City Council - Regular Meeting

Monday, March 9, 2026

The Kirksville City Council approved an ordinance to switch utility statement printing and mailing services to Lineage Mailing Services LLC due to cost savings. They also approved several resolutions for equipment purchases, including a mechanical bar screen for the Wastewater Treatment Plant, a track loader, and a skid steer loader for the street department. Additionally, the council recommended Contour Airlines Option B for essential air services and approved appointments to the Lakes Park and Recreation Commission and the Kirksville Historic Preservation Commission.

About this meeting

Government Body
City Council
Meeting Type
City Council
Location
Kirksville, MO
Meeting Date
March 9, 2026

Transcript

21 sections

7:55 – 9:46Speaker 1

Okay, good evening and welcome to a little bit  unusual of a Kirchville City Council meeting,   but we're glad to have folks joining us uh in  person today and also remotely, which seems to be   maybe the word of the day on this. It's not often  we have council members who can't attend or that   a majority would be able to. Um, but I really  appreciate the flexibility of the council and   everybody in the room tonight. I'm taking a couple  days off and staying at a rustic cabin here at   Lake of the Ozark State Park, but it's always good  to be uh in Kirksville one way or the other. So,   we'll go ahead and begin with our vision statement  and mission statements. Our vision statement,   the city of Kirksville will create a  welcoming and thriving community as North   Missouri center for education, commerce, health,  recreation, and culture. Our mission statement,   the city of Kirksville offers opportunity for  building quality of life and meaningful community   through ethical and responsible government. I  now ask that you join me for a moment of silence. Thank you very much. I'd now like  to invite in BSA Troop 401 to lead   us this evening in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of  the United States of America and   to the republic for which it stands.  One nation under God, indivisible,   with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.  Thank you. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.

9:50 – 11:46Speaker 1

Okay, I'm gonna let Mary speak for a little bit  before I ask for a motion on appointing a chair   for the meeting. So, Mary, I'll go ahead and turn  it over to you for a second. So, as Zach said, oo,   I'm very loud. I apologize for that. Um, as  Zach said, we typically would would have at   least three members at the dis, but we do have  quorum with um with Mayor Burton participating   via Zoom. And um so as far as the order of  the agenda, most important thing this evening   uh there are no changes aside from who will be  chairing the meeting which um will fall to um   most likely I believe council member Bansel.  Uh but you all will need to take a motion   uh to approve that. I'll make I'll make a motion.  The motion. Go ahead. I'll second it. Um you're   making the motion. I'll second. Okay. Okay.  Council member Steele, any discussion on your   motion? I'll second the motion. Do you have  anything else that you want to add? Give me   a discussion. I'm sorry. Anything you wanted to  discuss on the motion? No. Seeing no discussion,   we'll move into a vote. All those in favor of  Council Member Bansel to serve as chair for this   meeting, please raise your hand and say, "I."  I. I. All those opposed, Council Member Banzel,   I turn chair of the meeting over to you. Thank  you. So now you're at the motion here to approve   the order. All right. Can I have a motion  to approve the order of the agenda? So move.   Seconded. All right. All in favor say I. I. I.  Any opposed? Sorry. Could you raise your hands,   please? Thank you. I. All right. You guys  have it. Next, we'll do a motion and second   to approve the regular minutes of the regular  session held on February 23rd. February 26.  

11:46 – 13:45Speaker 1

Rick with the uh motion. I'll second the  motion. Second from Zach. All in favor say   I. I. I. Any opposed? All right. And we have no  information, presentation, and public hearings. No unfinished business. No act. Okay. So, now we're going to move on to   action presentations. We'll have city  clerk reading of bill number 2026-05. Ordinance of the city council of the city of  Kirksville, Missouri, authorizing the city   manager to enter into an agreement with  Lineage Mailing Services LLC, DBA Stro,   Lineage Connect to provide printing and mailing  of utility statements. the Kirksville Connection,   utility delinquent notices, and other  necessary customer mailings for one year,   which will renew for one-year periods until  cancelled by either party, provided the funding   is approved. Do I have a motion to approve on  first reading? So move. Second. I'll second   the motion. Rick first and then Zach second. All  right, it's uh Lacy. Good evening. Um, in 2023,   we began the process of outsourcing the printing  and mailing of our utility statements and also our   delinquent statements. And our contract with  our current vendor was close to the end. So,   we went out for bids again to see about  someone providing the same service to us. Um,   we received bids from six providers. Uh, it was  a good turnout on bids. Of those six providers,   we had four that were in a region that was at  least three to five days for mailing before   we would get those uh utility statements. And  then we had two vendors that were in the state  

