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By Pauline Masson – Following one of the most hotly contested elections in recent memory, the new government took office Tuesday, and faced a couple of challenging issues right off the bat. Heather Filley was sworn in as mayor of Pacific during the April 19 board of aldermen meeting. Also sworn in were new aldermen Rick Presley, ward one; James Cleeve, ward two and Scott Lesh, ward three.
The newly elected officials joined Gregg Rahn, ward one; Jerry Eversmeyer, ward two; and Andrew Nemeth, ward three to round out the board of aldermen.
Joining the new board members in the swearing in ceremony were collector Debbie Kelley and police chief Scott Melies.
As the first order of business the new board elected Nemeth as acting president of the board of aldermen.
Immediately the new board was presented with a couple of knotty issues.
Water Problems at the New Subdivision
Water run off from the graded ground of the controversial subdivision Manors at Brush Creek, that played a crucial role in the election, is inundating the property immediately west of the development.
Resident Josh Grodie, whose family owns the property, explained the problem resulting from the development to the new board and offered a pair of possible solutions to fix it before it gets worse.
“We’re seeing a problem that needs to get solved,” Grodie said. “It is drastically changing how we live on our land. Water from the subdivision site is pouring onto the Grodie land, keeping the ground continually wet.
“The volume of water overwhelmed the silt fence and mud changed property pond to chocolate milk.
Grodie said he could see possible solutions to the runoff that would reduce the steep 10-foot slop from the subdivision to his family’s property. Building a retaining wall at the steepest point to eliminate the slope and piping the water to the storm sewer would be one solution. A second would be to install down spouts on two of the homes and trench the runoff water to the storm sewer.
Grodie said city administrator Steve Roth has been helpful in getting the family in contact with builder. Grodie apologized for bringing a problem to the new administration’s first meeting but he said he wanted the aldermen to be aware of the problem.
“Bottom line is we have to get the water problem solved,” Grodie said. “If we let it go further it may not be solved in timely fashion. It id best the it br solved right now.”
Mayor Filley said she would forward Grodie’s contact information to each aldermen so they could arrange to visit the site to investigate if they wished. Roth said he would try to resolve the issues.
Traffic at First and Osage
Another challenging issue facing the new administration is the plan to redesign and rebuild north first street at the intersection with Osage, a $1.1 million project that will improve traffic issues at the intersection, easing the turns of the big rigs that use that route to and from the industrial park on Denton Road.
The preliminary proposal would widen North First Street, south of Osage, creating three lanes. A right turn lane would take northbound traffic east onto Osage. A center lane would take traffic north on First Street or left, on Osage, traveling west. A third lane would take right turn traffic from Osage south on First Street.
The board passed a resolution to approve H.R. Green to design the improvements at a cost not to exceed $136,900 and inspection of the work at a cost not to exceed $67,778.
The final design, which H.R. Green will bring back to the aldermen, requires approval from MoDOT and the board of aldermen.
A schematic of the proposed changes and the H.R. Green contract are included on the April 19 agenda, which is available on the city web page at www.pacificmissouri.com / government / agendas and meetings.
Smooth meeting
It needs to be said that Filley ran a smooth meeting, working through each agenda item with the ease of a seasoned pro.
Go Heather!
I wish Mayor Filley and this new administration nothing but success in dealing with the challenges facing my old home town. The voters have made an informed decision as to what type of representation they desire to lead this City and I applaud that outcome. Godspeed.