Cemetery mowing is topic at Skidmore council meeting

At the March 14 Skidmore City Council meeting, the council once again discussed cemetery mowing.

A resident has offered to mow and weed-eat the Masonic Cemetery for $1,500 this mowing season. The matter was tabled until the May meeting.

Questions brought up were how many times does the city mow and how long does it take to mow each property? City Maintenance Mike Reasoner was hired after the 2023 mowing season, so he won’t know the answers until he starts mowing.

The gas and diesel tanks rented from MFA Oil were filled after delivery. Mayor Teresa Carter said the council had not approved the filling of the tanks. The city was charged $2,703.86 for the fuel.

More information is needed before payment is made on the $508.80 Missouri One Call System bill and the water tower bill for the $8,256.81 annual fee. The council wants to get another company to handle the water tower.

The $5,845 bid to replace the Newton Hall basement wall, frame the garage door and install it from Wilmes Masonry was approved.

Approval of two ordinances were made after the first reading of each. The two were “An ordinance for disturbing the peace for the city of Skidmore, Missouri” ordinance #2024 Disturbing the Peace and “An ordinance concerning the curfew hour for the city of Skidmore” ordinance #Curfew 2024. The disturbing the peace ordinance added section two which makes it illegal to operate tools or equipment between the hours of 10 pm to 6 am except for emergency work of public service utilities. The curfew hour is now 10 pm according to the curfew ordinance. Section three which dealt with operating machinery and tools was deleted because it was added to the disturbing the peace ordinance.

The ordinance number telephone 2024-R to revoke the ordinance number telephone 2019 in its entirety was not approved and was tabled. City Hall has not had phone service from its previous provider for two months. It has signed up for service through United Fiber. The new phone number is 660.224.0882 and the new email is skidmorecityhall@gmail.com.

The council is planning to attend via Zoom a CBDG workshop for information on applying for demolition grants, March 27.

More conversation was held on the Skidmore ball field. The ball association was not in attendance.

Reasoner wants to use a lift to trim trees in various places in Skidmore. The city has not kept up on the tree trimming. There are three to four loads of gravel left for street repair.

He noted there is one flag left for city use. Carter recommended ordering flags from several different places to determine quality versus price.

PeopleServices has been contacted about sludge removal from the sewer plant. Reasoner is estimating three to four loads. There is no power shut-off at the wastewater plant.

The gate at the Smith Cemetery will be taken out so it doesn’t have to be mowed around. The 10 mph traffic signs in Skidmore are unreadable. Carter wants the current sizes reordered for replacement.

Public Water Supply District will charge the Skidmore Fire Department for the water used in the recent fire at a cost.

The council will charge the rugby group $50 per night for using the city ballfield for practice.

A Midland Surveying bid of $16,840 was made for surveying all of the property owned by the City of Skidmore. These include:

• Utility structure property off of Highway 113

• Sewer plant off of South Street

• 522 South Walnut

• East Oak Street, lots 21 and 22, third addition

• 305 West Oak Street, lot 10, block two, first addition

• 108 South Walnut Street, part of lot 1, block 2, first addition

• 202 West Elm Street, lots nine through 12, block 5, original town.

• East Elm Street, railroad depot

• West Elm Street, south portion of lots 16 through 18, block six, original town

• North Walnut Street, north portion of lots 16 through 18, block 6, original town

• East Washington Street, lots one through three, block 2, Downing place

• East Washington Street, block one, Downing place, city water tower

• S-4, T-63N, R-37W, city ball field.

The council plans to apply for a grant to use for the survey.

On the conversation about a Skidmore code enforcer, the council decided to contact Jim Wiederholt who is the Maryville code enforcement officer for more information.