13:45 – 15:41Speaker 1

of Missouri and they were in a two-day radius for  us. Um, and of those two vendors, the uh Kansas   City provider who is Lineage, they uh had they  could provide everything our current vendor does,   but then they also had the best price when it  comes to the service that we've asked them to   provide. Um, the service that Input Technologies,  we've been with them since 2023 and they have been   excellent. They've provided excellent service.  Um, so it it boiled down to cost because they   can both provide the same type of service.  Uh, but the Kansas City provider lineage was   106% less than Input Technologies who was our  current provider. So based on that information,   um we are asking council to approve this ordinance  um and have lineage mailing services provide our   utility statements and our delinquent notices  of about 8,200 statements per month. Is there   any council discussion? Thank you, Lacy. The  only question I would have on the report, Lacy,   you mentioned that they're 106% less. Is it  the other way around that the other company   would be 106% more? Uh the current vendor on  that statement I believe it says the current   vendor who's provided excellent service submitted  a bid 106 higher 106% higher than lineage. Okay. I   just the report said it was 106% less which would  would be impossible. That sounds good. It's in the   right order. Okay. You you said it the opposite  way. Okay, I meant that lineage was less than  

15:41 – 17:33Speaker 1

our current provider by 106%. But it can't be less  by 100 over 100%. That's not a thing. Okay. Well,   that'd be nice. Well, yes, nice to be free at  that point. They'd be paying us. I I see where   you're going with that now. Yeah, the light bulb  came on. Okay. Sorry about that. Any additional   council discussion? No. Any citizen input? All  right, let's see here. Uh, do I have a motion?   He's got the motion. Okay. Um, all those in favor  say I. The I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. All right, we will move to the second item.  We'll have city clerk. Sorry, city clerk. We   didn't have second. Oh, yep. City clerk reading  of Oh, the second reading of that city clerk   reading of bill number 2026-05. Ordinance of the  city council of the city of Kirkstall, Missouri,   authorizing the city manager to enter into an  agreement with Lineage Mailing Services LLC,   DBA Stro Lineage Connect to provide printing and  mailing of utility statements, the Kirksville   Connection, utility delinquent notices, and  other necessary customer mailings for one year,   which will renew for one-year periods until  cancelled by either party provided the funing.   is approved. Do I have a motion? I motion,  Rick. Second. I'll second the motion. All   right. Any additional council discussion?  Any additional citizen input? All right.   We'll vote on the matter. All those in  favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Great.  

17:33 – 19:27Speaker 1

Motion passes. Thank you. We'll now move on  to city clerk reading of Second resolution. Resolution of the city council of the city  of Kirksville, Missouri, authorizing the city   manager to execute a contract with David E.  Ross Construction Company, Raytown, Missouri,   for the replacement of the mechanical bar screen  in the headworks building at the Kirksville   Wastewater Treatment Plant. Do I have a motion  to approve on first reading? So move. Second.   Seconded. Second. Uh first from Rick, second from  Zach. Good evening. Staff report with uh Tim. Good   evening. Um so this is a existing uh parks and  bar screen that we have in place right now. Um it   is it actually was in service in the old plant  and then during the construction phase it was   uh relocated to the Headworks building where we're  utilizing it now. But it's it's reached the end   of its useful life and needs to be replaced. So,  um, we reached out to David E. Ross, um, on, um,   purchasing and installation for that, uh, that new  bar screen and, uh, that that's allowed by the,   uh, city purchasing policy due to them already  being on on site and doing a project there now and   they've already been approved contractor. So, um,  they, uh, they come back with, uh, four different   proposals. Uh we uh we looked that up, looked all  them over and decided on the uh Custer's Protector   model. It's a um multi-rike screen and it also  comes with control panel and we chose it based   on budget. You know, it it fits in the budget for  the 2026 budget year. And also it um it has the   performance reviews were good and had has also  has the uh best warning feature on it. It has a  

