Bob Foos
There was a baffling moment during the Webb City Council meeting on Monday when a motion to approve an ordinance on second reading failed for lack of a second.
It was baffling because throughout the process up until then, there had been no opposition to Nick Gratton’s request to rezone property he’s purchased on Prairie Flower Road from commercial to multi-family residential.
Gratton’s request was sent to the council by unanimous vote of the Planning and Zoning Commission on June 15. It was approved on June 22 by the city council on first reading.
Kelly Serafini, a resident, spoke during the public comments portion at the beginning of the meeting about aspects of the proposed rezoning. But she told a Sentinel reporter after the meeting that she wasn’t necessarily against it.
Mayor Lynn Ragsdale said after the meeting that he would have called for questions by the council, but Robert’s Rules of Order won’t allow him to do that until after there’s a second to the motion.
Mayor pro tem Jerry Fisher made the motion, as he does with all council bills. But that was followed by silence from the other council members.
Ragsdale acknowledged that he did fudge on Robert’s Rules “when I asked twice (for a second), even though I’m not supposed to.
“So I could not accept a question.”
Tyler Burgess (1st Ward) said after the meeting that “I would have loved to have had discussion” on the proposed ordinance.
City Attorney Troy Salchow said he can’t recall a similar situation.
Although that proposed ordinance is dead and can’t be revived, Gratton was encouraged to revise his plan and start over again at the P&Z level. He indicated he has some changes in mind and that he will begin the process over again.
The city announces in an email that went out Wednesday, July 15, that public works crews will make one more trip through town picking up tree limbs that are piled at curbs.
After that, residents can call public works at (417) 673-6297 for special pickup. It was emphasized that there is no charge at this time, as the city recovers from the June 13 storm.
On Monday, Eddie Kreighbaum, public works director, told the city council that crews have been down every street so far. When asked by Fisher why there are still trees to be picked up on West Third Street, Kreighbaum said it is likely those limbs hadn’t been cut down yet when the crews made the first pass.
There was only brief discussion about a suggestion to hire a contractor to help public works crews pick up the tree debris.
City Administrator Carl Francis said the cleanup effort is two weeks away from being complete, and that it would probably take that long to advertise for contractor bids and then to accept one.
Ragsdale suggested a contractor would charge the city $250,000. “I’ll save my money and take an extra week,” he said.
Francis said he thought bids would come in higher than $250,000.
A motion was passed to extend the current trash hauling contract with GFL (Green for Life) Environmental for another 10 years.
GFL and the company it purchased have served the city now for 20 years.
The terms of the agreement allow the company to increase its rate by 2.5% each year.
Residential bills for one cart will increase by 26¢ on Dec. 1 from $10.25 to $10.51. You can get two carts dumped weekly for $13.91 a month, and three for $23.89.
The council and GFL agree that the rates charged under their agreement continue to be cheaper than other services in the area. Ragsdale complimented GFL for being responsive when issues arise.
In other action, the council:
• Voted to allow the purchase of up to $101,900 in internet technology equipment from Stronghold Data, which submitted the lowest of two bids received. The purchase is in conjunction with a grant awarded in the amount of $211,293 from the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. Matching funds from the city are required.
• Voted to transfer $300,000 from the Centennial Transportation Development District to reimburse the city for its costs in constructing the sidewalk along East Street and West Daugherty Street.
The total cost of the project was $748,090, with the Missouri Department of Transportation paying $444,295 and the city paying $303,795. The Centennial Railroad TDD board approved the transfer to the city on Oct. 7, 2025. An additional 1/2-cent sales tax is collected at businesses in the TDD.
• Received a positive report from the Senior Citizens Center. An average of 33 meals were served daily during the first week of July. And a little over 40 are coming to play bingo each time.
Ragsdale said, “In the future, we’ll look back on this (taking over the center’s operation) and say that was a good idea.” Likely forgetting that “it was forced on us.”
