Joplin city manager provides weekly update

(City Manager Sam Anselm provided the following update to Joplin City Council members Friday.)

Good afternoon, everyone. Please see below for this week’s update.

Key Meetings 

Aside from the normal staff meeting and individual meetings with department heads, there were no key meetings with outside groups this week.

Miscellaneous

-Attached is the most recent update provided by Public Works. Worth mentioning, on Veterans Day, our streets crew performed a repair of the railroad crossing at the WestRock Plant while the business was shut down for the holiday. Typically the business operates 24/7, with trucks traversing the tracks constantly, but the crew was able to complete the repair in the same day.

-Parks and Public Works crews will soon begin the annual leaf collection program. The leaves are a bit stubborn and are still clinging to the branches in many areas, so we are talking about delaying the start of the program to ensure that crews do not have to go back over the same route multiple times. If and when a new start date is picked, we will make an announcement. (Note: The date has been announced and it is Monday, December 5.)

-The signs for the Gov. Warren E. Hearnes Memorial Highway will be delivered to MoDOT’s regional office around mid-December. CVB Director Tuttle is working on scheduling an unveiling ceremony. Once the date is selected, we will send you an invitation to attend.

-We made $64,729 at this year’s annual auction. I have asked staff in public works to explore the option of offering our vehicles and other equipment to the public via an online auction service, similar to what several other cities and the state do when they dispose of their surplus equipment. Generally speaking, those entities receive a higher value for items that are sold online, and I would hope we would see the same results if we implement the idea. This could affect our annual auction next year if we move forward.

Looking Ahead 

-As PW staff prepares to bid out the 2017 asphalt overlay project, there is about $330,000 left over in the 2016 program that went unspent. I have given staff the green light to include this extra funding in the bid amount, so that when the council bill for a contract comes to you for approval at a future council meeting, it will come with a budget amendment to include the additional amount.