19:27 – 21:25Speaker 1

three-year parts and labor warning. So, um, with,  uh, depending on any questions you have, I ask   for your approval. Thank you. Is there any council  discussion on the matter? Tim, could you highlight   the importance of the of the bar screen? Council  had a chance to see that in action, understands   how critical it is. I'm just hoping everybody in  the room can get a sense of that. Absolutely. So   the bar screen is the first uh part of the primary  treatment process which picks up all the inorganic   material which is rocks, sticks, trash of any  sort. Anything that's kind of a hard material that   don't dissolve or you know you can't you can't  treat it. So it takes all that out of the system   um ahead of the pumps so we ain't burning up  uh motors and se burning out seals in the pumps   and stuff like that and replacing a whole lot more  equipment than what we would just by replacing the   screen. And thank you. Thank you Tim. Um, any uh  citizen input on the matter? All right. Do we have   a motion? Do I have a motion to approve? Will you  do the vote? You do the vote. Oh, yeah. All those   in favor? I I Any opposed? All right. Now, we'll  have city clerk uh reading the second resolution. Resolution of the city council of Kirksville,  Missouri, authorizing the purchase of a 2026   Takahuchi TL8R2 track loader with options and  attachments from Lubby Equipment Services using   the Missouri Department of Transportation's  cooperative purchasing agreement program. All right. Can I have a motion on this?  So move. Second. I'll offer a second.   All right. We have Rick on the first motion,  Zach on the second. Any uh staff report? Yeah,   the staff report. Good evening. Um this is a  planned replacement. Um it was one of the items  

21:25 – 23:24Speaker 1

that I went over with you guys on a study session.  Um, so, uh, if there's not any questions on it,   I just ask that you approve it as is read.  And Bill, for the the good of the cause,   could you tell them which division uses Oh,  yes. It's for the street department uses   this. Um, and it, like I said, it was a planned  replacement, but it's for the street department,   and they use it for various things during  the year. Sometimes they use it, you know,   to move and load dirt and things like that.  And they can run equipment off of it also. All right, you guys are going to have  to bear with me here. This one is Is   there any other council discussion on this matter? Okay. Any additional citizen input? All right.  We'll take this to a vote. All those in favor say   I. I. I. Any opposed? Okay. The resolution passes.  We'll have city clerk reading the next resolution.   Resolution of the city council of the city of  Kirksville, Missouri, authorizing the purchase of   the 2026 Caterpillar 260-05 XPS skid steer loader  with options from all forer CAT Hannibal, Missouri   using the Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing  Program. All right. Do I have a motion to approve   on first reading? So move. Second. I'll second the  motion. Got a first from Rick, second from Zach. Right. Um, this also is for the street department.  Currently, they have two track loaders. Um,   this one's going to be a a skid loader,  which is basically the same thing,   only one's got tracks and one's got tires. Um,  the reason they wanted one with tires is they  

23:24 – 25:23Speaker 1

found when they're doing their fresh asphalt work  and they're on the fresh asphalt with the machine,   the tracked machine tended to tear up the asphalt  more than what a wheeled machine would. So,   they have asked to have one track machine, which  was the one I just discussed with you guys,   and then this um wheeled machine. Um, like  I said, from the track and the wheels up,   it's basically the same thing. It's just how  it moves itself. Any council discussion on   the matter? Any additional citizen input? All  right, we'll take this to a vote. All those in   favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Resolution  passes. Thank you, Bill. Thank you. All right,   we will move into our next uh city clerk  reading of the uh next resolution. Resolution   of the city council of the city of Kirksville,  Missouri, accepting the bid from Blue Springs   Windwater for the supply of fire hydrants and  associated components for the 2026 fiscal year   and authorizing the ability to purchase from the  next lowest bidder if supply chain issues arise.   Do I have a motion to approve a first reading?  So move Rick first. I'll offer a second. Zack on   the second. staff report will be with D. Uh, good  evening. Um, these fire hydrants um that are being   purchased are used in the city of Kirksville's  inventory whenever we replace fire hydrants. Um,   they're also used by contractors and developers.  Whenever we uh whenever they make improvements   to our system, we have those on stock on hand  uh to be used. Um there are cloud fire hydrants   um to try to keep uniformity for parts and  traffic repair kits and the uh contractors  

