Wastewater management contract okayed

The Sedalia City Council accepted an agreement with a private contractor to manage the city’s wastewater plant, despite the unanswered questions of some council members.

The council had discussed the five-year agreement with Alliance Water Resources, of Columbia, at a work session last week. Under the agreement, Alliance provides a manager for the Water Pollution Control department who reports to the public works director. The contract is for $142,500 annually.

Councilman Wiley Walter, 3rd Ward, and Elaine Horn, 1st Ward, asked questions about the agreement during committee meetings Monday in City Hall. The council agreed to take it to the meeting in chambers, but expected to table the agreement until the Dec. 1 meeting.

City Administrator Keith Riesberg told the council that the agreement could wait.

“This is not time sensitive,” he said during committee meetings. “We can hold it until the Dec. 1 meeting and that way we have time to clarify any questions.”

During the meeting in the council chambers, 1st Ward Councilwoman Susan Daniels called for the resolution regarding the contract with Alliance to be approved. 

“I felt any questions about what they were going to do and under what circumstance had been answered to my satisfaction,” Daniels said during a phone interview following the meeting. 

Daniels also said she paused for a motion to table the agreement. 

“Nobody called for it, so I made the motion, which could have been denied,” she said. “It was seconded and passed.”

Horn said after the meeting she was unsure why the measure wasn’t tabled.

“It disappointed me because I thought upstairs we were under the agreement we should be comfortable with the decision we make,” she said. 

A resolution can be approved without a roll call vote. Horn said she voiced her dissent, but “nobody heard.” Regardless, the majority of the council voted in favor of the contract.

Horn had questions about whether performance evaluations by Alliance would replace those done by the city, among other things. Both Horn and Walter questioned a 3- to 6-percent annual increase in the contract after the first year. 

Walter also had questions about liability. He said following the meeting that he spent about two hours reviewing the 11-page document, and he still had questions on some of the legal language. 

“I would have liked to tabled it, and seen a little discussion on it,” Walter said.

Horn said she plans to discuss further discuss the contract with officials “so that I’m comfortable with the decision that was made.”

The city turned to the company after it was unable to recruit an assistant public works level worker to oversee the wastewater department, a common problem among municipalities. All-iance pays the manager’s salary, benefits, vehicle, cell phone and equipment. The company also has engineers and specialists on staff.

The manager of the Sedalia plant will move here after working for Alliance in Cameron. Riesberg said he spoke with the former city manger of Cameron and received a favorable review about Alliance. He also spoke with others who disliked the company.

“We followed up and did our due diligence,” Riesberg said.

In other action, the council approved an agreement with the Office of State Courts Administration to bring the Municipal Court online. 

The Justice Information System (JIS) software includes alphabetic indexes; court calendars; public access on the state’s online court system Case.net; and electronic transfer of data for debt collection, traffic reporting and criminal history reporting. 

Under the agreement with the state, the city must agree to collect a $7 court automation fee for each case filed in municipal court for violation of an ordinance. The fee goes into effect Jan. 1. The transition to the software is expected to be completed by June.

Also on Monday, Mona McCormack, of the Sedalia Source Water Protection Committee, gave a presentation about the history and operation of Sedalia’s water system to city and Pettis County officials. The presentation was a requirement of a grant the committee received. The grant was used to fill an abandoned well near a city well, provide septic tank vouchers to 50 people who live near wells, produce a bi-annual newsletter for people who live in the Spring Fork Lake watershed, sponsor three cleanup days at the lake, and host several educational programs.  

Other action taken Monday included:

•Adoption of a new section to the master sign plan. The new section allows commercial developments to use a common plan. Daniels asked city staff to look into regulations for the brightness of signs, and said an electronic sign on West 10th Street and Thompson Boulevard was blinding at night.

•Approval of an amendment to the ordinance regarding the Airport Board. The board was previously in charge of overseeing personnel at the airport, and the amendment provides for city oversight (in keeping with all other city departments). 

•Approval of the final plat of Jaycee’s Addition, four commercial lots near the east city limits.

•Adoption of the Sedalia Midtown Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Plan.

•Acceptance of a $18,628 bid from Bill Greer Ford for a pickup truck for the Street Department.

•Approval of a $2,500 agreement from Smart Solutions Group to assist in developing a brand used for the sesquicentennial celebration in 2010 and beyond.