This year’s demolition contractor was selected Monday night by the Trenton City Council.
Perkins Dozing of Lock Springs submitted the low bid to tear down as many as nine structures. Collectively, Perkin’s bid was $53,500. The other bid came from Red Rock of Kidder with a quote of $70,000 for the same structures. Red Rock has been the demolition contractor in recent years.
While nine locations were identified for bidding purposes, not all will be torn down this year because the city of Trenton budgeted a limit of $50,000. Additional costs before any structures can be demolished are the hazardous materials/asbestos inspection and abatement. Some of the locations targeted for demolition may require the city to fund 100% of all costs and attach the expense as a tax lien.
Others will involve a cost-sharing arrangement with the city contributing up to $2,500 and the property owner paying the balance of the costs. Now that he has figures on the cost for each teardown, Building Inspector Wes Barone will share each figure with the respective owner and then evaluate which properties financially fit within the budgeted funds and report back to the City Council.
The city council accepted the lower interest rate quoted for the lease-purchase of two police cars. Farmer’s Bank of Northern Missouri will loan $56,500 with annual payments beginning June 1st at an interest rate of 3.1%. The other quote came from the US Bank which proposed an interest rate of 3.9%. The two cars were ordered last June but the delivery date is still unknown.
On behalf of the city’s self-insurance pool, MIRMA (Missouri Intergovernmental Risk Management Association), Kelly Beets presented a plaque to Chief of Police Rex Ross and announced that MIRMA was issuing a $2,700 grant for the purchase of in-car cameras. Ross said these will be an upgrade over what the police cars have now and will coordinate with the body cams worn by officers.
Two ordinances were approved with one allowing the Mayor to appoint four members of the council to serve on the utility committee which oversees Trenton Municipal Utilities. The other ordinance issues a conditional use permit to Anita Cheryl Blake to operate a bed and breakfast at 731 West 12th Street. Councilman Duane Urich abstained from this vote.
Mayor Linda Crooks, who presided in person at the city hall meeting, reiterated a need to have more applications submitted for jobs at Trenton Family Aquatic Center. She told the council only seven applications had been made for lifeguards. No one had applied, she said, to be the pool manager. She recently posted the job openings on Facebook and said it had been shared 176 times. Mayor Crooks indicated a decision will have to be made by the end of this week or the first of next week as to whether the pool will open in time for Memorial Day weekend, as has been the tradition in Trenton.
Mayor Crooks also reported she’s been talking with the Conservation Department about pollinators and efforts to control erosion in an area of Moberly Park.
All eight councilmen participated in the meeting with five in-person and three on Zoom. Those checking in by Zoom were Lance Otto, John Dolan, and Duane Urich.
