business license was approved for Bill Stack with Stack Financial Services to open a financial planning services business in Steelville. He told the council it would benefit the town by helping people to structure their finances so they’d pay less federal income tax and therefore would have more income to spend in Steelville, thus increasing sales tax revenue for the city. He has been in this business for 16 years.

• A city resident who lives at 374 Birds Nest Road requested that the city offer reimbursement for damages sustained to his car’s tire rim when he hit a manhole on the road before the recent repaving. Aldermen determined it was not the place of the city to pay for that type of incident since the manhole cover was not missing.

• Steelville Police Officer Adam Reed offered a suggestion to the council to create some kind of special activities committee to organize events like the recent Pumpkin Village. “What we had was nice,” he said, “but it could have been a lot better and bigger, with more people involved. We could do more for the kids, too, maybe something at Christmas or Easter, get more involved in the Fourth of July.”

The council agreed it was a good idea, and Alderman Cleo Chandler offered to help with the committee.

• The “to-do list” for the parks was discussed and included items that have been talked about for some time. Fencing needs to be repaired and replaced in some areas. The track needs repaired—the crack will be filled soon, but the surface will need to be re-covered in the spring, at an estimated cost of $28,000 to rubberize and paint stripes. The roadway around the park and parking lots need resurfaced, and if costs are similar to the paving recently completed on Bird’s Nest Road and Fourth Street, it could be approximately $55,000. Lighting is still needed behind the concession stand, too, to deter further break-ins.

• Bids were read to replace a re-closure for the substation because of damage done by a squirrel. The lowest bid for $8,995 from T&R Electric was accepted by the council. Other bids presented were for $13,190 from Solomon and for $15,979 from Fletcher-Rhinehardt.