James K. Weber was sworn in as Salem’s new city attorney at the regular board of aldermen meeting.
The board also approved an ordinance authorizing a retainer agreement between the city and Weber for legal services and as city attorney. He will also serve as city prosecutor in municipal court. Weber has law offices on Fourth Street.
The retainer agreement calls for compensation of $2,250 per month for city attorney legal services, including up to three hours of additional legal services. Beyond the three hours, the compensation rate is $125 an hour for those services.
City attorney legal services include attending regular meetings of the board of aldermen, planning & zoning commission and the board of adjustment, special meetings of the board of aldermen as requested, and developing a procedure to provide prompt responses to the mayor, city administrator and aldermen, as appropriate, with tracking of all internal requests for legal services. He will also represent the city in legal matters.
The city requested proposals for a law firm or individual attorney to provide city prosecutor/city attorney services with the proposals due Aug. 2. Seven proposals were received and reviewed by the mayor and board of aldermen.
After review of the proposals and individual interviews with selected candidates, Weber’s name was presented to aldermen by Mayor Brad Nash at a closed meeting Oct. 22 and the board voted 4-0 to hire him. Nash announced the board’s decision at the Nov.4 meeting.
The meeting began with the board voting to accept the resignation of William Camm Seay. Seay resigned as city attorney effective Oct. 31 because he is no longer able to climb the stairs at the county courthouse, where municipal court is normally held, due to a temporary disability. Seay had a hip replaced in March and also has other medical conditions that limit his mobility.
In his report, city administrator Ray Walden said he wanted to publicly thank Seay for his years of service and welcome Weber as the new city attorney.
He also said information is being sent to utility customers regarding the change-out of electric and water meters as part of the AMI project. A summary of new utility programs being rolled out was more than could be included with the monthly bills, so customers can expect information about those in a separate mailing, he said.
“If customers aren’t home when we replace the meters, the crew’s been directed to place a door hangar notifying customers of the change,” Walden said. Anyone with questions about the AMI project or new utility programs can contact the utility office at 729-4117 or stop by during regular hours.
He reported that the city’s auditor has completed her field work for this year’s audit and will be presenting her findings at a future aldermen meeting. It will be scheduled once the audit is complete.
The nuisance survey was made available both online and in hard copy from at the city administration office, he said. The survey was developed for feedback on the nuisance topics reviewed by an outside law firm in St. Louis. It included an open-ended question for anything respondents wanted to comment on. The survey ended Friday, with the results to be shared at a future nuisance workshop.
In other business, the board accepted the low bid of $44,546 from Lindsay Ford for a Ford F-550 dump truck for the electric department. Alderman Kenneth Nash voted against the purchase.
“I don’t see the need in the electric department for a brand-new dump truck,” he said. “They will use one hardly at all.” During his 12-year tenure with city utilities, a spare dump truck was borrowed from another department when needed, he said.
City administrator Ray Walden said the city has been updating its truck fleet and getting rid of older trucks. “This one will actually be used as part of the chipper crew,” he said, and was discussed during the budgeting process.
“I voted against the budget,” Nash replied. “There was some stuff in there I didn’t feel like needed to be in our budget. The city is deeply in debt and I’d like to be a little more conservative, and when there’s no need for a $46,000 truck that I see, I’ll have to vote no.”
Asked by alderman Kevin James if there was another dump truck to use, Walden said there were none in the city fleet that would serve that purpose. Mayor Brad Nash said he recalled the existing dump truck was having maintenance issues. He said the new dump truck would get extensive use by the chipper crew. The price includes the bed and is under the $60,000 budgeted for the purchase.
Aldermen also heard a request from Keith Plank, 1000 S. Pershing, to approve a building permit for a 30-by- 64-foot metal building he said he has been trying to construct for three months. He claimed building inspector Jarred Brown has a grudge against him and refuses to cooperate.
Plank said Brown cited a friend of Plank’s for being an unlicensed contractor a few years ago and Plank was able to get the ticket dismissed in circuit court. That’s when the problems began, he contended. His building is the same as one built on Babb Lane a year ago that was approved, he told the board.
Plank said he wants to construct the building for his father to use to restore an old Cadillac. Plank may also use it to change oil in semi trucks he owns. For that reason, he plans to build it 16 feet high, he said. He’s been told his permit is being denied for various reasons, including the use of 2-by-6 boards for framing, Plank said.
Mayor Nash suggested a legal review of the information Plank gave to Brown. “What I would personally like to see is if we can submit that information to our new city attorney and have him look at our codes and look at the information that was given to us and see how that fits into our codes,” he said.
He asked Brown to email it to the aldermen and copy Plank on it. Plank was agreeable to that but said he shouldn’t have to work with Brown.
An ordinance amending the original timeline for the Rolla Road sidewalk project was also approved. Bids for the Transportation Alternatives Program grant-funded project rejected last month because they did not meet MoDOT requirements. Officials are hoping to rebid the project and start construction in the spring.
