Gainesville city council takes up full agenda during Oct. 8 meeting

The Gainesville City Council met for its regular scheduled monthly meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at City Hall. City council members Teri Edades, Dana Crisp, Renee Schmucker, Treva Warrick and Lana Bushong were in attendance at the meeting. Also attending were Mayor Gail Reich, City Clerk Lisa Goodnight, Water Specialist Jessi Price, Maintenance Supervisor Mike Davis, Gainesville Fire Chief Kevin Piland and Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Sherman. 

Fire department hosts training, receives repaired equipment back

The first agenda item after approving the minutes for both the Sept. 10 regular city council meeting and a Sept. 24 special budget meeting, was the monthly fire department report. 

Gainesville Fire Chief Kevin Piland provided a list of all the new fire department volunteers, which was passed around to the city council members. There are currently 12 volunteer firefighters on the Gainesville Fire Department, three of which are reserve firefighters.

Piland told the council that the Ava Fire Department was holding an Oct. 12 event in honor of its 100th anniversary, and they invited the Gainesville Fire Department and all other area departments to attend the event. Piland said it would be nice for GVFD to go since it’s been the first time any department in Ozark County had been asked to do anything like that with Douglas County or Ava fire departments. He said the GVFD does attend training with those departments regularly. The council approved the request to allow Piland and others to participate in the event in Ava with the city fire truck.

Piland gave a quick fire department report, explaining that over the month since the last meeting, the GVFD responded to 16 medical calls, five automobile accidents, six fire calls and three special detail calls - which involved things like offering medical/first responder services for a local rodeo and for Hootin an Hollarin, as well as bringing the fire trucks to community events like the celebration in Ava.  

Piland said that the fire department’s Sept. 10 Basic Life Saving course/CPR course and Air Evac landing zone class, held Aug. 26, went well. He said the firefighters have been holding additional structure fire training at the firehouse and have also been training for automobile extraction with the Theodosia Area Fire Department. 

In other news, Piland said the Gainesville fire rescue truck is back in service after being repaired last month. The department also received its SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) valves and batteries for its auto-extrication tool, both repaired under warranty. They are ready to use.

Piland told the council that the fire department would like to purchase a gas-powered power washer from Harbor Freight with the $200 grant the department received from the store. The gift card would cover all but $175 of the equipment, he said. The council voted to allow Piland to purchase the equipment with the gift card and for the city to cover the remainder of the cost. Piland said the department is working on putting together applications for some other grants as well.

Request for automatic mutual aid with TAVFD

Piland said he received a request to sign an automatic mutual aid agreement with the Theodosia Area Volunteer Fire Department, in which the two departments are automatically dispatched and agree to report to any structure fire or motor vehicle crash that is reported in each of the jurisdictions. 

Piland said the Gainesville Fire Department has signed automatic mutual aid agreements with multiple area volunteer fire departments in recent years, but the city council had not been a part of the decision to sign the forms in the past. Piland said he thought it would be better for the city council to be a part of the decision-making process for the agreements. 

The council asked what would happen if they did not sign the agreement, and Piland said if the city opts out of the agreement, the other fire departments can legally charge the Gainesville Fire Department each time Gainesville VFD requests help from any other department - and he said the allowable hourly rate is pretty pricey.

Piland said he expects that there will be other requests for signed automatic mutual aid agreements from Lick Creek and Pontiac VFDs, and maybe others. He said the city could request any other departments to be included if they wanted. 

The signed agreements are passed on to the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department dispatch office, which gives dispatchers a clear directive of which fire departments to automatically tone out when a structure fire or motor vehicle crash with injury is reported in a specific area.

“Instead of toning each department out separately, they just tone them all out at once. So, everybody goes into response at the same time, instead of waiting five minutes between each one… And then if we don’t need them, we can call and tell them they can return to their fire building, that they aren’t needed,” Piland said. “On a big fire, you have your first round as automatically dispatching three or four departments. Then you have a second round [of mutual aid], where additional departments add in more tankers or trucks that will be needed.”

“If we get an accident clear on the other side of [county, at] the Taney County line, are we going to respond?” the mayor asked.

“We have before. We don’t have to if we don’t want to, but it is something that occasionally happens,” Piland answered. 

