City Council - Regular Meeting

I apologize that we got our microphone. Call this meeting to order. For all that care, please stand for an opening prayer and a pledge of allegiance. Let us pray. We come before you today with grateful hearts, thankful for the opportunity to serve the people of Republic. We ask for your guidance and wisdom as we make decisions that affect our community. Please grant us clarity, unity, and integrity in all that we do. Help us to lead with compassion, humility, and a spirit of cooperation. In your name we pray, amen. I pledge allegiance.

And to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you everyone for being here tonight at our City Council regular session on July the 21st, 2026. The first item on our agenda for this evening is proclamations, and for this evening we have a proclamation for Parks and Recreation Appreciation Month. The City of Republic's Parks and Recreation Department plays a vital, essential role in the heartbeat of our community, bringing our mission, our vision, and our values to life 365 days a year. From behind the scenes preparation and cleanup to orchestrating our cherished community traditions like Hava Blast, Pumpkin Days, and all of our operations at the Aquatic Center, Community Center, and Athletic Complexes. This dedicated team creates spaces and celebrations where lasting memories are made. We are profoundly thankful for their tireless contributions, their grit, their heart, and their keeping Republic vibrant, safe, and deeply connected. And for that, this evening, we have a proclamation for them. Parks and Recreation Appreciation Month. Whereas the City of Republic is defined by more than our infrastructure, it is built upon the shared laughter at our playgrounds, the thrill of a winning goal, and the beauty of our open, green spaces. And whereas our Parks and Recreation team are the superheroes of our community, they are the architects of our most cherished memories, transforming our fields into playgrounds, maintaining our trails, and ensuring every picnic, every league and festival is a moment we treasure. And whereas, these professionals do far more than maintain our grounds. They are the dedicated guardians to the gateway of fun. Whether battling the summer sun or working behind the scenes to orchestrate our community events, they serve our city with heroic excellence. And whereas, without the tireless vision of this team, our seasons would be defined only by the changing colors and temperatures. Instead, they turn our city into a place of celebration throughout the year. They are the masters of our memories, the champions of our community spirit, and the essential force that keeps our city vibrant, safe, and connected. Whereas, they perform these duties with grit, kindness, and a smile, proving that they don't just care for our parks, they care for the very heartbeat of our community. Now therefore, I, Eric Franklin, Mayor of the City of Republic, do hereby proclaim the month of July 2026 as Parks and Recreation Month, and I invite every citizen to join me in celebrating this extraordinary team. And so the next time you enjoy a sunny afternoon at the park or participate in a program, remember the skill, the sweat, and the heart that it took to make it possible. Let us all offer a gesture of thanks to the champions who keep the fun, the spirit, and the joy of Republic alive all year long. And testimony whereof, I have here unto set my hand and affix the seal of the city of Republic this 21st day of June, 2026. And so we had a few pictures before the meeting and presented a proclamation to the Parks and Rec's team that was here tonight. So very incredible, thankful for all of them and all of their efforts here tonight. Anything that you would like to share, Mr. Parks? No pressure, no, I didn't check with you before, so I apologize for not doing that.

No, just thank you for recognizing our team. It's those ones back there and some that couldn't make it tonight that do all that you said. So it's a big thanks to them. Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Parks.

And now we will move on to citizens participation. This is an opportunity for citizens to speak directly to the city council on matters that are not listed on tonight's agenda. So out of respect to everyone who is giving their time here this evening, we ask for you to keep your comments concise and focused and that we maintain our mutual respect. Please know that we may not have all of the answers immediately, but you are being heard and we will do our best to address concerns. We will now open citizens' participation. And we do have Carson Moore. Carson, would you like to come forward? And if you would please state your name, your address, and three minutes to present here to city council.

Perfect. Carson Moore. I'm over at 206 East Lapis Avenue in Ward 2. And you said one more thing, name, address, and was that it?

You're good to go.