25:23 – 27:22Speaker 1

developers purchase those the materials. Correct.  They can be purchased from us from from the city. Any uh council discussion? Any citizen input? All right. Yes. Let's go ahead and take this  resolution to a vote. All those in favor say I. I.   I. Any opposed? Okay. The resolution passes. We're  going to go and move into our sixth item. Uh, city   clerk reading of the next resolution. Resolution  of the city council of the city of Kirksville,   Missouri, accepting the bid from Water and  Sewer, Inc. to supply pipe, valves, fittings, and   components for water mane construction and repair  for the 2026 fiscal year and further authorizing   the ability to purchase from the next lowest  bidder if supply chain issues arise. Do I have   a motion on first reading? So move Rick with a  first. Second. Second from Zach. Staff report. D.   Um, yes. Each year, uh, the city purchase pipe and  and fitting materials for use in new water mane   construction and major repair projects. Um, these  are usually parts that we anticipate using during   the year for projects. Um, the budget can increase  or decrease depending on um, what our projects are   and what the planning is. Um, there's also repair  clamps in this um, and other parts um, that we   use. One thing that stuck out for me this year  was the the price of the uh the PVC pipe uh went   down which was good for the for replacement but  then our other parts went up uh 20%. So um even   and then copper went up 40%. So, as we go forward,  we we we try to really just pick out what we think  

27:22 – 29:17Speaker 1

we're going to need for projects um and really  watch our pennies as as on projects. So, I know   there's a lot of time spent kind of offsetting  those costs. So, I appreciate your department's   willingness to do that. Is there any additional  council discussion on this matter? Any citizen   input? Okay, we'll take this to a vote. All those  in favor say I. I. I I Any opposed? Resolution   passes. We'll move on to the next resolution.  The city clerk reading of the bill. Nope. City clerk reading of the next. Is there  another one or no? Are we done? Motion. Oh,   item seven. Item seven. Oh, sorry. Motion and  second. So move Rick or Rick with the motion.   No motion has been read. So yeah, read the  whole thing. Okay. Motion second to approve   the submission of a letter for the United States.  This one right here, Department of Transportation   recommending Contour Airlines option B as proposed  by the evaluating committee as a preferred airline   and option for city's essential air services. Do  I have a motion? So move. I'll second the motion,   Rick. And then second from Zach. Staff report with  Jeff. Good evening. Uh, as you just mentioned, uh,   back in, uh, December 20 December 22nd, 2025, the  Department of Transportation requested proposals   from air carriers, air carriers, uh, interested  in providing essential air service at Kirksville,   Missouri, Marian, Illinois, and Owensboro,  Kentucky. Um, those proposals were open until   February 18th where they closed. During that time,  we only received three proposals. Uh, one from two   from Contour Airlines. They had an option A and an  option B. We had one from Sky West Charter and one   from Boutique Airlines. Uh after receiving these  proposals, I uh had already created a committee  

29:17 – 31:13Speaker 1

of nine nine people to go over those. Uh two  members from the airport transportation committee,   um tourism communications director, dire uh  deputy city manager, myself, and a representative   from ATSU and Truman. Um when we went over the  proposals in length after we had that preliminary   meeting, it was a unanimous decision to go  move forward with Contour Airlines. Option B,   uh option B is providing 12 round trips a week,  seven to Chicago, five to Dallas Fort Worth. Um,   that option stuck out most to us because during  the proposal process while it was open, I spoke to   13 different airlines and gave everybody the same  spiel of hoping that they would put in a multiple   destination bid. Um, out of the three proposals  we got, we only had one airline actually put in   a multiple destination bid. One of the biggest  factors in a multiple destination bid would be   getting those employments that get us that extra  to 10,000 employments and getting us that extra   funding for future projects. Um, with Contour  Airlines over the past three years, we've been   able to go above and beyond 10,000 passengers  served, but our real goal is how many people we   serve from here to those other destinations, not  whole round trip. Um, we have seen those numbers   increase significantly since going from a  nine passenger plane up to a 30 passenger   plane. The only downside with a 30 passenger  plane is the Department of Transportation only   allows 12 roundtrip flights rather than the 21  that the previous airlines have allowed with a   nine passenger plane. Um, this proposal would be  a 36-month contract and it would begin on August   1st, 2026. The proposed ticket price average with  both destinations would average around $85 one   way. Uh citizen impact approval of this motion  is in line with chapter 4, Think Mobility and  

