City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to tonight's meeting of the Kirksville City Council. We'll go ahead and start our meeting this evening with our vision and our mission statements. The city of Kirksville will create a welcoming and thriving community as Northeast Missouri's center for education, commerce, health, recreation, and culture. Our mission statement, the city of Kirksville offers opportunities 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. If you now join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. I 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 all very much. We'll go ahead and review the order of tonight's agenda. Mary, are there any recommended additions or changes this evening?

There are none.

Seeing none, I'll entertain a motion and second to approve the order of this evening's agenda. So moved. Council Member Bansal with the motion. Second. Second from Council Member Gardner. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion is approved. I'll now entertain a motion and second to approve the minutes from our regular session meeting held on August 24th, 2026. So moved. Council Member Gardner.

Second.

Second from Council Member Mayberry. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed. And the minutes are approved. We move into our information presentation and public hearing section, which starts tonight with a check presentation from the good folks at Cap Nemo. And I'd like to have them come on forward as we talk about what's going on here. Mary has a staff report. Mary.

So just want to remind the city council that last year, there's a lot of discussion due to COVID and the impacts of COVID on daycare and people's ability to find shelter. reliable child care. And so Cap Nemo came forward and said they have an opportunity to expand child care services for infant and for, what is it, toddlers? Okay. But they needed additional funds. And so the city council came forward and said that you would provide funding support to them. They're very appreciative. They've been working on their project. And so it's an opportunity now for the council and Cap Nemo to expand

kind of celebrate at least you know this part of the process i'd like the council to join me but jen tracy we want to commend you again on this project examining a critical need in our community for helping to establish child care and i think maybe if you could speak to the group just a little bit about the importance of this particular age range and why that's such a critical shortage in our community

So in 2023, there was a survey done throughout the city. And basically what we found is that only 24% of infant and toddlers were being served. And so we were considered an infant and toddler child care desert. And so we kind of take this on as a challenge and we say, okay, there's a problem here, so let's just move to fix it. And so that's what we've done. And so we have a building that we're renovating to add 32 additional infant and toddler childcare slots, hopefully to open next month.

That is wonderful. There's been a lot of folks in the community who contributed to this, but today I'd like to officially present you with this check for $36,500 towards that project. So very happy for you all. If we can give Austin a smile, we'll squish in here. There we go.

Three, two, one.

All right, again, congratulations. All right, and then our second component of this part of the meeting is a proclamation that I'd like to give concerning Constitution Week, and I'd like to go ahead and read that proclamation at this time. Whereas September 17th, 2026 marks the 239th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by state delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Spirited debates by the delegates in Independence Hall gave rise to a new form of government that sought to form a more perfect union, with spirited debate continuing to this day on its implications and interpretation. The Constitution is the foundational document enshrining the core laws of the nation and guaranteeing the rights, responsibilities, and freedoms of the people. The original framers and subsequent leaders have worked to extend the full measure of freedom to all through constitutional amendments drafted and ratified throughout the past three centuries. Nations the world over have patterned their governments upon the concepts of liberty and self-governance defined in the Constitution. We should accord official recognition and patriotic celebration of the anniversary of this historic event and remarkable charter. Public Law 915, passed in 1956 by the United States House of Representatives and Senate, requires that the President of the United States of America proclaim Constitution Week each year, September 17 through 23rd. Therefore, be it resolved that Isaac Burden, mayor of Kirksville, Missouri, to hereby proclaim September 17th through the 23rd, 2026 in the city of Kirksville as Constitution Week. Furthermore, I ask the citizens of Kirksville to read, study, and affirm the Constitution as an act of commemoration and dedication to the work begun in 1787 and continued by and for all the people of this nation today. This proclamation will be signed and shared with our local DAR chapter who will be sponsoring presentations on Constitution Week in our community. There will be other events taking place, particularly in our schools. In my day job at Truman, it's my job to work with the university students, and we'll be focusing on the 26th Amendment this year and the ability for folks who are 18 years and older to vote. I just encourage everyone to take a look this week at their constitutional rights and responsibilities, as was talked about in the proclamation, even to sit with those parts of the Constitution that are difficult. for each of us in many different ways, and to recognize this significant charter for all that it has and the impact that it has.

That proclamation. Hey Zach, you said DAR, what does that stand for?

The Daughters of the American Revolution. So they'll be, they have historically done, I'm not sure this year what their plans are, they usually have done a presentation, or a billboard rather, in the library. Have we heard anything? for this year?

I'm not aware of their plans.

So usually what they do is at the Adair County Public Library, they have on display some information about Constitution Week and its themes this year. And they usually have our proclamation on display as a component of it. Does that sound right?

Perfect. All right. So take a look at that.

