CHAMOIS — Chamois aldermen approved the city’s 2022 financial audit at their Aug. 23 meeting. The audit, prepared by Decker and DeGood Certified Public Accountants, lists the city’s assets as $2,616,573 and liabilities as $278,400.

The 2022 audit shows that the city had revenues in governmental funds totaling $125,151, as follows: property tax ($19,386), franchise taxes ($24,112), sales tax ($17,872), Missouri Motor Fuel Taxes ($17,364), charges for sanitation ($42,563), license, permits and fees ($1,380), park income ($1,045), donations ($400), and miscellaneous ($1,029).

The city’s governmental fund expenses totaled $128,951, including general government ($67,311), streets ($23,234), parks ($1,028), sanitation ($30,928), and capital outlay ($6,450). The audit showed a net loss of $3,800 in the fund balance, with an ending fund balance of $65,453.

Chamois had revenues of $157,088 in business funds, including water ($65,916), sewer ($89,452), and other ($1,720). The operating expenses for these services total $142,610, as follows: depreciation ($46,947), miscellaneous ($11,134), repairs and maintenance ($20,667), salaries and payroll taxes ($48,276), supplies ($2,467), testing ($2,260), and utilities ($10,859). The business funds showed a total income of $14,478 over expenses. Non-operating revenues totaled $36,616, with a change in net position of $51,094.

The audit showed that the city’s final budget had a $56,335 variance from actual revenue and a $3,115 change in final expenses.

City Treasurer Theresa Walter noted that Decker and DeGood Accountants called out the main change: publishing the city’s financial statement in the local paper every six months. Neither Walter nor City Clerk Megan Birmingham were aware that this was a requirement. Mayor Marie Slusser asked Birmingham and Walter to contact surrounding cities and see what their procedure is for publishing financial statements.

Walter said that the 2023 audit should be back from Decker and DeGood accountants soon. Aldermen also approved for Walter and Birmingham to start working on the 2024 audit.

In other business, aldermen approved paying $487 for special event insurance from the Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund (MOPERM) for Chamois Day. Slusser hopes the Chamois Lions Club will reimburse the city for part or all the money.

Walter contacted the Lions Club to let them know that aldermen had approved the city’s use of inflatables to provide activities for the kids at Chamois Day. She also asked if the Chamois Lions Club carried special event insurance for Chamois Day and if a waiver needed to be signed.

“There were a lot of emails, and I finally got an email back that said that Chamois Day started in 1999 as a community event and that the Lions Club had been advised that the city of Chamois had an umbrella liability insurance policy that covered all of the events in town,” Walters said. “The response said that the Chamois Lions Club provides members to head up Chamois Day, but the Lions Club does not sponsor it, and therefore, they do not carry insurance for it.”

Walters explained that this was confusing because she was asked to sign a contract and pay a $25 fee to set up the inflatables that read, “The Chamois Lion Club is sponsoring the 24th Annual Chamois Day Festival and Craft Fair on Sept. 21.”

“The Chamois Lions Club wants me to sign a contract that says they are sponsoring the event, but I have emails saying that they don’t sponsor the event and that the city of Chamois is responsible for the insurance,” Walter said.

Walter contacted the city’s insurance carrier, who said they do not cover special events held within the city limits.

“The city does not sponsor Chamois Day,” Walter said. “They have nothing to do with Chamois Day. I do not believe the city should pay to cover the insurance for Chamois Day, but to protect us, we have to have insurance.”

City Attorney David Bandre also drew up a vendor contract he would like the city to have the Chamois Lions Club sign that protects the city.

“The Lions Club should be paying for this,” Walter said. “The PTO has to pay for event insurance when we have a carnival.”

Walter said that in prior years, there was no insurance for the event and that the city did not put any money in the budget for the expense.

“We have to pay it regardless,” Slusser said. “We’re not going to cancel Chamois Day.”

Alderman Cole Schaben agreed, noting that he agrees with paying for it this year. However, he suggested the city may need to consider passing an ordinance requiring the organizer to provide special event insurance for future events, including Chamois Days.

“We’ll pay it this year,” Slusser said in agreement with Schaben. “But we’ll ask the Lions Club to reimburse us, and we’ll learn from this for next year.”

• Aldermen approved the first payment to Byrne & Jones Construction for $39,109 for completing 32% of the Lead Service Line Survey, well ahead of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Oct. 16 deadline to have 30% of the lead service lines surveyed.

Slusser noted that the company is having trouble finding the shut-offs for remaining customers.

“We’ve been going through maps and locating them and helping them as much as we can,” Slusser said.

She will meet with Byrne and Jones Construction and hopes to have a better idea of when the company will complete the survey.

“It’s been a little bit of a battle to find the shut-offs, but we are working with them and hope to have everything completed by October,” Slusser said.

The city will only be responsible for $2,000 of the expenses from the Lead Service Line Survey, with the balance being paid for through a grant.

• Slusser was happy to report that the new well is functioning and has passed the preliminary tests conducted by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

“We have not started to pump water into the water tower yet,” Slusser said. “We have to do one more test. The well is running, but it is not in use yet.”