31:13 – 33:10Speaker 1

Transportation, improve regional transportation  connections for all modes of travel. This will   provide reliable air carrier service and enable  more than twice as many destination options when   traveling. And it will take a lot of the delays  out of the system we have now. With Chicago having   a nightmare with getting flights out on time with  this alternate destination, it'll lessen that   burden and we'll actually have more on-time  flights with less delays while Chicago goes   through their process with their construction  projects and gate access. Uh physical impact,   Contour will continue to pay the current rates  for the terminal rent, which will go up with   the new terminal. uh landing fees, hanger rent,  and Contour does have a fuel fuel reimbursement   agreement with the city. Thank you, Jeff. Is there  any council discussion on the matter? I just want   to go ahead. I'd want to thank the committee for  reviewing the proposals and and really putting   some strong thought behind that one. I think it  says a lot that they had a unanimous decision on   this one. I'm particularly excited to see that  this continues to focus on on the real purpose   of a regional airport, which is to get people  connected to the greater world and by having both   an east and a west route. I I think it really  successfully does that. So, I'm hopeful to see   where this takes us. I'd love to be able to get to  Jeff's goal of those appointmentments. Excited to   to vote for this option tonight. Absolutely, Jeff.  And and I know that the Sorry, where you going to   say? Go ahead. Excuse me. Um, I was going to say  the the fuel agreements for the full three years,   correct? Yep. Okay. Thank you. Do we have um I  know that Contour in terms of having somebody   at O'Hare, they're working on having somebody to  help with the coordination. Are they going to have   somebody you know in Dallas? They they already do.  Uh because they do already operate out of Dallas   Fort Worth. Um so it's not a and they actually  have their own gate system there where they're   not sharing it with partnered airlines. So, it  again takes another factor out of it with Dallas   than what we have in Chicago with, you know,  not having to fight for gate spots, not having  

33:10 – 35:08Speaker 1

to compete with American Airlines or United or  any of those to get to where you got to go. They   have their own set spot and potentially cheaper if  you're flying west versus going to O'Hare and then   taking a flight there. Okay. All right. Is there  any other uh is there any citizen input on the   matter? Okay. I I do want to just emphasize this  is a recommendation. This is not the council does   not have the authority to all you're doing tonight  is recommending to the federal government. It's up   to the US Department of Transportation to actually  make the final decision. Thank you. Point being   because it's the Department of Transportation  that's the ones paying all of this. Exactly.   Yeah. All right. We'll go ahead and take this  to a vote. All those in favor say I. I. I. Any   opposed? Motion passes. All right. Next motion. Um  to authorize the destruction of municipal records   as shown in the records destruction master  list provided and as prescribed by the laws   of the state of Missouri. Do I have a motion? So  move. So move from Ray. I'll second the motion.   Second from Zach report with Mary. Thank you  very much. Um so this evening we are asking   the council to authorize the um destruction of  municipal records. uh it is the responsibility   of our city clerk. You she you have um established  her as the um keeper of the records. So she's been   working with the departments to ensure that we  adhere to the state of Missouri's law regarding   um records retention and the the law is very  specific. It it's a laundry list of how long you   were to keep records and the length of time and  I mean it breaks it down by department, division,   etc. So, you do have a list. It's about  three pages long that are being proposed for   destruction. Uh, in that list, it also includes  um records that were obtained from the former  

35:08 – 37:06Speaker 1

city attorney's office. So, those records um have  also a number of those have already exceeded their   retention life and will also be disposed of. Thank  you, Mary. Is there any uh council discussion on   the matter? Okay. Any citizen input? All right.  We'll go ahead and take this to a vote. All those   in favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion  passes. All right. We are going to be moving on to   item nine. Um uh to approve the appointment  of it Mike Bowl to the Lakes Park. Mike,   I'm sorry if I said your name incorrectly. Lakes  Park and Recreation Commission and reappoint of   Scott Meredith for a full three-year term  expiring January 2029. Do I have a motion?   So move. Mick. A second. I'll second the motion.  Second from Zach. Staff report with Mary. So um   you had already made one reappoint. I believe  it was Carol Cox at a previous meeting. Um Tony   Fazana who had served on the commission for a  number of years um had decided that he due to   his work schedule wasn't able to continue. Um so  solicited applications. Mike Bolley um submitted   that submitted the application that was approved  by the council uh to fill that full uh three-year   term. And then Scott Meredith was also um his  appointment should have come to the council at   the same time that we brought Carol Cox's uh but  this was an opportunity to correct that. So uh   Mr. Meredith wishes to serve as well. This will be  the first appointment for Mike um and allow you to   consider his appointment again. Um and this will  be the last time that um Scott Meredith is able   to be reappointed without consideration. Um, so  with that, um, answer I'll answer any questions   you have. Any council discussion? I would like  to say Scott I appreciate Scott's work on the   commission. He continues to be a strong uh member  of that team and serving it. So, I'm glad to see  