We'll go ahead and then move into our action items this evening. We'll start with action item number one, city clerk reading of bill number 2026-39.

And before that happens, can we just take a moment and introduce the new city clerk? Yes. So I want to introduce Mandy Ledford. Mandy started today, so she is learning under the deputy city clerk, which is Amanda. But I did want to just take a moment just to introduce her and introduce her to everyone. So anyway, thank you.

All right. Amanda, if you'd go ahead and read bill number 2026-39.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Kirksville, Missouri, approving the final plat for Shandy Farms, Plat 1, a major subdivision located at 3006 North Baltimore Street, Kirksville, Missouri.

Thank you for that reading. Is there a motion and second to approve on first reading? So moved. Councilmember Gardner? Second. Second from Councilmember Bansal. Our staff report tonight will be with Diane Albrecht, our city planner. Good evening, Diane.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Council. The Shandy Farms preliminary plat was approved on July 13th of 2026. Since then, we've been working with the developer on some final tweaks. The final plat is very similar. You will see that the proposed sewer main extension has been eliminated because it was determined it wasn't necessary. They can tie in right at the main on Baltimore. You will also see an easement for ingress and egress going from the private lane Hammerhead Court heading east so that the property owner that adjoins has access. Also, there is an extension being done of the water main with a fire hydrant. They have agreed to, when they put that in, put it in with a T and cap it. That way, in the future, if there's development, it's already been ran that far. And... It is in the ordinance for City Council to agree that they will accept it once it's completed to specs and approved into the city's inventory. They have also submitted all of the required documents, the performance agreement, the performance bond, in order to ensure that these improvements are made. The Planning and Zoning Commission on September 9th voted eight to zero to approve. And they recommend that council approve it and staff recommends.

Diane, thank you for the report. What questions or comments are there from council on this tonight? Not a whole lot new here. Appreciate the updates on that. So thank you for the updates. Any citizens input on this matter this evening? we'll go ahead and take it to a vote on first reading all those in favor please raise your hand and say aye aye all those opposed motion is approved on first reading so i now call for city clerk's second reading of bill number 2026-39 an ordinance of the city council of the city of kirksville missouri approving the final plat for shandy farms

Platt 1, a major subdivision located at 3006 North Baltimore Street, Kirksville, Missouri.

Thank you for that second reading. Is there a motion and second to approve on second reading? So moved. Council Member Vansel?

I approve.

Do you approve or do you second?

I second.

Second. The second comes from Council Member Mayberry. Any additional council discussion on the matter? Any additional citizens input? And we'll go ahead and vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion is approved. Let's move into action item number two this evening. City Clerk reading of bill number 2026-40.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Kirksville, Missouri, authorizing the rezoning of three parcels located along the 2000... and 2100 blocks of South Franklin Street, Kirksville, Missouri to C3 Extensive Business District Parcel ID 13-05.0-16-001-11-08.001000 Parcel ID 13-05.0-16-001-11-07.0000 From OP1 Planned Office District and Parcel ID 13-05.0 dash 16 dash zero zero one dash 11 dash zero eight point zero zero zero zero zero zero from r3 multi-family residential district and changing the zoning map accordingly amanda wishes mandy started the week before i'll entertain a motion in second on that

So moved. Council Member Gardner. Second. Second from Council Member Bansal. Our staff report will be with Diane.

Sorry, Amanda. Okay, we have three lots. The property owner bought them from a church, which explains why two of them are zone OP1, planned office. The other one, multifamily R3. Only one of these lots has street frontage. So that's the first issue. Additionally, two of them, they are partially in the floodplain. What the plan is, if we can zone them all, C3, he will then be asking in the very next action item to do a lot combination. By zoning them C3 and then combining them, it's the best opportunity for future development. It worth noting because this will come up in the next action item that there is no city water adjacent or nearby he is well aware of that and he will at his own expense if he develops it put that in the future land use map says that Public, semi-public, non-profit, and ideally that's what it would be kept. But with something like that, it doesn't take into consideration what if the church wants to sell it. And essentially, the ground right now, we have two separate tracks that are landlocked and not being utilized whatsoever.

They're unlikely to be developed in any other way by a church.

Right. The Planning and Zoning Commission did hold a public hearing at the August 12th meeting. One person spoke in favor, which was the property owner, and he happens to be here this evening to answer any of your questions. No one spoke in opposition. They voted 7-0 with no abstentions and two absences to recommend approval. Staff also recommends approval. And this does align with Chapter 6, the Think Planning and Land Use Objective 6.5 to manage the responsible growth and development of Kirksville. And if you have no further questions.

I appreciate it, Diane. Thank you very much. Mr. Covington, you're in the room. Would you want to maybe speak a little bit about the project?