All right, here we go. Good evening, Councilman. I'm going to set the stage with a little allegory, so bear with me for a few seconds. In Christopher Nolan's 2008 classic, The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, develops a citywide surveillance system triangulating the positions of every citizen of Gotham with the goal of thwarting a plot of Heath Ledger's Joker. While his ally, Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox, warns that the technology is too powerful in the hands of one man, Wayne ultimately assures Fox that he has the ability to destroy the system upon completion of the task ahead. The scene ultimately raises an intriguing question about the dialectic of privacy versus security. My name's Carson Moore. I'm a lifelong Southwest Missouri native who decided to settle down and start a family here in the public a few years ago. I'm a new dad to a four-month-old baby girl. I work, I pay my taxes, I go to church on Sundays. And yet, like many others, my vehicle plates make and model are logged into an AI database every time I leave my house. I'm here tonight to talk about my concern around the city's utilization of flock or other automated license plate reader cameras. Within the last year alone, a number of incidents have raised ethical questions about the usage of LPRs around the country, including a North Carolina woman wrongfully arrested for a drive-by shooting she didn't commit, a Joplin, Missouri police officer put on leave for searching the same plate 400 times, and a November 2025 report of flock logins for sale on Russian hacking forums. Well, one of the core tenants of any effective government is the safety of its citizenry. I ask, to what extent should the citizenry sacrifice its right to privacy for a trivial enhancement to its security? In my mind, that's a question that must be left solely answered by ballots and not government contracts. I was around my daughter's age when Congress passed the Patriot Act nearly 25 years ago. We now have a quarter century of examples at our fingertips of this legislation used just as much to spy on Americans as it is to catch bad guys. Today, Republic has a few flock cameras here or there in the busier parts of town, but what does that look like in a year? Or five years? Or twenty years? Will my daughter grow up to live in an Orwellian world where a flock drone watches her as she steps outside for some fresh air? As hyperbolic as that may sound, the technology we have today would be inconceivable just a couple decades ago. So today, as an ardent lover of liberty and freedom, I'm humbly imploring the Council to explore alternatives To leave the question of LPR usage in the hands of its citizens or to cancel existing contracts outright. As you leave tonight, please ask yourself the hard question, what would Batman do? Thank you guys.

Thank you Mr. Moore. Do we have any additional citizens in the audience tonight that would like to participate in citizens participation? Seeing that there is none we will close citizens participation moving on to our consent agenda. I Welcome a council to ask any questions or comments about items two three or four on the agenda Don't see any questions so we need a motion and a second for approval of the consent agenda Got a motion from harder a second from Neil All of those in favor? Aye. All of those opposed? Are there any abstentions? Motion carries 6-0-0. Moving on to board commission and committee schedules. So we had a city council meeting that was scheduled for August the 4th. As of now, that meeting will be canceled due to a lack of agenda items. We have a board of adjustment meeting that was scheduled on August the 6th that is canceled as well. And the planning and zoning meeting that was scheduled for August the 10th, 2026 is canceled as well due to lack of agenda. So our next meeting as city council meeting will be August the 25th, 2026. Moving on to old business and table items. I now need a motion and a second for the second reading of Bill 26-21 by title only please. Got a motion from Harder and a second from Fields. All those in favor? Aye. All of those opposed? Are there any abstentions? Motion carries 6-0-0. Laura will read the ordinance by title, please.

ordinance of the city council approving an amendment to the zoning classification of approximately 5.25 acres located at 2125 east hamilton street from oak court planned development district pdd to moral assisted living plan development district pdd and approving a development plan thank you laura does city council have any questions comments discussion

Seeing that there is none, we will move on to final passage. I now need a motion and a second for final passage of Bill 26-21, please. Got a motion from Harder, a second from Neal, and I'll take a roll call vote on our computers. Motion carries 6-0-0. Moving on to new business and first reading of ordinance. Item number six. I need a motion and a second for the first reading of Bill 26-22 by title only, please.

Motion.

Second. Got a motion from Harder and a second from Neal. All those in favor? Aye. All of those opposed? Are there any abstentions? Motion carries 6-0-0. Laura will read the ordinance by title, please.

An ordinance of the City Council establishing the procedure for disclosing potential conflicts of interest and substantial interest for certain officials.