37:06 – 39:02Speaker 1

him going for reappoint. And then I've had the  opportunity to work with Mike a lot over the years   here in Kirksville and he's very involved with uh  recreation things. I think we had an opportunity   to see from his application the extent to which  that involvement is and it would be of good   service to the commission. So, I'm glad to see us  moving forward on both of these candidates. Yeah,   I agree. I thank you to both of uh Scott and Mike  just uh for taking the time. I know these this is   an investment of time and it's your commitment  to the community. So, thank you for stepping up   to do that. Do we have any uh citizen input? All  right, we'll take this to a vote. All those in   favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? The motion  passes. All right. And now we're on item 10,   the uh motion to approve the appointment of Cam  Benson to the uh Kirksville Historic Preservation   Commission for a full three-year term ending in  February 2029. Do we have a motion? So move. Rick   with the motion. I'll second the motion. Second  from Zach. Staff report with Mary. Okay. So   this evening we're asking the council to appoint  Cam Benson for a full three-year term ending in   February 2029. Uh this appointment um is filling  a vacancy from Robert Clement who had been serving   on the commission but is unable to seek reappoint.  Uh so the council has reviewed the application   uh submitted and uh we're agreeable to uh present  Cam Benson for appointment. All right. Thank you.   Any dis council discussion on this? I would  say I really was warmed by Cam's application.   He talked about just wanting to get more involved  in our community and I would say this is a great   point to point out to all members of Kirksville  who are looking to find different ways to serve   that our boards and commission are an excellent  way to do that. Um I've also seen Cam volunteer   for some other stuff recently. So I'll be excited  to cast my vote for them. Thanks Zach. Anything   else? All right. Any citizen input on the matter?  All right. We'll take this to a vote. All those  

39:02 – 40:59Speaker 1

in favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion  passes. All right, that concludes our agenda. Now,   we're on the citizen participation time limit  of 5 minutes, but this gives a chance for the   citizens to come up and speak. If you  can provide your uh name and address, my name is Maggie Ramolina. Uh I'm here. I think  we need to get a new police station and two of   those things and let's put together and get a jail  I mean a police station and two uh fire department   and get a city hall a new one cuz we need a new  city hall cuz we need everything new. We need to   work together not fight fire, you know. And like  a homeless person came my house and all I have   is baloney and I fed him and he think he was a  meal now. So we need to get those homeless out   too. But let's get these get a new police station  and show how we do it. a new city hall and a new   uh everything we need because you you look around  and people on the TV radio got everything new.   Let's help the police station and get a new one.  So, I'm going to tell you. Thank you. Thank you. that would like to come up. All right. All right. Is there any council comments? I  might just share, you know, I'm excited that  

40:59 – 42:55Speaker 1

our our terminal is going to open this summer.  Um hopefully we've got a recommendation to the   Department of Transportation on expansion  of airline services. It just says a lot   about the continued ascension of Kirksville and  being able to tackle new and bigger things. So,   big smile tonight on on where we're moving  forward, but thanks. Thanks, Zach. I do have   something I wanted to bring up. I know with the uh  conflicts going on, and I'd like to take a moment   to reflect on something that's larger than the  city of Kirksville, but deeply uh meaningful to   many of us as Americans. Um, you know, throughout  history, there are moments when leadership is   called upon to confront challenges and has often  been postponed or avoided sometimes for decades.   And these moments require courage, clarity, and  willingness to act when the stakes are high. And   while there can be, you know, reasonable people  can disagree um and have different perspectives,   I believe it's important to recognize when leaders  step forward to make difficult decisions in the   interest of national security and stability,  those choices are rarely simple. and they carry   consequences far beyond the moment in which they  are made. And at times like this, I'm reminded   especially of men and women in uniform, my I have  close friends that are stationed overseas. Um many   of whom come from communities just like ours  who stand ready to defend our country. Um and   even in a small city like Kirksville, we remain  part of a larger story, one that values courage,   responsibility, and willingness to do what is  necessary to protect peace and freedom. And   for that, I believe we can all just take a moment  to be grateful of the leadership and the service   um of our troops as they're going through this and  remembering those that have sacrificed. Thank you. If there's no other council comments, we'll move  on to a newsletter review. Okay, just a few items.   I do want to mention the KR Ready annual meeting  is tomorrow at 11:30. It'll be on Truman's campus.  