Good evening, Mayor, council members. Appreciate the opportunity to come forward. Yeah, so Diane did a great job explaining the current situation with the three parcels. But basically, I purchased the three lots from First Assembly Church, which is located west on the other side of the creek off of High Street, I believe. So these are just remnant parcels that they've just maintained over time and had no intent to do anything with in the future. So They listed them for sale. I purchased them. And in considering any type of future development, this seemed like the most prudent first step is to assemble the three tracks and rezone them, which is really consistent with the other uses, Rotec to the south. the retail across the street to the east across franklin street and just give it the best opportunity at future development so like diane shared a good portion of the three parcels is in the floodplain along the the creek and drainage way there but a portion of it on the south west corner closest to rotec is out of the floodplain so i do think there is an opportunity in the future For some type of, you know, C3 use, whether that be spec or for a tenant and, you know, make an improvement, increase the tax base and utilize some currently unutilized ground. So this is really just assembling it to try and position it for future development. Happy to take any questions.

Any questions or comments from council, Fred?

Well, this may be for both of you, but just the fact that it's a floodplain, I mean, is there any, has there been any thought in terms of the future development on that land and what will be needed in terms of like easement, drainage, you know, anything related to public safety whenever we're building on that since it is tied directly to the floodplain? Has that been thought through?

As far as public safety, are you referring to extending the water for fire extinguishers or for fire use? Yeah, I assume any type of proposed development plan would require that. I haven't gone that far into actually... having any conceptual plans drawn up or proposed any type of development plan. But as far as the rest of the flood plan goes, if you look at the FEMA map, my plan was to try and just not disturb the floodplain. That obviously proposes a number of other challenges, which are manageable to do grading and disturb and develop in the floodplain as long as you can achieve a no-rise certificate and prove that the volume that, you know, you're exchanging volume at an even trade with the volume in the floodplain and outside of, so you're not adversely affecting any of the neighbors along the floodway, which I've learned from another tract I own further down the creek. But yeah, I assume that would all be in play if I were to disturb the portion of land in the floodplain. But right now, I think there's a A large enough portion on the South end, kind of West, either West or East of the, there's a sanitary line that runs through the site also, um, to hopefully not disturb it and still be able to improve the land and and just stay out of the floodplain altogether.

Perfect. Thank you. Yeah. Other questions or comments from council, any citizens input on the matter this evening. We'll go ahead and vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion does pass on first reading, so I now call for City Clerk's second reading of Bill number 2026-40.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Kirksville, Missouri authorizing the rezoning of three parcels located along the 2,000 and 2,100 blocks of South Franklin Street, Kirksville, Missouri to C3 Extensive Business District, parcel ID 13-05.0-16-001-11-08.001.000 Parcel ID 13-05.0-16-001-11-07.000 from OP1 Planned Office District and Parcel ID 13-05.0-16-001-11-08.0000 from R3 Multifamily Residential District and changing the zoning map accordingly.

Thank you for that second reading. I'll entertain a motion and second to approve on second reading. So moved. Council Member Bansal. Second. Second from Council Member Gardner. Any additional council discussion? Any additional citizens input? We'll go ahead and vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion is approved. That'll bring us to a related action item, action item number three, which will be, again, with city clerk reading of bill number 2026-41.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Kirksville, Missouri, authorizing a lot combination of three tracts of land located at the 2,000 and 2,100 blocks of South Franklin Street, Kirksville, Missouri.

Thank you for that reading. Is there a motion and second to approve on first reading? So moved. Councilmember Gardner? Second. Second from Councilmember Bansal. Staff report is with Diane.

I will make this one very brief since we already covered most of it. This is to actually combine the three lots that we just discussed. Bears mentioning, again, two of them are landlocked and partially within the floodplain. By combining them, he has a usable tract of ground. And I also wanted to reiterate the lot combination is coming before council because per our policy, if it doesn't meet all of the standard requirements, the city manager does not approve it. It goes to council. In this case, since it does not have the city water adjacent, it is required to be voted on. And I think that pretty well covered all of it. Staff does recommend that it be approved.

Thank you for the report. Questions or comments from council?

What were the parcel IDs on these?

You can use repeating zeros if you want to.

Watch your head there, John. I'm going to quickly switch over to citizens input on this one. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and take a vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. Cindy, did you? Okay, there we go. All those opposed? The motion is approved. It's going to bring us then to action item number four.

Did you do the second?

Oh, have we only done the first one? I got ahead of myself there. I'm so sorry. City Clerk's second reading then of bill number 2026-41.

All right. An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Kirksville, Missouri, authorizing a locked combination of three tracts of land located at the 2,000 and 2,100 blocks of South Franklin Street, Kirksville, Missouri.