“That bothers me because it takes our resources too far away from our area,” Schmucker said. 

Piland said that Theodosia VFD has offered to give the Gainesville Fire Department a donation if the GVFD responds to a crash or fire in a far-off location, and Clerk Lisa Goodnight said TAVFD did make a $275 donation last year for the GVFD responding to a crash. 

“I think it’s probably something we need to do. We’re all here to help each other,” Bushong said. “It’s what we’ve been doing. It’s nothing new. We just didn’t know about it before.”

At the end of the discussion, the city council opted to sign the Theodosia Volunteer Fire Department’s mutual aid agreement and will look at other agreement requests as they come in.  

Maintenance department report

Dead tree needs to be taken down

Maintenance Supervisor Mike Davis said that the city workers have been mostly focused on regular maintenance work of fixing leaks and mowing grass. 

Davis also gave an update on Todd Plank’s tree trimming service, which the city council approved at the Sept. 10 meeting. For $18,500, the city hired Plank to trim all brush and overhanging limbs from city streets and to clean up the debris afterward.

Davis said that while cutting brush that week, Plank discovered that a 40-foot tall tree that was overhanging onto the road was dead. Plank offered to cut the tree down and block it up for $150. “If we don’t do that, it’ll eventually fall,” Mike explained.

The mayor said that $150 was a very inexpensive cost to remove a tree, and Schmucker agreed. Mike said city employee Logan Vaught had recently paid $600 to have one cut down, so he thought the offer was more than fair. The council voted to pay the extra $150 to have the tree taken down. 

Mike said that the tree trimmers planned to start this week cutting brush and overhanging limbs on Harlin Drive, where school bus drivers have complained about brush and limbs that hit the bus as it drives through there. 

Schmucker said the crew could dump the tree debris at her house where it will eventually compost into dirt. 

In other news, Davis said the new sewer grinder pump, which was discussed at the Sept. 10 meeting and its repair approved by the council at $3,675, was installed at Airport Trailer Park. 

He said the city crew had fixed some leaks with a new type of clamp, but the clamps won’t stay. So, the maintenance employees have decided to take all of the new clamps off and wait for a differently designed clamp to come in the mail so they can replace them. He said that during a recent leak repair, it became evident the clamps were not working. “Levi tightened it up, and he was fixing to climb out of the hole, but then all at once, the clamp slid off by itself,” he said. “We’ve had to dig up two of them so far because clamps are just sliding off on their own and won’t stay for some reason,” Davis said.

Water department report

Water Specialist Jessi Price gave a water report, explaining that the city’s water loss had improved overall. 

The city’s center district had been cut in half over the month, down from 53 percent in September to 27 percent in October. Price said that part of that total was from a leak that was fixed at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, and another large part was from a leak that was fixed in town.

The east district had gone down to almost no water loss. 

In the west, water loss was up, but three leaks had been fixed since the report was generated, and she said the city employees knew of three more leaks that would be fixed soon. 

Price said that at the end of October, she will attend a yearly conference at Lake of Ozarks. The conference fees for her attendance will be paid with Department of Natural Resources funds, and the city will be responsible for the gas and room fees. 

Wastewater treatment plant report 

City could use sewer auger

Davis gave the wastewater treatment facility report. He said that Rocky Sullivan was supposed to start hauling the sewer sludge in a few days for spreading on Sullivan’s fields. Davis said that once it was complete it would ease the mind of the city’s contracted wastewater treatment consultant, Jerry Jackson, because if the sludge is hauled off by the end of the year, the testing would not have to be redone as it would if it was hauled off after the first of the year.

In other news, Davis said that he believes the city might have one of its new sewer pumps locked up again.

“These people around here are going to have to quit throwing rags and towels and shoes and everything else in their toilets somehow,” he said, explaining that all those things cause the pumps to lock up. Davis said the city paid $8,000 each to purchase each pump motor a year ago, and it might need to be replaced again.

The mayor asked Davis if there was a way to add a different filter, but he said there wasn’t. 

Davis said the best option would be if the city could install an auger machine that grinds and separates things that shouldn’t go on before they get to the pumps. 

He said he mentioned it to the engineers who are putting together the city’s multi-million dollar grant-funded water and sewer treatment upgrades, but they said it was too late to add to that project. They’d already turned in the plan for the project, and it was too late to alter it. 

