An old Jackson fire truck will be donated to the Career & Technology Center in Cape so the CTC can offer fire-fighting courses.
Jackson aldermen approved an affidavit of gift at the Aug. 1 meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
The truck is a 1990 Pierce Dash. It is being replaced by a new fire truck that was ordered early last year and arrived just over a week ago.
The new fire truck will be dedicated today (Wednesday, Aug. 10) in a ceremony starting at 6 p.m. at Fire Station No. 1 at East Jackson Boulevard and South High Street.
The public is invited to attend. Those who help give the new truck its initial washing will receive a ceremonial towel.
In other action
• Destruction of city records: It was recorded in the minutes that city records that had met their retention life were destroyed in compliance with state statutes.
• Property at 110 E. Monroe: The City accepted the bid of $3,000 from Phil R. Dormeyer on behalf of Amy Jo Ybarra, to purchase 0.096 acres of city property at 110 E. Monroe St. An agreement of sale was also approved.
• Historic Preservation Commission: The aldermen approved the mayor’s appointment of Dr. T. Wayne Lewis as an alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission, filling an unexpired term ending May 2024.
• Paving: The aldermen approved change order No. 1 in the amount of $4,800 to Paving Pros LLC, of Oak Ridge, relative to the 2022 Asphalt Pavement Improvement Program. The purpose of this change order is to include work required to seal and re-stripe the city’s East Adams Street parking lot.
• Civic Center sign: Change order No. 5 was approved for the new Civic Center sign, being installed by Coast to Coast signs. The purpose of this change order is to revise the contract to reflect the change in location of the sign from the right-of-way to a more central location within the property now owned by the City of Jackson at 2000 N. High St.
• Roundabout: A task order to Lochmuller Group of Evansville, IN, in the amount of $355,740.57 was approved for engineering work on the roundabout at Hwy. 61 N. and Deerwood Drive.
• Utility and sewer easements: The aldermen approved three ordinances regarding sewer and utility easements in Nine Oaks Third Subdivision.
• Thank you from American Legion: Larry Koehler from American Legion Post 158 in Jackson thanked the Mayor and Board of Aldermen for the City’s help with the Homecomers celebration in Uptown Jackson.
“I want to say thank you for everything that the City does every year,” Koehler said.
The Legion has been sponsoring Homecomers since the 1940s to be able to do things for the community.
“This is the largest fundraiser that we have every year. And you may wonder, ‘What do you do with the money you have?’ I would like to run through a few things, if I may,” Koehler said.
Funds are used to: provide three scholarships to graduating JHS seniors; sponsor students to American Legion Boys State; sponsor American Legion baseball; provide a service officer who helps veterans to get their benefits; loan medical equipment at no charge to anyone in the community; sponsor a Boy Scout troop and a Cub Scout pack; donate the use of the hall for Red Cross blood drives and the WIC program; provide a monthly bingo game to residents of the Missouri Veterans Home; make the hall available for public rental; work with the JHS art program to create the Homecomers poster; work with the JHS music department (various groups performed on stage during Homecomers); provide American flags to businesses, individuals and the city at a reasonable cost — and provide proper disposal for old flags; honor first responders of the year at the annual American Legion Birthday Banquet; work with and donate to the DAR for Wreaths Across America; donate to the Veterans Home at Christmas for presents for the residents; donate to Trees for Troops; collect food items for the food bank; provide an honor guard service for veterans who have passed away at no cost to the family; sponsor the Memorial Day program and the Veterans Day parade; provide an honor guard for the Christmas parade and for posting colors at many local events.
“I’m sure I’m overlooking some things,” Koehler concluded, “but that will give you some idea. And rest assured, we are doing everything we can to support the Jackson community. We know it’s a great place to live and work, and we want to be a positive participant in the community.”
Legion member and Aldermen David Hitt added that Homecomers was started by Uptown merchants in 1908 for the dedication of the old County Courthouse (it was new at the time). The Uptown merchants kept it going until the 1930s and then turned it over to other organizations until the Legion came along in the 1940s.
“I see it as a city tradition,” Hitt said. “Yes, it’s called American Legion Homecomers, but it’s a community project.”
• Restroom replacement: The aldermen were updated on plans to replace the City Park restroom at North Union Avenue and Oak Street with a prefabricated structure. The City received a $15,500 proposal from Koehler Engineering for professional services that include doing a survey, site design with a prefabricated building, and inspection services.
• Water system: The Board was informed of a need for additional engineering services by Horner and Shifrin Engineering on the Water System Facility Plan Improvements project in the amount of $31,900.
This amendment will cover $11,900 in additional engineering services for design, bidding, and construction phase services to replace the pump supports and VFDs for Pumps No. 1 and 2 at the Water Treatment Plant No. 1.
This Amendment will also allocate $20,000 for easement preparation and modifications for the East Jackson Boulevard and High Street Water Main Replacement Projects.
• Sewer: During study session, the Board of Aldermen discussed a lateral sewer project on South Old Orchard Road.
• Walk Jackson!: City Engineer Anna Bergmark recapped the Walk Jackson! program.
The program is “a lot of fun,” she said. “There is always a benefit to involving the public and educating everybody and getting everybody walking.”
The program lasted 11 weeks at 11 different locations. For each location, there was posted on the City website a short lesson on something related to Public Works. Participants had to go to at least two different locations, getting a ticket at each one, and bring them in to City Hall, or they could make two social media posts and make them public.
Bergmark said 346 tickets were picked up and 108 social media posts were made. A total of 98 individuals participated. Seventy T-shirts and 28 water bottles were awarded as prizes. One grand-prize winner, Anna Seabaugh, won a pool party.
Some 47,008 people were reached by Facebook posts, and 3,344 people liked, shared or commented on those Facebook posts.
