Mexico council unanimously approves sidewalk grant, bridge closeout work, stormwater easements, tourism funding and IT purchases

The Mexico City Council on Oct. 13 approved several grant acceptances, easements and routine purchases by unanimous vote, including a Transportation Alternatives Program sidewalk grant along Morris Street, a supplemental engineering agreement for the Pollock Road Bridge closeout, temporary construction easements for ARPA-funded stormwater work, a $3,000 tourism grant and a scheduled IT/server purchase.

Votes at a glance

- Bill No. 2025-66 (ordinance): Accept Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation to install sidewalks on Morris Street (downtown to Lakeview Road). Project value: $432,000; city share (20%): roughly $86,000 (budgeted). Motion and second recorded; passage unanimous (Haig/Haig spelling in roll calls recorded as "Haig? Yes"; other members voting yes: Miller, Ray, Weber, Briggs). Drew Wilford, city staff, said interns helped prepare the successful grant application: “this grant… got the city a project that’s worth $432,000,” and staff recommended two readings by title only and passage.

- Resolution No. 2025-67: Authorize the city manager to sign Supplemental Agreement No. 3 with Horner & Shiffrin, Inc., for the Pollock Road Bridge project closeout. Supplement amount presented: $12,439.35; the work is grant reimbursable and the city’s local share was identified as approximately 12.3% of the supplement. Staff recommended proceeding to close out the project and provide required MoDOT documentation; council passed the resolution unanimously.

- Resolution Nos. 2025-68 and 2025-69: Accept temporary construction easements for North Kentucky Street and North Calhoun Street stormwater improvement projects (ARPA/DNR grant DNRSW745E73C59FDE). Staff described these easements as necessary for underground storm sewer construction, curb and gutter restoration and sidewalk work; title certification and DNR approval are prerequisites to construction. Council approved the easements unanimously.

- Resolution No. 2025-70: Authorize agreements using Mexico tourism tax funds. The tourism commission recommended, and council approved, $3,000 in funding for Presser Arts Center’s December production of Willy Wonka; staff presented the commission’s recommendation and council concurred.

- IT/server purchase (administrative services): Staff proposed replacing end-of-life network hardware and software using state bid pricing managed with Huber & Associates. Line items presented included a virtual server system ($24,735), base on-site storage ($27,198.46), installation ($12,020), Windows Server licensing ($20,248.40) and installation ($15,097.50), and email-server updates ($25,553.12). Staff presented a planned total purchase figure consistent with the FY budget (itemized total reported by staff: $124,852.48) and recommended approval; council approved the purchase by unanimous vote.

How council described staff recommendations

City staff repeatedly said the items were grant-funded or grant-reimbursable and that required local matches were budgeted. Drew Wilford noted the TAP application had an intern-led component and described the sidewalk as part of a phased plan to eventually provide an ADA-compliant route connecting downtown with the commercial district and sites such as Mexico Middle School, the YMCA and Fairground Park. Rue/Rube Willeford and staff explained that the bridge supplemental is tied to construction closeout paperwork required by MoDOT and that the extra engineering time was unanticipated in prior estimates.

What passed (procedural notes)

All motions were moved and seconded on the record and each item passed on unanimous voice or roll-call votes (Haig, Miller, Ray, Weber, Briggs recorded as voting yes on the docketed measures). Where the transcript did not attach a named mover or seconder, the record shows standard procedural motions and affirmative roll-call votes.

Next steps and implementation notes

- The TAP sidewalk project was described as a multi-phase project; staff estimated construction would take up to 20 months to reach construction start and that the city’s 20% match is budgeted. - The Pollock Road Agreement is subject to MoDOT grant reimbursement and requires city attorney title certification for final DNR closeout documentation. - Easements accepted for the ARPA stormwater projects will be forwarded to the city attorney for certification before construction authorization by DNR. - The IT purchase will be procured using cooperative/state bid pricing and executed in stages to reduce service disruption.

Council handled other routine business (minutes, pay claims) and then closed the meeting; no item in this slate generated a recorded dissenting vote.