Trenton City Council approves new shut-off policy for TMU, update presented on sewer plant upgrades

Trenton, Missouri sign at entrance to city
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Several topics related to Trenton Municipal Utilities were approved during last evening’s meeting of the Trenton City Council.

The council voted six to nothing to proceed with Burns and McDonnel engineering to proceed with designing the headworks project at the sewer plant. Other improvements are underway in the design-build project at the sewer plant where Irvinbilt Construction is doing the work, and it was felt the headworks portion could be done while personnel and equipment were still on the job at Trenton.

The engineer’s estimate on the headworks is $2,800,000 and there was no discussion at last nights’ meeting on financing the additional work. Some discussion about the financing occurred at the city council workshop a week ago.

A letter provided to the city council and mayor from CPA Mark Higgins stated he would not recommend using funds from another utility department to pay for the additional sewer work. However, if the council chooses to loan money between utility departments, there should be a written loan agreement, with interest and specific repayment terms on file.

The council unanimously approved a revised policy on utility service shut-offs due to customer non-payments. The revision is effective April 1st and is to be explained in a flier to be included with utility bills. The council accepted a quote for one recloser (circuit breaker) to be installed at 2nd and Kitty and for a switch at 10th and Harris where it will be part of the Nestle circuit. Combined, the cost is $21,130.

The council approved a motion to no longer receive a listing of checks written by the city and by TMU as part of the financials presented each month.

Mayor Nick McHargue praised the tree trimming done by TMU noting the heavy wet snow did not cause any power outages at Trenton over the weekend. Appreciation was also expressed to the street department for their snow removal efforts, and the police department was thanked for having vehicles removed from designated snow routes.

Street Supervisor Martin Schieb said a preliminary cost on the snow removal from the weekend is $5,000 with much of the overtime to be used as comp time.

Councilman Larry Crawford commented many sidewalks were not cleared of snow despite a city ordinance requiring this to be done. Mayor McHargue praised those who helped their neighbors in clearing snow. Regarding the snow remaining on the airport runway, it was reported the new surface is abrasive to snow blades; and tire chains on snow removal vehicles are not good for the surface. The black coating is expected to hasten the melting of the snow. Areas near hangars were cleared of snow.

Two ordinances were approved for the city to purchase from Norris Quarries, three thousand tons of sand and ten thousand-plus tons of rock. After discussing the police officers’ shooting range near the water plant, it was decided to delegate the city administrator and police chief to find an alternate location.

In response to a question, Administrator Ron Urton reported an eviction notice has been given to owners of Green Hills Pet Nutrition which has unpaid rent at an airport building.


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