Thank you for that second reading. Is there a motion and second to approve on second reading? What was that?

I do.

So moved? Yeah. Okay, so Councilmember Mayberry with the motion. 2nd, from council member Gardner, any additional council discussion. Any additional citizens input. We'll go ahead and vote all those in favor. Please raise your hand and say aye aye aye. All those opposed. Motion is approved. We'll now move into action item. Number 4, city clerk, reading the bill number 2026 dash 42.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Kirksville, Missouri authorizing the rezoning of Lot 3, Block 3, Rice's Summit Addition to the City of Kirksville, Missouri from the R3 Multifamily Residential District to C1 Local Business District and changing the zoning map accordingly.

Thank you for that reading. Is there a motion and second to approve on first reading? So moved. Council Member Gardner. Second. Second from Council Member Bansal. Staff report, again with Diane.

Yes, the property owner who has owned this since 2009, he bought this lot in conjunction with 816 North Osteopathy, their adjoining lots. He has an established body shop there. It's worth noting it has been used for many, many, many years with this track being supporting land for the business. The prior owner even put like a garage door on the east side and rocked it and used it as a drive-through for his auto body business and now that's what it currently is. The only reason he knew that it wasn't already zoned commercial is because he came and applied for a building permit to put up a private storage shed. And of course, the guys were like, well, we can't do that. I went back and in 1975, in the comprehensive plan, the current land use was shown as commercial. There has never been any zoning change, and it has for many, many, many years been used together. Between the historical planning documents that we have and the actual historical use, I don't think it's a problem. that our future land use shows that as R1 because this is the way it's been. He had no idea. I had two former property owners call and say, what do you mean? It's not commercial when they saw the notice of public hearing. At the September 9th, 2026 planning and zoning meeting, the commission held a public hearing. No one spoke in favor or opposed the request. Following the discussion, they voted 8-0 with one absent to recommend the rezoning. Also, I drove by, and there is no driveway to that lot. There's pavement, there's curb, there's sidewalk. I feel like it has historically been considered a part of that. The rezoning would fall in line with Chapter 6, Think Planning and Land Use, Objective 6.5. Manage the responsible growth and development of Kirksville. And for these reasons, city staff also recommends. If you have any questions, I am happy to try to answer them.

Thank you, Diane. Questions or comments from council on this matter?

I assume, you know, one of the things when we put commercial stuff next to residential things, it's just how it appears to the neighbors and things like that. I assume the neighbors had notice of all this and had the opportunity to appear.

Yes, everyone within 185 feet. Okay. And that's where the two calls came from that I received. Surprised that it wasn't zoned commercial.

Any citizens input on that?

So the phone calls you received were asking how it was zoned?

No, they wanted to make sure they understood which property, because one was a prior owner and one was a neighbor saying that they thought it was already commercial. They thought it was a part of that tract. The property owner has also requested a lot combination, which is ready for the city manager's signature if this is approved. So it will then be one.

Any citizens input on the matter this evening? We'll go ahead and take it to a vote on first reading. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

Aye. All those opposed? Motion is approved on first reading. So I now call for city clerk's second reading of bill number 2026-42.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Kirksville, Missouri authorizing the rezoning of Block 3 of Block 3 Rice's Summit Addition to the City of Kirksville, Missouri from R3 Multifamily Residential District to C1 Local Business District and changing the zoning map accordingly.

Thank you for that reading. Is there a motion and second to approve on second reading? So moved. Council member Gardner.

Second.

Second from council member Bansal. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed. Motion is approved.

Thank you.

You're very welcome.

It's going to bring us then to action item number five, city clerk reading of bill number 2026-43.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Perksville, Missouri approving a new quotation for a bathroom remodel and accessible ramp construction for the approved housing rehabilitation loan program project at 723 East Scott Street and authorizing the City Manager to execute all necessary associated legal documents.

Thank you for that reading. Is there a motion and second to approve? So moved. Council Member Gardner, second for Council Member Mayberry. Staff report tonight will be with Ashley Young, our Community and Economic Development Director. Good evening, Ashley.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. So this is for a housing rehabilitation loan program project that you had already approved, actually, back in March. Unfortunately, the contractor that was selected declined to move forward with the project after learning that we wouldn't advance 75% of the cost of the improvements prior to starting. That's just not something we're going to do. And so it did not move forward, which meant we had to solicit bids again. And we finally did receive a bid, or rather a quote, for $1,700 from Mazda's Reliable Repairs, which was then taken to the Affordable Housing Board just a few weeks ago on August 25th, and they recommended it for approval to you all. Now, of course, that dollar amount, just as a reminder for this item as well as the next item on the agenda, It's below that threshold that is typically required of bringing items before the council, but this is just a part of the program. We all wanted to review these, and so we're bringing them to you. So depending on any of your questions, we'd recommend it for approval.