Thank you, Laura. And Mr. Rogers will give us an overview this evening.

Thank you, Mayor. In 2024, the city adopted its conflict of interest disclosure procedures pursuant to section 105.485 of the revised statutes in Missouri. Because the city's annual operating budget exceeds $1 million, this ordinance must be readopted every other year. And for this year, it must be readopted by September 15 to remain in effect. This ordinance allows specific officials and candidates to file financial disclosure statements only when they have reportable transactions or interests. Without readoption, a broader group of officials, employees, and candidates may be required to file a long-form personal financial disclosure statement pursuant to state statute. This ordinance largely readopts the 2024 framework with some clarifications and revisions. Staff recommends approval.

Thank you, Mr. Rogers. Do we have any questions from city council? Okay, seeing that there is none, just please remember if you have any questions, please remember to get with staff before our next meeting with any questions. Moving on to item number seven. I need a motion and a second for the first reading of Bill 26-23 by title only, please. Motion. Second. Got a motion from Harder and a second from Neal. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Are there any abstentions? Motion carries 6-0-0. Laurel, read the ordinance by title, please.

An ordinance of the City Council vacating portions of a 30-foot cross-access easement and a 20-foot cross-access easement located in Lot 3 and vacating in its entirety the 5-foot wide platted waterline easement crossing Lots 1 and 3, all located in Town East Subdivision, VACA 26-0-0-2.

Thank you, Laura. And we've got Mr. Tabor here this evening to give us an overview.

Good evening. Chris Tabor, principal planner. The Town East Center LLC is requesting vacation of three easements located in lots one, three, and four of the Town East subdivision. Each of these easements was created through the platting of the Town East subdivision in November of 2023, which is located southwest of the intersection of US 60. Here, I've got a document that shows the general location on the plat of each of these. The two red lines represent the front and the rear easement. And then this brown line is the water line easement that we'll be talking about. The first vacation concerns the 4,490 square foot portion of the 30 foot wide cross access easement on lot three. The creation of the easement was necessary to ensure access to the lot lot for specifically of the county subdivision the purpose of the vacations to adjust the placement of the easement in order to increase the overall buildable area for that lot the new alignment has already been recorded in is in place to provide legal access required for the lot. The second vacation concerns the 3000 square foot portion of the 20 foot wide rear cross access easement on lot 3. This easement is not required as the front as the front cross access easement provides access to the lot in lieu of a street frontage. And the last easement that we're looking at is a water line easement. It's a five foot wide water line easement that spans lots one and three of the subdivision. That easement was recorded. There is no plans to put utilities in there. There's no utilities currently in there. It was just the result of the recording of the plat at the time. Staff is recommending approval of the requested easement vacations.

Thank you, Mr. Tabor. Does city council have any questions for Mr. Tabor? Seeing that there are none, we do have a speaker here this evening to speak in favor. Mr. Donberry, would you like to come forward?

Don Barry Lee engineering to a 30 split her Springfield. We represent the client developer in this procedure. We have requested that these access easements in this water line is may be vacated to enhance the develop develop ability of the property. Presented to the council for their approval.

City Council have any questions for Mister Berry. Thank you Mister Berry thank you. So, do we have any additional questions, City Council, before moving on? Okay, and pursuant to 3.10F of the charter, staff is requesting a second reading of this ordinance during tonight's meeting. I now need a motion and a second to approve the second reading of Bill 26-23 to be held during tonight's meeting.

Second.

Who was, was it Dan? Motion by Harder, second by Neal. You guys are making this difficult. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Are there any abstentions? Motion carries 6-0-0. Moving on to item number eight. I need a motion and a second for the first reading of bill 26-24 by title only please. Got a motion from Harder, a second from Neal. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Are there any abstentions? Motion carries 6-0-0. Laurel, read the ordinance by title, please.

An ordinance of the city council approving amending the zoning classification of approximately one acre of real property located at 210 South Hampton Avenue from local commercial C1 to general commercial C2.

Thank you, Laura. And we have Mr. Tabor here to give us an overview this evening.