Price said another complication is that in that area, there isn’t much room to put an auger, and what room is there is full of wires and other plumbing. She said an auger would likely have to be installed up the hill more toward the treatment facility’s gate. 

Davis said that the issue came to light the prior week when both of the city’s wastewater treatment facility pumps were locked up, and the city had to run on one of the backup pumps. He said Jerry Jackson was down and reversed one of the pumps. He got one cleared, which ran until the morning of the meeting, when the alarm went off again. 

Bushong said it might be in the city’s best interest to go ahead and put an auger in without grant funds. Jessi said it’s something they could ask the engineers they are working with on the other improvements to look at in order to get an idea of what it would cost and the best place to put it. 

The council tabled the topic until they received more information about putting in an auger. 

Saddle Club contract

Goodnight said there were no updates on the contract between the city and the Gainesville Saddle Club about the saddle club’s lease of the city-owned property where the arena sits. The two entities have been in discussion about the contract for a few months.

Harlin Heights Drive lighting

The city revisited a request made by Harlin Heights Apartment complex manager Donnis Taylor last month requesting that city lights be provided on Harlin Heights Drive.

“I called Donnis and talked to her. They’ve got five lights down there. They’re on Harlin Heights property. We don’t have any property to set street lights on, and the property across the road from Harlin Heights, there is a water line that runs down through there,” Reich explained. “So, you can’t put a street light over there. They’ve got lighting, but she doesn’t want to get it fixed. She said it was donated to the city when the street was donated. They’ve got four lights on the street and one across sitting in a bunch of trees across the street.”

Schmucker said she thinks it comes down to whether the council feels like there should be lighting at night going down that street. 

“Well, we also need a place to put it. There’s barely room for one vehicle, so there’s not much room,” Warrick said. 

Crisp asked how many people were going up and down the steep hill in the dark, and if the people of Harlin Heights Apartments were walking that area or using their wheelchairs on the road at night. Scmucker and Piland said that they do know some residents who live at the apartment complex do not have a car, and therefore drive their wheelchair or walk to town to get groceries or food from The Antler; although, they weren’t sure how often they were doing that at night.

Schmucker said the only place she could see as a possibility to install a light was by the dumpster near the apartment complex, which would be on Harlin Heights’ property.

“It is probably something that kind of needs to be done. It’s really dark in that corner at night,” she said. 

Schmucker suggested the city contact White River Valley Electric Cooperative to request an engineer evaluate the space and let them know if there is a place where the city could install a light pole and light. The council agreed. 

The topic was tabled until more information could be received back from WRVEC. 

Sheriff’s Department report

Ozark County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Josh Sherman gave a sheriff’s report to the council. He generated a report for dispatch calls made to the sheriff’s department from Gainesville’s zip code 65655. The report had about 250 calls, but Sherman said that the number is inflated because some residences are outside of the city limits and when a call comes into the OCSD and is a hang-up, the dispatcher logs it as coming from the sheriff’s department address. Sherman said that OCSD staff are working on altering their program and procedures so he can hopefully generate a more accurate report in the future concerning calls specific to the Gainesville city limits.

Sherman went on to report on the Sept. 19-21 Hootin an Hollarin festival on the Gainesville square. He told the council last month that the OCSD was supplying additional officers throughout the festival. 

“Hootin an Hollarin went really well for us, as far as on the law enforcement side. We had virtually zero complaints that we had to deal with,” he said. “I think on one night we just had a vehicle accident, right before the bridge, everybody was… fine, and the patient refused care. So the patient was fine. But that was probably the craziest thing, from a law enforcement perspective, that happened from the last big event in September.”

The council asked for an update on the city-owned Hoerman Memorial Park. The council spoke with Sherman last month about concerns involving repeated vandalism at the park over the years.

He said a few deputies have been doing foot patrol at the park, especially in the evening and overnight hours. “They’ll go do foot patrol, park their rig, walk around the city park, then they’ll go through the high school track area and do building checks. If anything’s stepping out of place, they’ll go ahead and deal with that appropriately. But so far, it hasn’t resulted in anything. So I think just the presence alone there is helping to deter [crime] to some degree…”

Davis told the council that when he goes to check the city’s well #4 each morning, he still drives through the park and empties the new trash carts that were installed last month. He said he’s noticed that the park is a lot cleaner since the trash receptacles were placed there. 