Ashley, I had a quick question. So it looks like when I was looking at the numbers, the initial person that was wanting 75% of current cost was $12,000, then went to $17,000. And do we know, was there... Was that an apples to apples in terms of when we're looking at the quote, what they're actually going to be doing? It's just an increase in the cost?

It's just the difference between the contractors, unfortunately. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

And then I know we've gone over this, but this is the revolving loan program, right? That this goes through. Yeah.

Well, it's a housing rehabilitation loan program, which acts like a revolving loan fund in the sense that those monies are, 75% of them are paid back and go back into future projects.

Okay. That was my only question really is because this, I believe based off the cost share for the city, it'll end up going from about $1,200 to about $4,000 from that increase for the contractor, right? So... I just want to make sure we're not in a position, I don't know what our balance is, but we're not going to stifle the opportunities for other folks that are going to be wanting to use the program.

Sure, sure. I'm tracking that. No, we have. So this program is, of course, you know, supercharged with Kirk's Capital monies that folks in the community voted on. This is one of the things they selected. So no, no, the balance will be just fine. Okay. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Good question. Yep.

If anything, we need more applicants.

Yeah, we do. Yeah, we really do. Yeah, we really do. Fortunately, we have two more projects in the works right now. That's great. So we'll have to bring those to you as soon as possible. Yeah.

Is there citizen's input on the matter this evening? Mary, I've got a question. This is an ordinance. Should it require a first and second reading?

So it is an ordinance because it is a long-term contract. It is not a one-and-done, because typically they're for a year.

But in my document, I don't have a first and second reading.

Oh, I see that. So it is. It should be a first and second reading.

Okay, just wanted to confirm that before we move forward then.

And that would be the same for the next one.

Okay, very good. Then we'll go ahead and move to a vote on first reading. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion is approved on first reading. So I now call for City Clerk's second reading of Bill number 2026-43.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Kirksville, Missouri, approving a new quotation for a bathroom remodel and accessible ramp construction for the approved housing rehabilitation loan program project at 723 East Scott Street and authorizing the city manager to execute all necessary associated legal documents.

Thank you for that reading. Is there a motion and second to approve on second reading?

So moved.

Second. Second. Council Member Gardner, any additional council discussion? Any additional citizens input? We'll go ahead and vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion is approved. That'll bring us to action item number six this evening, city clerk reading of bill number 2026-44.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Kirksville, Missouri, approving a housing rehabilitation loan program application for 1214 East Harrison Street, including a quotation for bathroom renovations and authorizing the city manager to execute all necessary associated legal documents.

Thank you for that reading. Is there a motion and second to approve on first reading? So moved. Council Member Gardner? Second from Councilmember Mayberry. Any additional council discussion? Oh, we're only on the first one. Yes. I am off tonight, folks, and I apologize for that. Our staff report will be with Ashley Young. Ashley.

We can make it really easy.

Yeah. I'm running in my head, and I ought not to.

So this is a new application for the Housing Rehabilitation Program, and essentially it is for a bathroom remodel at 1214 East Harrison Street. We solicited quotes multiple times, finally did receive one. That was for $9,750. However, in looking at the itemized quote, the applicant and the applicant's support staff have support staff through their county SB 40 thought they'd be able to install the toilet with volunteer labor. So then that reduced that quote down to $9,575. Of course, that was taken to the Affordable Housing Board as well, and they unanimously recommended it to you all for approval. One thing I do want to note here is that, so the total reimbursement, of course, again, they're reimbursing 75%, so that would be just under $7,200. However, the support staff believes that through a couple community organizations and primarily the applicants church they may be able to make a fifteen hundred dollar down payment also this once this is approved then it's a real project right because you all have approved it at that point then the applicants in church and perhaps another organization or two could contribute that fifteen hundred dollars to pay as a down payment on the project. So then that would reduce what they actually owe to just under $5,700, which would bring the applicant's monthly payment to just 20 cents over basically $100 a month, which was kind of their price target. So by working with the community and folks coming together, they're able to make this happen. It's really a wonderful thing. But we do need to approve the first before those monies could then be brought in and put to bear on the project. So just wanted to kind of explain that. It's a little unique. We haven't had that happen before.

It's unique, but a good narrative. So appreciate you sharing that as part of the explanation. Questions or comments from council?

