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Malden committee to seek bids for mowing dormant properties despite limits under RSMo 140.420
Summary
The Malden Building Code Committee voted to solicit bids to mow dormant properties and recommended continuing city-funded maintenance despite a Missouri law that limits the city’s ability to collect special tax liens, City Clerk Mandy Lewis said. The committee also set dates for a yard sale and cleanup and heard a demolition update.
The Malden Building Code Committee recommended putting the mowing of dormant properties out for competitive bid and advised continuing city-funded maintenance even though RSMo 140.420 limits the city’s ability to collect special tax bills on those properties, City Clerk and City Collector Mandy Lewis told the committee on July 23.
The committee’s action followed remarks from Jeff Mitchell, Director of the Department of Public Safety, who said condemnation proceedings have begun on a building slated for demolition and that a hearing will be scheduled "as soon as possible." Mitchell also reported several additions to the city’s dormant properties list and proposed soliciting multiple bids for mowing contracts, using sample bid documents from other cities as a template.
Lewis, who represents the city’s finance and tax-collection functions, explained that RSMo 140.420 — which took effect in August 2024 — limits the city’s ability to recover special tax liens placed on dormant and demolition properties. She said demolitions that use surplus funds should proceed as before, but maintenance funded through public money may not be recoverable through liens if the properties sell through the Dunklin County Collector’s Office for back taxes. Lewis asked the committee for guidance on whether to continue maintenance; after discussion the committee recommended the city proceed with maintenance and revisit the issue once mowing bids are received.
Committee Member Dianna Rogers moved to approve the May 28, 2025 meeting minutes; Committee Member Harold Jones seconded and the motion carried, 4-0. Rogers later moved to adjourn the July 23 meeting at 1:40 p.m.; Committee Member Bindy Grant seconded and that motion also carried, 4-0.
The committee also set dates for two fall events. City Clerk Lewis presented scheduling options and the group agreed to hold the City-Wide Yard Sale Sept. 3–6, 2025, followed by the City-Wide Cleanup Sept. 8–11, 2025.
Chair Lynnette Jenkins announced the next Building Code Committee meeting for Sept. 24, 2025 at 1 p.m. The committee did not record any public comments during the open forum at this session.
The meeting record lists those present as Committee Chair Lynnette Jenkins; Committee Members Bindy Grant, Harold Jones, Dianna Rogers and Robert House; City Clerk/City Collector Mandy Lewis; Deputy Director of Public Safety Tiffany Pflasterer; Director Jeff Mitchell; and Deputy City Clerk Jessie Cobb.