Sidewalk parking

Warrick asked Sherman about giving tickets to those who have been parking on the city’s sidewalks. The council has previously discussed that a few residents have continually parked their vehicles on the city sidewalk at Third Street and Elm, which causes them concern since the sidewalks are expensive and it prohibits those in wheelchairs from using the city sidewalks. Warrick and Goodnight said they’ve both talked with the residents who have parked there, and Sherman said he knew the sheriff and another deputy had also had a discussion and given a warning to them. The council said they noticed they were parked there again the day of the meeting. 

Sherman said that the sheriff’s department is in agreement that it is a law violation, and they are prepared to write the residents a ticket if that is what the city wants him to do; however, he said before they did that he was asked to ensure that the sidewalk is ADA-compliant so that it doesn’t open up potential litigation for the city. Goodnight said that she would have city attorney Jessica Blackburn call Sherman to verify that the sidewalk was ADA-compliant. 

Buying city uniforms instead of renting

The topic of city uniforms was presented. The city has previously used Cintas to rent uniforms, but the employees say they think purchasing uniforms may be a cheaper and better option. Davis said they contacted Bo Friese at Bargain Bin in Gainesville, who has quoted them $356 for 21 custom embroidered shirts ($16 each) which includes one-time fee $20 to set everything up. Davis also requested that the city employees purchase pants at an area store, and he estimated that 18 pairs of work pants would cost $1,080. The total would be $1,436, he said, saving the city $2,400 by buying rather than renting the clothes from Cintas.

The council voted to buy the uniforms as presented.

Acknowledgement about school’s grant application for track updates

Goodnight told the council that Gainesville School is applying for a grant to update the track at Benton Breeding Stadium, and the grant application requires city acknowledgment and that the city has been informed and is in agreement with the objectives and goals of the grant. The grant verbiage says that the city will be made aware of ongoing planning for the project and given the opportunity to review the plans, as well as operation for the proposed facilities. It also says that every effort will be made for the general public to use the track, and that it is inclusive of the use of proposed facilities for instructional competition is allowed, as long as the facilities are kept open to the general public at reasonable hours and times of year. 

The school’s proposed schedule for general public use will be clearly posted. Goodnight said that the school was proposing the track be available for general public use from sunrise to 7 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to sunset Monday through Friday; from sunrise to sunset Saturday and Sunday and on holidays. 

School-only use would be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and during school-sponsored events. 

Goodnight said Blackburn looked over the documents and spoke with the school, and she advised the council to sign the document. The council voted to sign, acknowledging the proposal and school’s grant proposal for the proposed facility improvements. 

Right-of-way purchase for school marquee sign

Goodnight said that she was also made aware by the Missouri Department of Transportation that Gainesville School is attempting to buy a .39 acre piece of land in the MoDOT right-of-way that sits directly outside of the elementary school’s gates, facing Highway 160. 

The city has adjoining property to the right-of-way in question, and MoDOT requires that any adjoining property owners are notified of the proposed purchase and are given a chance to say whether they would like to submit a bid for the property too. 

Goodnight said that Blackburn also spoke with the school about the topic, and they told her that they wanted to put in a marquee sign in that spot. MoDOT’s rules prevent that from happening in the MoDOT right-of-way, so the school is now attempting to purchase the property to place the sign. 

Blackburn advised the council to sign, waiving their right to purchase the parcel unless the city wanted it for something in particular. The council voted to waive the city’s right to purchase the property. 

Water department letter

The mayor said that Donnis Taylor had submitted another letter concerning water loss at Westridge Apartments. The council decided to allow the city attorney to relay the information to Taylor about the water loss and any other future topics.

Fire department shirts

At the end of the meeting, under the topic of equipment requests, Piland requested $200 to buy t-shirts that would say Gainesville Fire Rescue on the back and fire department on the front. He said he was quoted about $20 a piece. 

The council decided to allow the city to talk with Bargain Bin since they are making the city’s other uniform shirts to see if they could do them. 

Next meeting

The next regular city council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, at City Hall. The meetings are held at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at City Hall and are open to the public. For more information about the city, contact City Hall at 417-679-4858.