Once the next round of testing is complete, Slusser hopes the city will be able to start using the new well, shut the old well down, and start testing to see if it can be repaired, hopefully completed in three weeks.

• Aldermen approved basic membership with the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) at a cost of $400. Membership runs from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, and includes 15 service hours. Membership hours can be used for help with grant writing and to match state and federal funds for municipalities.

• Utility worker Jim Stephan resigned from his position. Aldermen hired Jake Shockley as a part-time employee to work 10-20 hours per week at $13 per hour.

• Aldermen approved Mayor Slusser hiring someone to brush hog the weeds at the lagoon. She has spoken with the city’s part-time help, and they believe the weeds are too bad to be trimmed.

“They need to be taken care of,” Slusser said. “I do not want DNR down here because of the weeds.”

• Light Property Management has finished the first phase of work at the park and finished $2,230 below budget. The company is requesting $3,900 to buy supplies for the second part of the project, which was slated to begin last week. The plan is to be done before Chamois Day.

• Aldermen agreed to put a hold on Bill Maxey’s utility bill and payment plan as he is in the hospital with serious medical issues. Maxey has been current on his payment plan and has even been paying extra toward the balance. The board will not charge any late fees on his payment plan, and they will waive all minimum and late fees until Maxey is out of the hospital.

“There is really nothing he can do,” Slusser said. “When he does come home, I don’t want to have his water turned off.”

“This is one of those deals where we can make an exception,” Schaben said.

• Aldermen tabled any changes or additions to the city’s current dog ordinance, initially approved in 2016. A 2020 amendment requires that dog owners have immunization records for their pets, that dogs need to be registered with the city for a license, and that their pets have had rabies vaccinations. The cost of a license is $25, and the city is supposed to issue a tag as proof of the license. Although the ordinance has been in effect, the city has not enforced it.

Slusser noted that the main reason the dog ordinance has been on the agenda for the past several meetings is that a vicious dog has bitten someone in the city limits.

“We are trying to find an ordinance to get rid of vicious dogs,” Slusser said. “I don’t want a dog roaming the streets, running off of property, and biting people who are walking, on a bike, or whatever.”

Slusser added that under the current ordinance, the city would be able to write a ticket and assess a fine, but that’s about it. The ordinance also noted that all dogs should always be on a leash, even if they are on private property, unless the property is fenced and the dog is chained or on a leash. The city will have to issue licenses and provide owners with a dog tag to enforce the ordinance.

Walter explained that the city’s previous problem was that responsible dog owners had their dogs vaccinated for rabies and paid the license fee to register their pets with the city. However, irresponsible dog owners didn’t follow the rules and refused to claim responsibility for their pets.

Slusser was also upset about the number of cats within city limits.

“We have more cats than we do dogs,” Slusser said. “We have less birds, and less squirrels because of the cats. We have a very bad cat problem. There are cats everywhere.”

The mayor added she had received complaints about cats tearing up furniture and trash cans and being a nuisance in general.

Several aldermen offered to investigate organizations that may be willing to help the city control the feral cat population.

• Resident Guy Montgomery, who volunteered to help get a new city website up and running, provided an update. He asked aldermen to consider changing their email addresses to a more secure server and advised them that all emails should be archived as an official part of city business.

Slusser will investigate this further with Montgomery but stressed that no one working for the city is using private emails for city business.

Montgomery’s wish list for the content he would like added to the website includes photos, a map of the campsite area, a link to the volunteer fire department in Chamois, churches, scenic byways, and possibly a business directory.

“We’re trying to think forward and talk tourism,” said Montgomery. “I want us to create a revenue stream and do whatever we can to get tourism. My thought process is to get Chamois on the map. We don’t have any industry. We’ve got the river, and we have to take advantage of that. Maybe spruce the town up a little bit.”

Alderman Cheyanna Wolfe said that she thought the new website was a good start.

• Organizes of the MR340 Missouri River race sent the city a check for $400, a written apology, and an emailed apology for any problems at the city’s park when campers associated with the race stopped in Chamois. The city needed two days to clean up the park following the event. MR340 planners hoped for a better event next year and promised to communicate with the city as planning began for next year’s race.

• The board approved $14,892.04 in outstanding bills.

• Chamois had the following ending balances in their accounts: cemetery fund ($10,537.77), general fund ($37,163.77), water fund ($214,870.33), sewer fund ($98,977.89), Community Block Development Grant in-and-out ($1,250), city park ($16,377.72), American Rescue Plan Act ($69,713.68), sewer repair, ($6,947.64), sewer bond reserve ($26,800.63), city cemetery ($20,746.59), meter deposits ($12,038.92), streets ($11,408.90), online bill pay ($15,415.20), city marshal ($167.50), city cemetery ($20, 736.50), and water repair ($25,086.19).

• The city holds five certificates of deposit totaling $12,238.88.

• Chamois had a 40% water loss in July. The city pumped 875,129 gallons and sold 529,300 gallons. The city has 240 water connections and 223 active accounts.

• The next meeting is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m.