And I do want to remind the council that this process they go through takes considerable time because the people that are needing the money, they have to think and figure out what they can afford. And so there's a lot of back and forth with what can they afford before they bid and then even after. It's okay. Now we need to figure out what has to come off. So there's a lot of communication with the property owners. Absolutely. Mm-hmm.

any citizens input on the matter we'll go ahead and vote on first reading all those in favor please raise your hand and say aye aye aye all those opposed does pass on first reading so i now call for city clerk second reading the bill number 2026-44 an ordinance of the city council of the city of kirksville missouri

approving a housing rehabilitation loan program application for 1214 East Harrison Street, including a quotation for bathroom renovations and authorizing the city manager to execute all necessary associated legal documents.

Thank you for that reading. Is there a motion and second to approve on second reading? So moved. Council Member Bansal? Second. Second from Council Member Gardner. Any additional discussion from council? Any additional citizens input? We'll go ahead and vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed, the motion is approved. Ashley, thank you very much.

Thank you.

This brings us to action item number seven. I'll entertain a motion in second to approve the special event request from Kraft Heinz for the Bologna Festival on Saturday, October 24th, 2026, including the temporary closure of North Franklin Street in addition to the previously approved downtown street closures. So move. Council Member Gardner with the motion. Second. Second from Council Member Bansal. Our staff report. We have Robin Hardin, our Parks and Recreation Director. Good evening, Robin.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Like the cities, a special event policy requires any major changes to come back to you for approval. This Bologna Fest has been going on. This is the fourth annual year for this event. And they would like to expand to include the east side of the square or Franklin Street. Include that in the area that they close off for the event. Very minimal impact as we've already got staff doing the road closures for three of the sides, just adding that third side this year.

Very good. Questions or comments from council?

No, just I didn't go to the Turkey Whiskey Festival. I saw it. There was a lot of folks there. So for the business owners that have a business downtown, a lot of foot traffic. So even if it's closed off, there's still a lot of opportunity for business. So I would just encourage business owners out there, if you have the opportunity, open your doors and people will see that your businesses are open. Thank you.

And if folks haven't taken the opportunity to try the bologna soup, you are missing out. It is worth your while.

It's delicious. The bologna cheddar soup down there at the Bologna Festival.

Come on down.

Yeah, I don't know about that.

We'll take your word for that. You're both going to have a bowl. I'm going to get one.

I'm there. I'm right there.

Lovely. Any citizens' discussion on this matter? We'll go ahead and take it to a vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye. All those opposed, the motion is approved. Robin, thank you very much. That's going to bring us to our citizens participation component of tonight's meeting. This is an opportunity for anybody to speak to the council for up to five minutes on any topic that hasn't been previously covered on this evening's agenda. All I would ask is that you do introduce yourself when you're at the podium. And with that, the podium is open.

Hi, my name is Dawn Bruner. I live at 1408 Meadow Lane in Kirksville, Missouri. Respectfully, I stand before you tonight as not only a lifelong resident of Kirksville, but as a deeply concerned citizen and homeowner that on Sunday morning, August 23rd, where myself and several neighbors witnessed the open slaughter of numerous live goats in our residential subdivision that is located in the city limits of Kirksville. I am not just here tonight to talk about what I saw, offensively smelled, or what I heard, but also my concerns that I currently have on how this particular open slaughter event is not currently regulated under any current city ordinance. I can honestly say that until that day, I had never heard any information in regards to the revised Missouri statutes or law in regards to the personal consumption law. But I can also say, as a lifelong resident and homeowner inside city limits, that I would ever see a day where six live goats were transported in vehicles, unloaded, then stabbed by large knives, hear the wounded cries of these wounded animals that then would have their throats slit, thrown onto an open grass lawn where they were to be bled out and then later scorched by handheld blowtorches that created such a horrendous odor that also stretched into the interior of our homes that made us all question how could any of this be legal inside our city limits. This is not an issue about the process of butchering livestock or feeding for one's family. This is an issue about the open slaughter of any livestock in city limits. The city's response to the media that there is little difference between this case and someone who hangs a deer carcass for processing during deer season is absolutely not an apples to apples comparison in our opinions, as deer are not killed in residential areas or any subdivision in any open view inside our city limits. Currently, we have no city ordinances to regulate this slaughtering process or even protect the health and sanitation concerns of your citizens from events like this. And we currently feel that we have no rights or protection by any of our city government in regards to this process of allowing slaughtering of any livestock in city limits. Currently, it can be done openly in any open view of not just adults, but children as well. It can be done by any method or desired means as long as no firearm is used. There is nothing to regulate a humane or inhumane slaughter. There is nothing to regulate the horrendous foul odors that can cross lot lines, especially those so foul that they can permeate the interior of your home. like how this was done in this event by the use of blow torches that scorched the hidden hair, leaving an everlasting smell for numerous days. There is nothing to regulate our concerns for possible contamination to our soil, air, or water, where any animal can be bled out, where their blood and bodily fluid can soak, drain, and leach into our soil, where the smell and improper cleanup of discarded remains can bring an infestation of flies, vermin, wildlife, and rodents to possibly transfer illness or disease to not just any human, but also our pets. There is nothing to regulate or ensure the proper sanitary disposal of where deceased, discarded animals or remains can properly be disposed of. As of right now, our city trash containers are perfectly acceptable. I could stand here and take up all of my allotted time and talk in regards to how I feel that this is a barbaric and unsanitary process and how it is happening in your city. It is here. It has been happening and it will continue to happen. Boundaries and limits are being tested. Loopholes and blind spots in our current ordinances have been found and the heads down, eyes closed approach where it is not happening to me is not acceptable. The sometimes we like the rules and sometimes we don't response has prompted me to dig deeper and so I did and I found three interesting words, home rule charter. Adopting a home rule charter status could completely change this entire process for all of your citizens. It is how it is done by several cities in our state by similar populations of our size, including Hannibal. And the fact that our town is currently governed by the Dillon's rule process is strictly, in my opinion, an outdated way to govern the current population of our city. You have a way to unclench your hands, untie the hands that bind you. give you the local control and self-governance over municipal affairs under the Missouri Constitution. There is a way for you to protect the rights of all your citizens to be the ones that make a change on how you can govern and regulate. I thank you for your time.

