City Council Tables MOU On 28th Street Bridge

The Trenton City Council tabled a memorandum of understanding with Grundy County concerning the 28th Street Bridge during a meeting Monday evening.
Under the agreement proposed by the Grundy County Commission, the county would relinquish all ownership and financial responsibility for the bridge over Muddy Creek but would agree to pay $41,618 toward a flood repair project at the bridge. Following the completion of the project, the city would take sole ownership and responsibility of the bridge. Trenton City Administrator Ron Urton and several council members said they were not ready to sign an agreement that gives them sole ownership and financial responsibility for the bridge, with the phrase “We don’t need another bridge,” being said more than once during the conversation.
Urton said the city limits are up the middle of Muddy Creek so the two entities should share ownership and financial responsibility. He also pointed out that in the proposed MOU the county says it will “relinquish ownership and financial responsibility” of the bridge, meaning that the county acknowledges ownership. Urton said he will draft an MOU to submit to the commission for consideration.
The council approved an agreement with Allstate Consultants LLC for engineering of the reservoir and river pump stations for a project that will involve the replacement of piping under the floors. The engineering cost for the reservoir pump station project is $55,000, with the cost for the river pump station coming in at $47,500.
Also approved was an agreement with RS Electric for the power plant SCADA upgrade at a cost of $74,500 and an agreement with that company for replacement of breaker relays at the electric plant substation at a cost of $46,195.
In other business, the board:
• approved the appointment of Derrick Gott to the Planning and Zoning Commission and Lindsay Stevens to the Building and Nuisance Board.
• approved the purchase of two 2021 Dodge Charger police cars from Randy Curnow Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Cameron at a cost of $27,935 each. Police Chief Rex Ross said the cars will be ordered but it’s not known when they will arrive. A car that had previously been ordered has arrived at the dealership but has not been outfitted and delivered.
• voted to spend $58,072.15 for replacement of the catalyst monitoring system, a decision that was made due to a lower overall price to replace all seven systems now rather than just the one at the south substation at a cost of $13,916.09 and the others at a later date. The cost estimates for the remaining six would not be honored into 2022.
• accepted a scrap metal bid from Pettit Salvage. The bid amounts were: hardware, metal and wire, 16 cents per pound; copper wire, clean $2 per pound or dirty, $1.25 per pound; scrap metal for the street department, $100 per ton; steel, cast iron, pipe, fittings, $100 per ton; brass water meters, $1.03 per pound; and batteries, 12 cents per pound.
• discussed the issue of nuisances not being addressed in a timely manner through the court system, in particular, the nuisance at 601 Jefferson St., (see Building and Nuisance Board story).
• discussed a proposal from Black Silo Winery to purchase the portable restrooms from the city to be used at the winery and loaned back to the city as needed. No dollar amounts were discussed and the winery’s owner, Fourth Ward Councilman Duane Urich, was not present at the meeting. Councilmembers said they feel the issue should be discussed with the organizations that helped provide funding for the restrooms, which includes the city, Park Board, the North Central Missouri Fair Board and the Trenton Downtown Improve-ment Association.
The next regular city council meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 14.