Good evening again. David McCormick, on behalf of DK Property Holdings, has applied for a rezone of one acre of property at 210 South Hampton Avenue. The property subject to the rezoning application is currently zoned as local commercial C1. The applicant has requested to rezone the property to general commercial C2. The property is the site of a currently vacant structure that was previously used for tire sales and installation. The use was deemed appropriate at the time of construction for local C1. However, in 2021, a code amendment removed the named use allowing the business to operate from the local commercial C1 zoning district and moved that use into the general commercial C2 zoning district. As the operations of the business predated that amendment, the business was allowed to continue on under legal non-conforming status. At some point between 21 and 22, the building or use was vacated for a 12-month period, which triggered the lapse of the legal nonconforming status. So for the property to now be used as previously operated or as an automotive repair installation use or similar, it must meet the requirements of the currently adopted land use code, which requires a C2 zoning. The subject property is bordered by a mix of commercial and residential zoning districts and uses. To the north is medium density single family residential, to the east is local commercial C1, to the south is general commercial C2, and to the west across Hampton is medium density single family residential. The property is currently served with both municipal water and sewer, and a traffic impact study was not required as the impact is not expected to change from the reason. The subject parcel does not contain a special flood hazard area or floodplain. The subject parcel does not contain any identified sinkholes. Staff considers the proposed zoning amendment rezoning to be generally consistent with the goals and objectives of the comprehensive plan, consistent with the trend of development in the vicinity of the site, compatible with surrounding land uses, and able to be adequately served by municipal facilities. Based upon this analysis, staff is recommending approval of this application.

Thank you, Mr. Tabor. Does City Council have any questions? Doesn't look like we have any questions for tonight. Thank you. Mr. Tabor Please remember if we have any questions before the next meeting to get with staff Moving on to new business and second reading of ordinances I now need a motion and a second for the second reading of bill 26-2 3 by title only please Got a motion from harder a second from Neal all those in favor all those opposed Are there any abstentions? Motion carries 6-0-0. Laurel, read the ordinance by title, please.

An ordinance of the city council vacating portions of a 30-foot cross-access easement and a 20-foot cross-access easement located in lot 3 and vacating in its entirety the 5-foot wide platted water line easement crossing lots 1 and 3, all located in town east subdivision. VACA 26-0-0-2.

Thank you Laura before moving on to final passage to City Council have any questions comments discussion before moving forward. Seeing that there is none we will move on to final passage. I now need a motion and a second for the final passage of bill 26 dash 2, 3, please. Got a motion from harder a second from Neil we're now going to take a roll call vote on our computers. Motion carries 6-0-0. There is no other business or resolution, so we'll move on to reports from staff. Mr. Colton, or Mr. Harris. It's been hot today.

