The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published January 28, 2015

OB Board of Aldermen actions Thursday Jan. 22

OSAGE BEACH - In other business at the Jan. 22 Board of Aldermen meeting:
* The board approved the purchase of a crack seal machine as well as crack seal material at the request of Public Works Director Nick Edelman.

In a report to the board, Edelman noted that the city’s transportation department had completed a crack sealing program last summer with good results.

“By purchasing this machine, it allows greater flexibility to apply crack sealant and increase the life of the city’s streets,” Edelman stated in his report.

The machine will be bought through the Missouri department of Transportation (MoDOT) state bid program at a cost of $33,972.

The crack seal material - 43,000 pounds - will cost $28,079.

“This material does not have a shelf life and it is anticipated that we will use over half of the material this year,” Edelman stated.

A budget amendment to cover the cost of the crack seal material was also approved by the board.

* A construction contract to clean the Bluff Drive Water Tower at a cost of $ 32,800 was approved by the board. The apparent low bidder was Pittsburgh Tank.

According to Public Works Director Edelman, the tower will be cleaned inside and out.

“It’s been a number of years since its last cleaning,” he said.

Edelman stated that the project will be done in the spring so the tower will be ready for the summer tourist season and added that the tower will be taken out of service to complete the work.

* A change order with Ameren Corporation for work at Lee C. Fine Airport was approved by the board.

According to Edelman, the change is for additional labor due to unsuitable soil conditions and the city received another change order request from the construction company for the same issues.

“We over-excavated the soil to remove the bad subgrade for the building,” Edelman said in a report to the board. “Ameren had to relocate their power line before we removed the bad subgrade.”

The city will be reimbursed by MoDOT for 90 percent of Ameren’s cost.

The city’s total cost for the change order will be $251.83.

A necessary supplemental agreement with MoDOT - including a time extension - will hopefully be ready by the board’s Feb. 5 meeting.

* A supplemental agreement with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly (CMT) for additional administration and inspection services for hangar construction at Lee C. Fine Airport was approved by the board.

The city and CMT had planned on the building being one of two types but the contractor submitted a third type of design.

“CMT had not seen this manufacturer before,” Edelman stated in a report to the board. “This required additional time to review the drawings and to make sure it met the specifications of the contract.”

In addition, unsuitable soils- in the form of “fat clay” had to be investigated for its shrink and swell potential.

“It came back that the material did not need to be removed,” Edelman stated, “but our engineering firm stayed onsite while footing excavation occurred to make sure if the subgrade needed to come out they made the call.”

Like the change order with Ameren, MoDOT will reimburse the city for 90 percent, leaving the city with a total cost of $2,086.71, according to Edelman.

* A request from City Administrator Jeana Woods to purchase, repair and upgrade phone service from the Public Works Department to City Hall at a cost of $8,000 was approved by the board.

The current Public Works phone system is not tied to the City Hall system, Woods stated in a report to the board, “and by connecting the two systems better communication between the facilities will be possible as well as call transfers and voicemail could be utilized.”

In addition, the board approved a budget amendment to pay for the $8,000 upgrade.

* The board also approved request from the Public Works Department to purchase a snow plow, cranes for the Public Works trucks, a tractor for the Transportation Department and road striping equipment.

A request from Police Chief Todd Davis to renew a vehicle maintenance contract with Hedrick Motiv Werks was also approved by the board.

* A representative from Janine’s Flowers presented the board with two dozen gourmet cupcakes, courtesy of Bridal Cave General Manager Steve Thompson.

Thompson was thanking the city for its support concerning the Missouri Highway and Transportation Committee’s (MHTC) proposed “traffic generator” sign rule change.

Thompson had been against the rule change, saying it would reduce the number of visitors to bridal Cave and have a similar economic impact to other lake area tourist destinations.

The city had issued a statement agreeing with Thompson and urging the MHTC to forego any sign rule changes. The MHTC eventually withdrew its proposal.