Appreciate it very much. Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there other folks who wish to speak? We'll go ahead and move into council comments then. Donna, I want to thank you for coming and speaking tonight. I'll go ahead and start with that one there. And you brought up a charter city, which... A good read of state law on that one there. That is something that I would love for the city to examine for a lot of different reasons for why a charter city would be a good opportunity to take control of our destiny on a lot of different things. So it's not an easy process, but just because things are hard doesn't mean we shouldn't take a look at them and do them. So I think for this and future councils to make some consideration on, I think there's some good things to be had there. I know we're going to continue to talk about some things and when they're applicable. Oftentimes, a single issue isn't enough to drive council decisions on things, but it's worth at least starting some discussion where we go with it there. So I just wanted to acknowledge you, Sharon, tonight and appreciate what you brought up on that one. So thank you very much.

Other council discussion this evening.

I will say we'll be welcoming some different folks to our community. I think it is Truman's parents and family weekend this weekend. So we should have lots of folks visiting and hope everybody will have an opportunity to get to welcome some people here as they visit Kirksville and maybe visit some homesick kids and get to see them a little bit. So that should be good. Mary, I'm going to turn it over to you for a newsletter review then.

Okay, so I just have a few items to bring to your attention. The first that I do want to remind you next Monday is your budget planning meeting. So you will start at 4 o'clock in this room. Okay? The next thing, the first administrative warrant was issued. You were provided before and after pictures. I know there were concerns when you were talking about this and actually allowing us to move forward with it. But hopefully you've seen with the pictures, the before pictures showed that A very overgrown property. The after pictures showed that what we did was we hired a contractor to go in and weed eat and mow. I mean, there was a crew. I don't know how many people, but it was a significant number of people working on that lot to clean it up.

After we approved the measure, I recognized that this is actually a property in my neighborhood, so I drove over to take a look at it, and it really is a market improvement.

Yeah, that's much better.

So just be aware that there will be additional ones that come. For the most part, I think they're going to largely be very similar in cleaning up, eliminating brush and weeds. There may be some, I will tell you, on North Centennial, there was a bunch of debris in the right-of-way. I just had staff, it's in the right-of-way. work with RTS, get rid of it. But that doesn't mean that the whole property was cleaned up. So just wanted to bring that to your attention. I wanted to remind you about the Planning and Zoning Commission's public hearing that's going to be this Wednesday at the Baldwin Hall Little Theater. It's an opportunity for the Planning and Zoning Commission to review and Consider recommendations to the council for data a data center ordinance It's also an opportunity as since it's a public hearing for community members to come forward and express their thoughts concerns and so again just wanted to mention that and

I was just going to say, I think it's worth saying we're not doing this because a data center is coming to Kirksville. We're doing this to try to set up a structure in which it would be harder for a data center to come to Kirksville. There's a lot of confusion out there. So I think it's worth saying that a data center is not coming to Kirksville that I'm aware of. We are doing this to make it harder for that to happen.

There's been no contact with the city regarding a project. Again, the council is just taking a preemptive measure to ensure that you have your rules and regulations in place so that if nothing happens, somebody could come today and you have no restrictions on it.

I was going to ask Councilmember Hanley tonight if he was going to be in attendance as our council representative on that one, but he's not here. I'm curious if you or Diane, as staff representative, heard if Councilmember Hanley plans to attend.

Um, I have not.

Okay.