I hear ya. Well, thank you mayor members of council and and thank you everyone for joining us tonight I'd like to start with a special shout out to our members of the raising the lid program That's a program that our HR team is putting on Thank You Lisa and Rachel for that's a great program developing our leaders and had an opportunity to sit in on a course recently and Just very excited for the program and for the class that we have We're very blessed to have such great leaders as part of our organization. So thanks for participating tonight I also want to take some time to recognize some of the great work that's happening across the organization. Starting off, and I'll just say thank you again to Council for the proclamation. July is indeed National Parks and Recreation Month, and I want to thank our Parks and Recreation team for everything that they've accomplished this year. a lot of times uh parks and rec certainly gets the accolades whenever there's big events that are happening but the reality is that they do the hard work day in and day out and so i want to thank them for that and i do want to talk about some of the accomplishments we've had so far so thinking about the loop and we had our have a blast celebration and and currently i understand that we're having record numbers at the at the rush aquatic center so know it's gonna take some time to understand what those averages are but I'm optimistic that that'll actually be the norm so very exciting stuff and and again I just want to thank our team for not just the big events but the the little things that they do every day to thank you to the to the Parks and Rec team speaking of have a blast What a great event. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it because I was sick, but I had reports, and it just goes to show how solid our team is. Even with some of the challenges of weather and making some adjustments, I was told that it went off without a hitch, and most of the attendance didn't even recognize that there was any issue. I also want to give a shout out to some of the other departments that do some things behind the scenes. So the police department, fire department, polar works, communications, so much goes into an event, planning and coordinating for literally tens of thousands of individuals. So great success. Another significant accomplishment that's certainly worth mentioning is the announcement that the city of Republic has been awarded a $23.5 million build grant through the US Department of Transportation. So this represents years of planning, strong partnerships with Ozarks Transportation Organization, MoDOT, Greene County, many others. We've already had this announcement and it's a big celebration. It's the first step in what will be a long process. This investment is gonna improve transportation infrastructure, it's gonna enhance pedestrian safety, and it's gonna create opportunities for continued economic growth. And just so, for some numbers, to try to put some of this into scale, the latest employer survey from OTO estimated that it would bring about 3,000 jobs to that corridor. And so that's gonna create opportunities for sales tax supported businesses and it's gonna increase and have additional revenue for our community, for public safety and just our general revenue. So it's an excellent example of strategic planning producing really meaningful results for our community. I also want to thank our police department for inviting members of our leadership team to participate in this month's defensive tactics and active shooter training. Opportunities like this help us better understand some of the realities that our first responders face, and it strengthens our ability to work together whenever a real critical situation occurs. along those same lines I want to thank the Republic School District I appreciate their continued partnership their willingness to share their facilities and partner in those trainings it really demonstrates a collaboration that again benefits the entire community so we value that relationship and we appreciate their support Also, I want to encourage both residents and employees to participate in our ADA transition plan public survey. Accessibility is about ensuring every member of the community can safely and confidently access public spaces. So that feedback that we'll get from that survey, it'll help shape the different priorities and it'll help us improve the sidewalks, curb ramps, crossings, everything about our public infrastructure. So it's really important that we get that information and we can move forward with our ADA transition plan. So looking ahead and in summary, there's just a great deal happening across our organization. We're currently working on a new city website. It's gonna improve functionality. It'll be a nice bright update to our website. It's well needed. We anticipate having that completed by the end of the year. We continue to have great progress on our wastewater treatment plant. We're still slated to have substantial completion by October. There will still be some work that continues into next year But we will be fully online and the plant will be commissioned once we reach that substantial completion milestone And then we're continued, you know, we've actually we're getting a lot of new members joining our team Hiring continues to be up from last year, which is exciting just shows the growth that we're seeing and both externally and internally. And we're also working on more community engagements to help improve communications so that we can continue to talk about all the things that go on through the city. Another housekeeping item, the mayor already mentioned it, but we'll just have the one meeting in August where we'll go over our tax levy. And so that'll be the fourth Tuesday of August. And then I'll just end, I just want to thank our employees for their continued professionalism and dedication. All these great things that we've talked about and shared tonight wouldn't be possible without their work. