Nixa council calls special election, OKs stormwater repair funding and ADA bid solicitation; votes to enter closed session

The Nixa City Council on March 11 voted to call a special election for Aug. 5, 2025, to fill a vacancy in the District 1 council seat; approved a $36,500 budget amendment to repair an eroded stormwater culvert under North Road; authorized staff to solicit bids for sidewalk and curb maintenance tied to the city’s Americans with Disabilities Act transition plan; and approved a motion to enter a closed session under Missouri law.

The council’s special election call implements a requirement in the city charter because the vacancy will last longer than a year, City Attorney Nick Woodman told the council during the second reading of council bill 2025-05. The council approved the bill by roll call; the meeting record shows Sean Lucas, Darlene Graham, Zern Vess, Kelly Morris and Erin Peterson voting yes.

The council also adopted a budget amendment to pay for permanent repairs to a downstream portion of a stormwater culvert installed for the Riverton Park subdivision. Public Works Director and Assistant City Administrator Doug Colvin said the city had to obtain a new easement after concluding the original developer-provided easement was not legally sufficient, ran an RFP and selected a contractor; the council approved a $36,500 amendment to cover the work. The motion passed by roll call with the same five council members recorded as voting yes.

Separately, the council approved a resolution authorizing the city administrator to solicit bids for concrete work — primarily curbs, sidewalks and handicap ramps — under the city’s ADA transition plan. Colvin said the contract will operate like a list-based maintenance contract and is limited to amounts the council funds annually in the maintenance operations budget; no per-year dollar total was attached to the resolution. Council members voted in a voice vote; the meeting minutes record the motion as carried.

At the end of the meeting the council voted to go into a closed session under section 610.021, RSMo., a state open-meetings statute that permits closed discussion in defined circumstances. The motion to enter closed session passed on a roll call vote recorded in the meeting log as in the affirmative.

Votes at a glance: - Council Bill 2025-05 (second reading): Call special election to fill District 1 vacancy for Aug. 5, 2025. Motion: made and seconded; roll-call recorded as five yes votes; outcome: approved. Notes: City Attorney Nick Woodman said the special election is required by the city charter when a vacancy will last longer than a year; candidate filing window discussed as opening April 8 and closing April 29 (per Secretary of State calendar referenced at the meeting).

- Council Bill 2025-06 (second reading): 2025 budget amendment to appropriate $36,500 for stormwater improvements (North Road culvert repair). Motion: moved by Sean Lucas; seconded by Zern Vess; roll-call recorded as five yes votes; outcome: approved. Notes: Colvin said the city obtained a new easement after a prior easement was deemed invalid, ran an RFP and selected a contractor; the amendment covers permanent downstream repair.

- Resolution 2025-17: Authorize solicitation of bids for sidewalk and curb maintenance as part of ADA transition plan. Motion: moved by Kelly Morris; seconded by Zern Vess; outcome: approved by voice vote. Notes: Contract will be used as funding is approved each year in maintenance operations; plan adopted in 2018 identifies sidewalks, ramps and building accessibility items to address over multiple years.

- Motion to enter closed session under RSMo. 610.021: Motion carried by roll call; outcome: approved. Notes: Council directed that closed-session records and votes be closed under the same statute.

No additional ordinances were adopted during the meeting’s first-reading items; first-reading items remain under consideration.

Section references and next steps: The council instructed city staff to publish and implement the election timeline and to proceed with bid solicitation and contracting steps for the ADA and stormwater work as budgeted. City staff said they will release candidate filing details to the public and continue contract procurement steps for the concrete and culvert repairs.