By Woodrow Polston
The board of alderman of the city of Vandalia met last week for their regular meeting at the Lange Building. All members were present for roll call. After approval of the agenda, the meeting was opened for public comment. Citizen’s to be heard included Katlyn Holcumbrink, who had previously requested permission from the city to open a daycare in town.
Holcumbrink noted that she wanted to open an in-home daycare business.
“I have made some changes and upgrades to my residence in preparation of this. Those include a fence in the backyard, security cameras on the property and we have taken steps to make sure that the property is free of safety issues,” she said.
“We are allowed to have as many as six kids without being state licensed and three of those can be under the age of 2. I currently have my two boys at home, one of who is under 2 years of age. I am currently accepting applications and working through a process of interviews to determine who may be accepted or added to a waiting list. My biggest reason for opening the daycare is to provide a safe environment for children in the area,” she added.
The aldermen voted to approve Holcumbrink’s request.
After the hearing closed, a motion to approve Dayne’s Waste Disposal contract with the city of Vandalia was made, seconded and unanimously approved. City Administrator Darren Berry outlined the contract.
“Historically, there has been a 15-cent increase to the base charge each year,” he said. “On top of the base charge, Dayne’s adds a recycling fee to each customer. In addition, the city adds a collection fee and a limb fee.
“In 2019, Dayne’s had to increase the recycling fee by 35 cents, which increased the cost of recycling from 55 cents to 90 cents per customer. To offset the increase to recycling, the city lowered the limb fee from 75 cents to 40 cents and changed the grinding schedule from every year to every other year.
“In March of this year, Dayne’s had to increase their rate by 60 cents per customer, due to the excessive fuel increases. Also in June, Dayne’s had to increase their cost by another 50 cents per customer. Again, this cost increase was directly related to the increase in fuel prices. As we have seen over the past several months, fuel prices have increased dramatically, and the reason for the increase to recycling a few years ago was directly related to landfill cost. The increases to fuel and landfill cost are out of Dayne’s control. In paragraph five of the new contract, any potential cost increases, over the next three years, to fuel and landfill cost are outlined. Dayne is requesting, that instead of the 15-cent increase per year, he is asking for a 2.5% increase per year,” he added.
A motion to approve the appointment of Ryan Eskew as commissioner to the Vandalia Housing Authority was made, seconded and unanimously approved. A motion to approve the appointment of Raymond Legg to replace Jason Newton as the municipal judge for the city of Vandalia was made, seconded and unanimously approved. A motion to approve the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission to issue a permit to Katlyn Holcumbrink for a daycare at 709 West Bland Street, was made, seconded and unanimously approved.
A motion to hear the first reading of Ordinance 22-1228 was made, seconded and unanimously approved. Amy Rost, city attorney, read the ordinance.
“Ordinance repealing and replacing certain sections of chapter 510 electrical standards of the city code of the City of Vandalia, Mo.,” said Rost.
A motion to hear the second reading of Ordinance 22-1228 was made, seconded and unanimously approved. A motion to hear the first reading of Ordinance 22-1229 was made, seconded and unanimously approved. Berry discussed the ordinance.
“This ordinance has to do with the probationary status for employees of the city of Vandalia,” he said. “I have been looking through the personnel section of our code and have a recommendation for change. Currently, the probation period for a new employee is six months, or 180 days. After discussing this with staff, we feel that over the years, we have known whether or not someone is going to work out or not within the first 30 days. We want to offer the benefit of reducing that probationary period to only 90 days. This will help the new employee go from the starting pay of $14 an hour, to the $14.25 pay rate faster. We are looking at this as another way of attracting more applicants for open positions with the city,” he added.
A motion to hear the second reading of Ordinance 22-1229 was made, seconded and unanimously approved. During the sheriff’s report, Matt Oller said that there were no significant issues to discuss. During the city administrator’s report, Berry mentioned that Sharon Meyers has returned from retirement to help part time at City Hall after the loss of JoAnna Borgmeyer. With no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 5:55 p.m.