42:55 – 44:49Speaker 1

Uh I will be conducting a new uh board member  training tomorrow as well. Um so when I go   through that training it's really talking to them  about their role and responsibility. Um shade went   through that a couple of maybe last year I think.  Uh but responsibilities and then uh sunshine law   requirements things um you know dos and don'ts and  that sort of thing. So that'll be tomorrow night.   uh Cap Nemo childc care facility facility is uh  going to begin they're going to begin renovations   but they u did offer a tour of those entities that  were providing funding support to come and look at   the facility before they started work on it so  I wanted to mention that as well um mayor I know   you're we need to notice that up who's attending  but I am planning to pop by for that and I believe   we already sent a notice out that's right you  already have never mind we went ahead and did   And then um just from an operational well first I  do want to give um Jeff Lefountain and his crew um   um outstanding kudos for um the completion  of part 139 inspection. This is an annual   inspection that all um commercial air air carrier  air airports go through um to ensure compliance   with federal aviation rules and regulations.  Um safety is a big aspect of that and so the   um it's safety, it's training, it's um making  sure records are in order. Um it's just a lot of   components that go into that. It's the facilities,  the infrastructure, the runway, the markings,   the lighting. Um so all of those things and um  Jeff is gone, but he did they did an outstanding   job. They uh completed the inspection with zero  deficiencies, meaning it was perfect inspection.   Sure. Could they have found something? Maybe. But  um that's pretty impressive. Um I also want to  

44:49 – 46:45Speaker 1

mention that we had um we only have four personnel  out there, two turnover of two individuals over   the course of this last year, which meant they all  needed to be brought up to the training level that   is required and that was done. So just again want  to thank them all for doing that. Um, also wanted   to mention that um, our communications director  is working on and maybe you've released it, but   um, the inaugural city podcast, so take a listen  to that. And then um, only other things I wanted   to mention, the um, city received the second year  of the Kirksville Blue Shield Community Grant. Uh,   so that will pay the flock agreement for the next  year. And then I think you're looking at vests or   some other some other police equipment. We got  award status. They released the grant in July.   Okay. All right. And then also just wanted to  give a shout out to two of our water treatment   plant operators. That is Travis Bridgemond and  Jesse Turner who recently uh tested for and   received their A license. The A license is the top  license for water treatment operators. Uh we have   been many years without um you know we've had our  superintendent has had a license but our operators   have not. Uh that's a big commitment on their  part. Um you have to have a minimum of five years   of service um operating a water treatment plant  and um the test is a comprehensive test. It is not   um it is not simple. It has math. that has all  sorts of things that um are covered um to ensure   that they fully understand the operations of the  water treatment system. So I just wanted to uh   congratulate them and thank them for taking that  um step and meeting that challenge and receiving  

46:45 – 47:39Speaker 1

their a licensure. So that is all I have. I would  just kind of echo off of that, Mary, that if you   have a chance to go to the water treatment plant  and see the individuals that actually run it, it's   it's pretty amazing what they do and the attention  to detail. I just as a citizen, you know, I I get   tap water out and I drink it. I just I just know  based off the people that are working there, you   know, this is this is safe. So, uh yes, thank you  very much. All right. You guys do a great job. We   really appreciate it. Yep. Absolutely. Well, the  next council meeting, a regular council meeting,   will be on Monday, March 23rd, 20 uh 2026 at 6  p.m. Um, do I have a motion and second to adjurnn?   So, move with I'll second the motion. Zack with  the second. All right. All those in favor say I.   I. I. I. Any opposed? All right. The meeting's  adjourned. Thank you. Have a good evening.

This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.