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Harris. Does City Council have anything to report for this evening? Seeing that there is none, we'll move on to the mayor. And yeah, I just have to start off, Colton had mentioned it, have a blast. Thank you to everyone that participated in have a blast, everyone that put in the hard work. I know it was a challenge out there because of the rain and everything that came, but I heard very few complaints. Everyone that I was around was having a great time. And so it's just great having that in our community and having that opportunity. And so as Colton said, everyone I was around just had a great time. It was just really another one of those great events having here in Republic. So very thankful. All of my family was happy too. They got to make it. So I was kind of happy to have a family event in the town. And so that was a lot of fun. spending time with Colton look about a week or so ago we got to go up to the Greene County Courthouse and celebrate our 250th birthday along with Greene County Commissioners and and everyone there in Greene County and all the elected officials it was a packed event A very patriotic crowd. It was one of those things that kind of once in a lifetime that I kind of felt with former Governor Nixon read the Declaration of Independence and building on that 250 years. And so that was a great opportunity in representing Republic. And so very thankful that Colton was able to make it out there as well. And there was a lot of great representation there from Republic in that crowd. Very thankful for everyone that was able to make it out there. And just touching on that, our 250th, whether it was have a blast, whether it was 4th of July, it warms my heart when I drive around town and see American flags. And so it was a wonderful experience being alive this historic milestone. All of the great families around me, including the Campbell family, they really know how to have a 4th of July celebration. And so I'd just like to thank everyone for really making this significant. And I really hope that we can celebrate our nation's birthday, not just in July, not just this year, but each and every day. And so I just wish we had more days like that with all those patriotic events and feelings. It was a great feeling, and everyone around me was having a tremendous time. Colton had mentioned the MM funding, and I'm gonna mention it too, because it's a big deal. It's been a long time going, and so I'm very appreciative for all of the people in Republic. There's almost a decade, if not longer, that everyone's been working on that, and so, very thankful for all the hard work that staff has put into that as well as the Department of Transportation MoDOT and the Ozarks Transportation Organization and Sarah Fields and the OTO team who have put in a lot of work with that as well and all the people that have been here before us this has been a long-term effort and certainly a piece of that puzzle that it's going to transform that area, as Colton had mentioned. And there's a lot more good things to come from that. So we're happy to have that piece of the puzzle in there. And at least now we have some future. We know what's coming. And so it's great to be prepared and getting on to that. The Republic Chamber of Commerce has an event coming up. I did want to mention on August the 1st, they are having the Republic Chamber Expo, which is going to be at our community center. And this year, again with last year, last year we had the superintendent and the mayor in the dunk tank. So if anyone wants to come take your best shot, the mayor will be in the dunk tank again this year. I encourage you to come out. And the superintendent for schools. So we'll have Dr. Overstreet, myself, and the dunk tank. But so many great businesses from Republic. Just a great event to be a part of. And another one of those community events that until you get there and experience it, it's really hard to describe how many things are going on. So there's just so much going on. I know they've got a lot of big plans for this year. And so it's going to be a great event. The recent Ozarks Transportation Board of Directors we met last week. It was a great meeting. Anyone that wants to see those, it's all filmed for the public. And so you can go back and you can watch our meeting and the things that we discussed. There were a few things specific to Republic that we discussed. And then finding that engineering for trail connections on the addition of the trail It's just right outside of here And so in between that that's the different things on the u.s 65 in our region As well as a design build presentation on i-44 and I know all of us go up highway 13 if you go anywhere around here you probably go up highway 13 eventually and and you If you get a chance, go back and watch that. It's absolutely amazing. Not just in MM Highway, but there's going to be some transformative things in our region. And just so excited and happy for a lot of these things. So if you get a chance and you go back and you want to watch that meeting, please do. I'll share the link with you. I'd like to give a big shout out to our planning and zoning as always. You know, so thankful for them volunteering and giving their time as well as the staff and the planning and zoning 101. And I get to go back and refresh myself and then have somewhere to point for other people to go learn as well. So all those little notes that we can share with our local government and teaching people about it is so very helpful. So I'm very thankful for that. Very helpful and thankful for the PNZ meeting. So if you haven't seen that, watch those too. There's good information there. I have a lot of stuff and I'm going over it to be a little bit shorter. Upcoming dates, July the 30th, Greene County Mayor's Association meeting. I don't quite have an agenda yet and I'm not sure where that's gonna be, but if anyone is interested, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's mayors and supporters from across Greene County coming together to gain a better understanding of our communities and Greene County. And so we share our support and efforts in handling complexities of city government. And so if you would be interested, let me know. Let me know at Ford. Just in case we get in a quorum situation, we can let Laura know. uh... if anyone's ever interested in attending those meetings let me know uh... i mentioned uh... august first was the war expo august twenty second as the next thing i wanted to mention uh... got mud run and so i'm excited for that uh... i know it's another one of those opportunities that the got mud run brings people from all around i hear about that all over the state and so that's another one of things that so very appreciative for that because i get to come in and learn a little bit more about republic every time they're here And they leave a trail sometimes, too. But that's the good part and the fun part. That's all that I had for this evening other than doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. So thank you, everyone, for being here this evening. Please be safe. Be cool. We've had some extreme temperatures. It sounds like we're getting a little bit of a break, especially right now. Meeting adjourned.