County of site: Lincoln County
Location of city hall: 1st St. & MO-E, Silex
Date of news article: January 23, 2016
Reporter: Jacob B. Thompson
Article:
"Silex’s city government got back into full swing on Jan. 11 opening the new year with a Mayoral appointment, naming the new city hall building and settling several other matters.
"President of the Board of Aldermen, David Heimburger opened the meeting in the new city hall facilities that had previous been home to O’Keefe’s Bar and Grill and before that Barney-Ts. The city has been in the process of remodeling the building and moving in for the last month or so.
"The Silex Aldermen met for the first time in the new City Hall which previously housed O’Keefe’s Bar and Grill.
The meeting began with approval of the minutes and some general disagreement from Aldermen Heimburger who felt that the minutes misrepresented a motion made during the Oct. 22 meeting.
"He sought to have it clarified so that it made his position clear and reflected the amount of information he said he had received at the time of the meeting. The motion in question he was referencing concerned decisions relating to FEMA and the city’s acquisition of the new city hall building.
"He made it clear that to him, “We’re putting he said she said stuff all over these minutes.”
"After further discussion the minutes were amended to include Heimburger’s comments and the Board approved the minutes of several other meetings that had been held.
"The board then discussed the statues relating to the appointment of a new Mayor for the remaining time left until the next election.
"Nominations were made and Bob Zeh was appointed to fill the vacancy made by the untimely death of Mayor David Rice. Zeh was sworn in and took charge of the meeting from Heimburger.
"From the City Administrator’s perspective, Barnes explained that moving into the new hall was a continuing process and while much was done, some work still remained and would continue.
"Several Aldermen complimented Barnes for his work on the new building and the renovations.
Alderman Justin Spainer spoke up saying “You deserve a huge pat on the back, this place looks great.”
"The discussion of naming the new city hall building was then brought to the board. After some discussion the board unanimously approved naming the building the “City of Silex David E. Rice Government Building”.
"City Administrator Barnes said with board approval he’d make a sign for the exterior that would be visible from the highway.
"The board then discussed the need to address non-residential water and sewer rates, which had not been altered in the last round of changes.
"Aldermen agreed that to maintain fairness to all serviced and to bring in line with rates that DNR and Missouri Rural Water had given they asked Attorney Robertson to author an ordinance maintaining a 15% index over normal residential rates for those non-city residents who utilize city services."
~ The Elsberry Democrat