I certainly can, we can reach out to him, but.

Yeah, I mean, it would, for exactly the reason John just gave, it would be lovely for there to be council representation, as we have in all of our boards and commissions, but his attendance at that would be very helpful.

And I will just mention that he had a family emergency this evening. Okay. So, um. It's very likely that he'll attend. I'm not sure, well, I'm not sure where that situation will go.

Fair enough. Okay.

Okay. The next item that I wanted to bring to your attention was the whole issue that Citizen Dawn Bruner brought up about the animals, the slaughter of animals. And instead of, I think you've heard what her comments were. I just provided you just a little more information. Currently, all we have is, We don't have a clear defined, this is how we can move forward to try to address some of her concerns. The only thing that I found was the reference to the odor. And so the city attorney and I, James Klar, are continuing to look into this. But to me, it just seems like this should be an additional council study session. Now, if the council does not wish to move forward, I will drop that. But I just wanted to bring that forward and make sure that you were in support of at least additional conversation on this matter.

Yeah, I mean, I certainly am. I'm interested to hear what other communities are doing and how it's handled elsewhere and and what all of our options are. Not saying we will or won't do, but I think it's definitely worth discussing.

And I would share, and I'll share with Don here as well. I'm not sure that I'm fully on board with the full elimination of all slaughter. I think we've got a lot of folks who do chickens and other things here, but I think there's some opportunities to look at this, particularly on how it directly impacts, whether that is, there's a difference between an emotional impact and a physical impact and the odor is a physical impact in that sense. But even that has to be weighed because there's lots of things that folks do in their yard that some people could consider offensive smell-wise. But I think it's worth looking into, particularly if there's an opportunity to adjust city ordinance on that.

I was going to mention that when are we going to talk about that issue?

I'm on board with discussing it.

And I will say it's the first time I had an opportunity to meet with Dawn. It was the first time I've ever had a citizen come forward with a problem or concern and actually mention some tool, a whole little charter, which I don't think any of the council was on board. Maybe Rick was, but I've just brought it up in the past. So... I was like, yes, that is actually the way you should go. But that's my opinion. Right. Okay. Then the last item that I had was on the flock cameras. And I know the council has – it's been mentioned – But the council had a meeting where the council was asked whether or not to support a grant. The measure failed by a vote of two in support and one against. I mentioned that in a newsletter, you know, some things, and then

I think there was maybe some confusion On what the council's direction was I could find nothing in the minutes that the council said we want this to happen Rather definitively to mr. Furman at the last meeting that we were doing that as I went back and watched the video I did a lot of head nodding that that's what we wanted to do and Kabir had a tiny head nod But at no point was that the four of us saying that's what we want to do So Mary's brought it up for discussion. We should make sure that it's clear we're on the same page for that as opposed to me just saying things from here.

So I'm going to remind you that you currently have a contract in place that was paid for by the state of Missouri. Not all the cameras are up yet. I think they're close. Are they finally up? Okay. I knew we were getting close to that. But there's a year process. So Scott needs to provide to me what that year time frame is for which the state of Missouri... pretty much governs that those cameras will be up. What I need to know from the council and the only way you can get out of the contract is you have to appropriate no funds for this contract. So I just want to make sure there's agreeance with the council, concurrence, however, that it's communicated clearly and it's in the minutes, that you are in support once the state of Missouri's contract is, once that year is completed, that you will want the contract to terminate and the cameras removed.

We will not fund it.

And not be funded. Yeah. So. I am.

I'm in alignment with that as well.

Yep. I mean, I want to give the police the tools they need to fight crime, but this does not appear to be a tool that is appropriate at this time.

Cindy?

Yeah, I agree. Okay. I just want to make sure it's in the minutes. Lovely. Thank you for clarifying that. And thank you, because I was like, oh, I don't remember their... But, you know, I mean, we talk about so many different things.

It's funny. I went and watched the video. I nodded a bunch, and you did a...

Okay, well, that's not technically enough there, so we'll do some more. Thanks for nodding with me. I'll try to nod a little more. There we go.

All right, Mary, thank you very much for that. Our next council meeting will be Monday, September 28th, 2026 at 6 p.m. here in the council chambers. I'll now entertain a motion and second to adjourn into executive session pursuant to revise Missouri Statute 610.021, Section 1, Legal, Section 2, Real Estate, and Section 3, Personnel.

So moved.

Council Member Bansal. Second. Second from Council Member Gardner. Because this is going into executive session, this will be a roll call vote.

Council Member Mayberry. Yes. Council Member Bansal.

Aye.

Mayor Gurdon.

Aye.

Council Member Gardner.

Aye. With that, we are adjourned into executive session. Thank you all very much for being here. I hope you have a good evening.